12 Best Things to Do in Iraq 2026 | Ideal Middle-East Tour Guide

Iraq holds the first whispers of cities rising, where sun-baked ziggurats stand beside gilded sanctuaries visited by countless pilgrims. Though danger once ruled, steadier ground now lets curious feet wander paths lined with old stones and living traditions.

Exploring the best places to visit in Iraq takes you to stepping into layered stories, ruins humming with forgotten voices, and markets alive with liveliness.

Shahzeb Shaikh, founder of SimCorner, notes, “In Iraq, ancient ground hums with stories older than memory, where every ruin whispers something raw about who we’ve been. By 2026, smoother roads and steadier paths open this land to those seeking more than surface-level spectacle.”

This guide covers the 12 top things to do in Iraq, the best time to visit, and perfect tips for Iraq tourist attractions.

Safety Tips for Iraq Travel

A surge in travelers has hit Iraq as safety improves across key spots like Baghdad, Erbil, or the holy sites down south. With patrols at crossings and local escorts along the way, access opens up, routes clear. Explore Iraq only through organized tours; Kurdistan allows greater freedom. Stay updated through your embassy, wear conservative clothes, and skip nighttime trips.

1. Explore Ancient Babylon Ruins

Exploring Babylon ranks among the most iconic things to do in Iraq, drawing travellers to one of the most important historical sites in Iraq.

Walk through ancient Babylon, where kings like Nebuchadnezzar once ruled under vast desert skies. Among sun-cracked stones stands the Lion of Babylon, silent, watching. Blue-glazed bricks rise again, echoes of Ishtar Gate pieced together from memory.

Move past broken archways, feel uneven steps beneath your feet, leading up what remains of the Processional Way. From there, the land spreads wide, layered with time.

Ruins dot the earth, each fragment holding echoes of Hammurabi’s laws carved deep. This place carries weight, not just history, but dust, heat, and slow unraveling.

2. Climb the Ziggurat of Ur

Climbing the Ziggurat of Ur is one of the most rewarding things to do in Iraq for those fascinated by ancient ruins.

The Ziggurat of Ur, an ancient layered monument raised nearly four thousand years ago under King Ur-Nammu’s rule. Rising in three broad stages, it reaches thirty meters into the open sky, perfect for watching dusk spread across the arid plains.

Run your fingers over sun-baked bricks sealed with tar, each one marked with inscriptions linking them to long-gone rulers, echoes of the land where Abraham once walked.

Standing firm near Nasiriyah, this surviving relic reveals how early cities shaped stone and time. New conservation work now allows clearer passage, especially when arriving through reed-lined wetlands on organized visits. Unearth royal tombs to glimpse deeper into Sumer’s world.

3. Visit Erbil Citadel

Among the safest and most accessible things to do in Iraq, visiting Erbil Citadel stands out as one of the top Iraq tourist attractions.

Balanced atop an age-old mound shaped by six millennia, Erbil Citadel cuts a quiet figure against the northern Iraqi sky, recognized by UNESCO yet breathing with everyday life.

Wander paths that twist between old stone houses, their walls holding echoes of generations.

Mosques rise here and there, modest and worn, standing beside markets where spice sacks spill color onto dusty ground. From the outer walkways, the sprawl of present-day Erbil unfolds in uneven layers, sunlit and humming.

Festivals come and go through its courtyards; steam curls from bathhouses tucked into narrow alleys.

4. Marvel at Imam Ali Shrine, Najaf

Experiencing the Imam Ali Shrine is among the most meaningful things to do in Iraq, offering deep cultural experiences in Iraq.

Step into Najaf, where the golden dome of Imam Ali Shrine rises like a whisper from history. This is where Shiites gather most deeply, honoring the man married to the Prophet Muhammad’s daughter. Gold script wraps around its walls, glowing beside mirrors that flicker light across cold marble floors. Pilgrims come, about twenty million every year, not just to see but to feel.

They press hands against the silver grill guarding his resting place, murmuring prayers passed down through the ages. Inside, handwritten books fill shelves older than nations, pages yellowed by time and touch.

5. Spiral Ascent of Great Mosque of Samarra

Climbing the Malwiya Minaret is one of the most striking things to do in Iraq, especially for travellers exploring major historical sites in Iraq.

Climb the twisting Malwiya tower, Samarra’s ancient mosque core, built in 851 from sun-dried brick. Rising fifty-two meters, its corkscrew path pulls you upward, revealing sweeping glimpses across the Tigris floodplain and scattered remains of a massive sacred complex.

This was once the heart of Abbasid worship, a bold statement carved in geometry and sand. Wander among fractured arcades, where broken domed roofs meet fragments of glazed niches, hinting at lost devotion.

Now watched over by UNESCO, the quiet monument stands far from crowds, holding space in dust and silence. Perfect for those who shoot photos or study the past, step down slowly along the outer trail.

6. Discover Baghdad's National Museum

Visiting the Iraq National Museum is one of the essential things to do in Iraq for anyone following an Iraq travel guide.

Step into the Iraq National Museum, where half a million relics unfold five millennia of Mesopotamian life. Wander among fragments of an ancient world, Lady of Warka gazes through time, her marble face untouched by chaos.

Nearby, ivory carvings from Nimrud whisper of royal courts long vanished. Gold once buried with Sumerian nobles now catches light under Baghdad’s sun. Stories rise from stone panels carved by Assyrian hands, showing kings and gods locked in eternal motion.

Maps etched in clay hint at how Babylon saw its place in the cosmos. Poems on cuneiform tablets carry the voice of Gilgamesh, restless even today. This is not just a display; it’s memory rebuilt after loss.

7. Tour Karbala's Imam Hussein Shrine

Touring the Imam Hussein Shrine is one of the most emotionally powerful things to do in Iraq, making it a key stop among sacred places to visit in Iraq.

A place where grief lives in every stone, Karbala holds the shrine of Imam Hussein, ground soaked by a battle from 680 AD. Rising above the city like whispered sorrow made visible, its golden dome glows under shifting skies while turquoise fragments catch the light. Inside, intricate halls unfold with quiet weight, layered in devotion rather than decoration.

Pilgrims move around the grave in waves, voices rising not in triumph but lament, especially when Arbaeen draws thousands through dust and distance. The open spaces breathe with prayer, sometimes trembling during rites of mourning that pulse with rhythm, not noise.

8. Trek Mesopotamian Marshes

Exploring the Mesopotamian Marshes is one of the most peaceful things to do in Iraq and a true hidden gem in Iraq.

Glide across quiet waters in a reed craft, slipping past green fingers of marsh near Basra, once drained, now breathing again. This is land remembered by myths, soaked in time, where the old stories say life first stirred. Pelicans dip low; children shout from mudflats; otters slip between roots without sound.

Buffalo move slowly through shallow pools, guided by men who know each ripple by name. The scent of grilled carp drifts from fireside meals under arched reed huts, their walls woven tight against desert winds.

At dusk, shapes blur into shadow - the horizon softens, becomes dreamlike, as pages half-read at bedtime.

9. Wander Mosul's Rebuilt Sites

Wandering Mosul’s Old City is among the most eye-opening things to do in Iraq, revealing evolving Iraq tourist attractions shaped by resilience.

Walk through Mosul rising from ash, see the renewed Nabi Yunus mosque, where old Assyrian palace passages wind beneath. Beyond it, Nineveh’s vast ramparts stand like echoes of older times. Move slowly through the Old City lanes, alive with fruit sellers offering deep-red pomegranates, weavers tugging at bright cloth.

Faces here carry quiet strength, stories tucked behind glances. Out near Hatra, stone columns pierce the sky, remnants of a Parthian age, guarding a shrine once dedicated to the moon deity.

Those who know the land lead visitors around fragile zones, paths still healing. This northern crossroads hums with life along the Tigris, steaming chai in roadside stalls, grills crisp under skewers of river fish.

10. Stroll Baghdad's Mutanabbi Street

Strolling Mutanabbi Street remains one of the most authentic things to do in Iraq, especially for those seeking cultural experiences in Iraq.

Step into Baghdad’s quiet heartbeat, Mutanabbi Street, where ink and history blur on shelves older than nations. Wander past cluttered kiosks piled with frayed Qurans, dog-eared verse anthologies, maybe a Proust tucked between Arabic script. Scholars linger over small glasses of mint tea, murmuring lines like prayers. At Shahbandar Café, voices rise at dusk, poets stitching old rhythms into the air, honoring the name carved into this soil.

When night falls each Friday, strings of bulbs flicker above crowds tangled in argument and laughter. It burned once, left scarred by fire and fear, yet books returned, stacked anew, stubborn as roots.

11. Visit Taq Kasra Arch, Ctesiphon

Visiting Taq Kasra is one of the most awe-inspiring things to do in Iraq, particularly for fans of ancient ruins in Iraq. Taq Kasra rises like a whisper from ancient stone, a colossal arch born in the 3rd century under Sassanid hands. This curved giant, taller than ten people stacked, holds breath near Baghdad, silent but immense.

Its span stretches wider than city gates, built without steel yet standing through storms of time. Among broken iwans and leaning palms, shadows drape softly over old feasts and forgotten songs.

Emperors once walked where now only wind stirs dust, their voices lost beneath layers of sunbaked earth. A quick cab ride from the city; dawn hours help dodge the sun's weight. Built across centuries where Persian met Islamic craft, this structure stands quiet, a lone thought in an open field of broken stone.

12. Hike Shanidar Cave & Monasteries

Trek through Kurdistan’s Bradost range toward Shanidar Cave - home to ancient Neanderthal graves layered with flower traces, silent echoes from sixty millennia past. Climb narrow trails along rock faces leading to Mar Mattai, a fourth-century retreat where monks once dwelled within stone hollows.

From Duhok’s edge, sweeping lowlands stretch beneath your gaze. Watch for eagles circling above, wild goats leaping across sunbaked ledges on the way. Ancient Assyrian hymns drift through chapels painted with faded murals. Trekking across rugged trails reveals layers of time - stone tools beside Syriac inscriptions.

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Skip the hassle of hunting for SIMs at airports, buy an eSIM or physical SIM Card directly from SimCorner. Our service fits brief visits just as well as longer ones, offering steady connectivity even in island or ancient cities. Check out our eSIM guide tailored for Iraq to get going without fuss and record each experience smoothly.