Experience Iraq

Iraq is more than ruins: a generous table, crafts centuries old, and seasons that make every month a different journey.

The Iraqi table

Dishes no trip is complete without

Masgouf
Carp split open and slow-grilled upright around a wood fire, Baghdad’s signature dish on the Tigris.
Try it at: Abu Nuwas Street
Dolma
Vegetables and vine leaves stuffed with rice and meat and cooked sour: the queen of the Friday family table.
Quzi
Lamb slow-cooked and served on rice with nuts and raisins: the dish of feasts and weddings.
Tashreeb
Bread soaked in a meat or chicken broth: warm home cooking Iraqis love in winter and Ramadan.
Kleicha
Iraqi cookies filled with dates or walnuts and cardamom: the smell of Eid in every home.
Kahi and geymar
Clotted water-buffalo cream with crisp pastry and date syrup: Baghdad’s breakfast.
Try it at: The Marshes
Samoon
Diamond-shaped bread hot from stone ovens, partner to every meal and every falafel wrap.
Kebab
Minced meat on skewers over charcoal, each city with its own style, from Fallujah to Erbil.
Try it at: Fallujah
Barhi dates
Iraq is the land of the palm, and yellow Barhi is among its sweetest dates, eaten fresh in autumn.
Try it at: Shatt al-Arab

Food photos: Al Jazeera English · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0 | Abdulsalam Al Dabbagh · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 | Slayym · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 | Samsule2 · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Iraq through the year

Every season has its own face; choose when to come

March
Newroz
On 21 March fires blaze on Kurdistan’s peaks; the loveliest is the torch procession up the mountain at Akre.
Akre →
April – May
Waterfalls at their fullest
Snowmelt fills Gali Ali Beg and Bekhal, and every hillside turns green.
Gali Ali Beg →
Ramadan
Ramadan nights
Its dates move each year; Baghdad stays up until suhoor, and Eid arrives with trays of kleicha.
Al-Mutanabbi Street →
June – August
Escape to the mountains
When the southern heat peaks, people head up to Shaqlawa, Zawita and Lake Dukan.
Shaqlawa →
Arbaeen
The Arbaeen walk
On 20 Safar millions walk to Karbala, and roadside mawakib feed passers-by for free.
The shrines of Karbala →
August – October
Date harvest
Basra’s dates ripen along the Shatt al-Arab: Barhi, Khastawi and Zahdi.
Shatt al-Arab →
Autumn
The Feast of the Assembly
Each autumn Yazidis gather in the Lalish valley for their most important feast.
Lalish →
November – February
Birds of the marshes
Thousands of migrating birds settle in the marshes and Dalmaj; winter is the best season for boat trips.
Dalmaj Marsh →
December
Christmas in Ankawa
Ankawa, Alqosh and the Nineveh Plain villages fill with lights, and churches with midnight Mass.
Ankawa →
January – February
Kurdistan snow
Snow blankets Penjwen, Halgurd and Korek, and Iraqis come up from the south to see it, many for the first time.
Mount Halgurd →

Iraqi arts and crafts

Arts and crafts centuries old

The Iraqi Maqam
A classical Baghdadi vocal art listed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage of humanity, still sung in cafés and concerts.
The Qishla →
Amarah silver
Mandaean silversmiths famed for engraving silver with black niello, a craft handed down in Maysan and Baghdad.
The shanasheel of Amarah →
Kurdish kilims
Hand-woven rugs with colours and patterns for every village, preserved today by the Textile Museum in Erbil Citadel.
Kurdish Textile Museum →
The coppersmiths’ market
Suq al-Safafir near al-Mustansiriya, where craftsmen have hammered copper pots and jugs for centuries.
Al-Mustansiriya Madrasa →
The mudhif
A guesthouse of arched reeds built in the marshes without a single nail, just as it appears on Sumerian seals.
The Marshes →
Shanasheel woodwork
Carpenters crafted the latticed wooden balconies of old Basra, and workshops today are restoring them.
Old Basra’s shanasheel →