I never thought we’d visit Iraq – let me make that clear from the start! I am not a thrill-seeking tourist – eating soup with strange wobbly bits is daring enough for me!

Lee is far more adventurous. However, he also has a keen awareness of the geopolitical situation in most countries, so thought visiting Iraq would still be some way off in the future.

That’s why it was such a wonderful surprise to meet so many travellers who’d just visited Iraqi Kurdistan and waxed lyrical about the kindest, most hospitable people on earth!

I was slightly dubious about that claim as so many cyclists had told us the same thing about Iran, but we only experienced it once or twice during our month there.

Imagine our joy and sheer astonishment when we discovered it was the unvarnished truth – the Kurds are the nicest people we have met in the 100 countries we’ve visited. That unparalleled generosity has made it difficult to write accurate costs for this post, as so many of our meals were paid for by friends and people we’d just met!

Facts and information

That introduction was as descriptive as this blog post is going to get! We’re working on separate posts for places visited, and what we did. This post is about logistics and costs for our 11 days of independent travel in Iraqi Kurdistan.

When we visited Iraqi Kurdistan in August 2019 , the Iraqi Dinar was 1,200 to the US$. For up-to-date currency exchange rates, we always use XE.com

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Our detailed travel guide to Erbil

Accommodation in Iraqi Kurdistan

Erbil – arrived at the start of Eid Al Adhar to high prices

• 1st night – free as our new friend Shaho from our woefully delayed bus invited us to stay with him
• 2nd night – 40,000 IQD in the dirtiest, most disgusting hotel we’ve stayed in for at least 10 years! Stay away from Hotel Dana!
• 7 remaining nights – stayed at Bekhal Hotel, paying 33,000 IQD per night for 3 nights, dropping to 25,000 IQD for the remaining 4 nights after Eid

Sulaymaniyah

• We looked at the Hotel Dolphine, but we could only get the price down to 40,000 IQD per night
• Spent 2 nights at Hotel Lava for 30,000 IQD per night for room with aircon and super basic bathroom – no basin and the shower was situated over the squat toilet! Very clean though and on the same road as Hotel Simon. The location was better at the Dolphine as it was close to Food Street so we’d stay there next time

Food and drink in Iraqi Kurdistan

I’ve realised that our travels the past 2 years have been fuelled by shawarma/döner/gyros, and Iraqi Kurdistan was no exception! We had delicious home cooked meals staying with Shaho and his family but apart from that, we only ate out at one restaurant, which was with our friend Hana and he refused to let us pay!

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Our detailed travel guide to Erbil

Erbil

• Shawarma = 1,000 IRQ for chicken or 1,500 IRQ for beef in tandoor bread that you then fill yourself with salad
• Falafel = 750 IQD for 3 falafel and the same bread/salad deal
• Omelette with lavash bread, tomato soup and salad at Ali’s, in a side street near our hotel = 500 IRD
• Tea = 250 IQD
• 2.5 litre bottle of Coke = 1000 IRD. It’s terrible, but when it’s 47C and I’ve been walking for hours, I want an ice-cold soft drink!
• Fruit smoothie – rock melon or fig = 1000 but were thin as were watered down. Mixed fruit smoothie = 2,000 IQD
• Soft serve ice creams, (including the best one ever!) = 1000 IQD

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How to travel the world as a Frugal Traveller

Sulaymaniyah

We struggled to find food our first night in Sulaymaniyah. Turns out the shops and food stalls near our hotel would be open late, but they all closed at 8pm! Luckily one bakery was still open. They refused to let us pay for the bread, and we had an impromptu picnic of bread and cheese for dinner.

• Bread – we’re not sure of the prices as 2 separate bread stalls gave us bread when we stopped to buy some! Lee saw a sign saying 10 of the small boat-shaped breads for 1000 IQD
• Doner – more expensive than in Erbil, and there wasn’t the option to add the fillings yourself, so were much thinner. Seemed to come in bread rolls, rather than lavash bread or the small boat-shaped bread. Chicken = 1500 IQD and beef = 2000 IQD
• Chicken in a roll from a street stall near Hotel Dolphine, and you added your own fillings = 1000 IQD and was delicious!

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Sights and places of interest in Iraqi Kurdistan

Erbil sights

Arriving the day before Eid was a miscalculation on our part! Not only was accommodation a lot more expensive but almost everything, from restaurants to hotels to museums were closed for a week!

• Citadel/Castle – free
• Museums, of which we didn’t visit any, were 1,000 to 1,500 IQD :
• Textile Museum in the Citadel – 1000 IQD
• Gem Museum in the Citadel – 1500 IQD
• Civilisation Museum – free
• Qaysari Bazaar – closed the first 4 days we were there but it was spectacular when open. It’s a maze!
• Cable car over Shanidar Park – price unknown as it wasn’t working when we were there
• Shanidar Gallery – a lovely art gallery in a very pretty park with a great view from the roof. Only a 20-25 minute walk from Qaysari Bazaar
• Hewler Aqua Park – 5000 IQD entry. Families, ie women, only allowed entry on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Open 12:00 until 19:00

Our detailed travel guide to Erbil

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Sulaymaniyah sights

There are a number of places to see in Sulaymaniyah. We had planned to go to Chavi Land and take the cable car up to the lookout for sunset, and also to visit the Sulaymaniyah museum.

This changed after visiting the Amna Suraka Prison museum in the morning. We felt so emotionally drained after seeing and hearing about of the atrocities committed against the Kurds and other victims during Saddam Hussein’s reign of terror, that we went to a park and sat processing what we’d learnt. This is a powerful museum and I feel honoured to have been able to visit and have such an excellent guide.

If you would like to learn more about this heartbreaking place before visiting, please see our YouTube video

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Transport

Silopi, Turkey to Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan

We left Silopi at 4pm, 2 hours late and arrived in Erbil at 11pm… 5 hours late!

Paid 100 Turkish lira each with with Can Diyarbakir. Heard later from friends that they’re not a great company, as was proved when they left us waiting for 3 hours for connecting bus!

Erbil to Sulaymaniyah

• Taxi from Qaysari Bazaar to Garage Baghdad, approx. 5kms on Maps.Me = 3,000 IQD
• Minivan to Sulaymaniyah at 9:30am – left when it was full, took 6 hours and cost 10,000 IQD each
• Paid too much for a taxi when we arrived! Should be 3,000 IQD, not 5,000 IQD!

Sulaymaniyah

We spent 2 days there wandering around the city.

• Taxi to Garage Baghdad (yep, same name in both cities!) = 3,000 IQD
• Minivan to Erbil at 8am (again leaving when full) with a much faster driver = 10,000 IQD but took 5 hours this time!
• Taxi to Qaysari Bazaar = 3,000 IQD

Our detailed travel guide to Erbil

Leaving Iraqi Kurdistan

• Taxi to Erbil International Bus Terminal = we’d negotiated from 5,000 to the standard 3,000 IQD but the traffic was pretty bad at 9:30am so we gave him 4,000 IQD in the end!
• Bus to Sanliurfa, Turkey, leaving at 2:30pm and supposedly arriving at 2am but due to delays at the border, arrived at 6am = US $35.00

Other posts from this region:

Santorini – a budget travel guide

10 essential budget travel tips for Azerbaijan

Tbilisi to Yerevan by marshrutka

Xinaliq – the highest village in Europe

Sarpi border crossing by public transport – Georgia to Turkey

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