Sweden to Iran without flying
This is detailed guide on my journey from Gothenburg, Sweden to Tehran, Iran with the route, how long it took and how much it cost.
Planning – Looking at options
According to Rome2Rio, the fastest way to get from Gothenburg to Tehran would be with only 3 different buses with the route;
- Gothenburg-Bucharest (42,5 hr)
- Bucharest-Istanbul (14 hr)
- Istanbul-Tehran (40 hr)
Without even counting the waiting time between the buses, it could take 100 hours/4 days. The price would land on somewhere around 200€ one way.
However
I have no intention of rushing through Europe to get to Iran as soon as possible. This is the perfect opportunity for me to travel to some European cities I haven’t visited before and visit friends who live there.
I quickly realised that the best way to travel by trains and buses would be through making up my journey as I go. To book the tickets at the stations when I want to leave or maybe one day before departure.
All transportation time and price
Gothenburg-Copenhagen: Bus • 4 hr 15 min • 18€
Copenhagen-Cologne: Bus • 13 hr • 36€
Cologne-Frankfurt: Fast train • 1 hr • 75€
Frankfurt-Frankfurt Airport: Train • 10 min • 5€
Frankfurt Airport-Innsbruck: Car sharing/BlaBlaCar • 5 hr • 36€
Innsbruck-Münich: Train • 1,5 hr • 43€
Munich-Sofia: Bus • 20 hr • 106€
Sofia-Athens: Bus • 12 hr • 46€
Athens-Lavrion: Bus • 1 hr • 10€
Lavrion-Athens: Bus • 2 hr • 5€
Athens-Thessaloniki: Train • 6hr • 25€
Thessaloniki-Istanbul: Bus • 10 hr • 45€
Istanbul-Tehran: Bus • 40 hr • 35€
Total time of transportation(ex. time spend in cities): 116 hours
Totalt price: 485€
Time wise it was very similar as I didn’t do any massive detours. Money wise it was a lot more expensive and I could’ve done it cheaper, especially in the case of spending 75€ on a 1 hour train ride in Germany. I chose to do this because I was meeting a friend in Frankfurt and didn’t want to lose a day with her because of the money saving.
What I didn’t include in the calculation:
Transportation within the cities and the one week of sailing in the Greek Cyclades. The sailing was a separate trip itself and wasn’t a transportation to anywhere as we came back to the same harbour we left.
Airplane vs. Travel by land
Money: A one-way plane ticket would’ve been around 300€ and traveling by land could’ve cost me around 200€ but ended up being 485€
Environmental impact: 0.59 ton CO2 vs. 0.26 ton CO2*
*This calculation is just a rough calculation made at Carbonfootprint.com and this calculation does not include the devastating altitude effect airplanes have regardless if it uses fossil fuel or biofuel.
Time: From 7,5 hr (incl. stopover in Istanbul airport) vs 3,5 weeks or 113 hours on buses and trains
But how do you compare 1 day of getting from A to B with 3,5 weeks of seeing new places, meeting old and new friend and making memories for life?
Monika Getsova
Unless you had someone to visit in Greece,
Sofia-Athens: Bus • 12 hr • 46€
Athens-Lavrion: Bus • 1 hr • 10€
Lavrion-Athens: Bus • 2 hr • 5€
Athens-Thessaloniki: Train • 6hr • 25€
Thessaloniki-Istanbul: Bus • 10 hr • 45€
you could just do it Sofia- Istanbukl for 50 euros and 10 hours
Monika Getsova
sorry, I saw you went sailing in LAvrio… wonderful!
The Curious Sparrow
This sounds like such an interesting trip. I’m impressed by how cheap public transport is in Greece.
Jenna
Wow – interesting post! I guess it makes sense that it would be way cheap than flying, so I will keep this in mind if I ever find myself in that part of the world 🙂 Love your blog!
-Jenna <3
Follow me back? The Chic Cupcake
Fateme
Hi
i & my brother have 2 hostels in Yazd & in Mehriz(30km out of Yazd to kerman),Price for 1person : 70,000 Toman or 10€
Mahsa
I proud of you because of your determination ????
Raouf
Hello, i wanted to know that you earn money from this website or you do some thing freelance work? I really want to have a freelance work to travel just like the way you travel economically and earthwonderingly???
earthwanderess
Hi Raouf! I’ve written about that here: https://www.earthwanderess.com/i-earn-money-traveling-world-digital-nomad/
EBI
Hi Evelina. sorry but you didn’t mention about visas that you need, and i wonder why you didn’t continue your trip to eastern countries through Iran? why did you stop your travel in Iran?
earthwanderess
Hi Ebi! The visas required is individual for every country, which is why I haven’t mentioned it. For example as a Swede, I don’t need any visas for any European countries or Turkey, which is not the case for most with a non-EU passport. To know which places you need a visa for you should search for what you need with your passport.
This time I had to return to Europe after 3 months so that’s why I didn’t continue east of Iran but I have plans to do so in the future, maybe next year.
Reza
Dear Madam, Thank you for showing the reality of my country to the people of the world. I hope you will always be happy and peaceful.
Eric
Hi,
I did this route (in reverse, coming from Bangladesh) in 2011. Traveled around in Iran, then on to Armenia and Georgia by hitchhiking and bus. Crossed the Black Sea by freighter ship to Bulgaria, cost was around 100$. From there I went to Slovenia through most ex-Yu republics and bought an Interrail card there, which got me home to Sweden. This took me about 2 months counting from the Iranian border.
My modes of transport were hitchhiking, bus and train. Not sure about the carbon footprint, but I suspect the freighter ship was not the most environmental-friendly option. Hopefully it still was better than flying. One of the best trips I’ve ever taken. Safe, fun and generally amazing. Glad to see other people are doing it in 2018.
earthwanderess
What an amazing journey that sounds like, Eric!