A guide on crossing the Armenia – Iran border crossing of Agarak and Norduz. Includes information on what to prepare, transport to and from the border, prices, and onwards travel into Iran.
Crossing the border from Armenia to Iran via the Agarak and Norduz crossing is relatively relaxed, compared to reports we’ve heard for other borders. The only (small) issues are that the crossing is a bit time consuming, and there is no public transport that can take you all the way across the border and on to the next city if you’re leaving from Meghri or Kapan.
Before you cross the border between Armenia and Iran
Ensure that you have your Iranian visa organized ahead of time. Visas on arrival are only issued at airports, not at land border crossings.
If you need visa support, contact 1stQuest. Make sure to use promo code LWP-QST to get a 5% discount.
Also ensure that you have your US dollars ready for your entire trip, as there are no international ATMs in Iran at the time of writing.
Ladies, make sure to be dressed modestly. That means:
- Closed shoes
- Long pants
- A shirt/dress/tunic/something that is loose-fitting and covers at least your butt
- Definitely absolutely no short sleeves or tank tops
- Bring your headscarf, and be prepared to put it on before entering Iran. You can show a bit of hair, just make sure it won’t fall off while you’re crossing!
Lastly, don’t take any pictures at the border crossing. This area is sensitive, as there has been a lot of violence along the border areas due to the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict. You’re not in danger, but they will be more suspicious of people with cameras than usual. Don’t try your luck.
Getting to Agarak and the Armenia – Iran border crossing
We headed to Agarak from Meghri, the closest “major” town near the Armenian – Iranian border. There are no marshrutky or buses that go to the border from Meghri, so you’ll have to take a taxi. It’s a 15-minute drive, and we paid 2,000 AMD for two people. You might be able to get a ride for a bit less if you bargain harder, or you can also to hitchhike to the border.
Exiting Armenia at Agarak
Leaving Armenia was a more irritating process than entering Iran. The border station waiting area is filled with people lolling about doing nothing in particular, and the people “working” the desks were not much better.
After waiting for someone to show up to run our backpacks through the x-ray machine, we headed to the passport control desks, where there were several young girls and a boy hanging around outside of the booths. After blocking the gate and staring at us nonchalantly for a minute or two, they eventually returned to the booth and checked our passports (while making fun of us and lazily flipping through the pages over and over again).
Aside from the annoyance, there were no actual issues. You get your exit stamp, there is no exit fee, and then customs guard asks a few standard questions: where you’re from, where in Iran you’re going, what you do for your work, etc. Stick to major tourist sites for your Iran itinerary, and if you’re a journalist or in the media of some sort, come up with a different job title for yourself to avoid suspicion.
Then, outwards and onwards to Iran!
Entering Iran at Norduz
It’s about a half kilometer walk to the Iranian border checkpoint. Ladies, use this time to put on your hijab/head covering.
There are 3 checkpoints you must go through. The first is one man sitting in a booth outside to ask where in Iran you’re going. Just give him generic destinations: Tabriz, Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz. Don’t get too detailed, keep things simple and friendly.
The second is a man who, after scrutinizing your passport for a very long time (in our case, he was definitely just struggling to decipher the front of the passport–“The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” is indeed a doozy), will give you a stamp without many questions.
The last point is a customs official who asks the standard questions again: where are you from, what do you do for your work, what is your father’s name, where in Iran will you be going? Again, just be friendly, and don’t be too complicated about things. Same rules apply as the interview when exiting Armenia. Though the people are moving slowly and seemingly deliberately, they’re not doing it to freak you out… they’re just slow.
There are money exchanges and some small food/drink vendors at the border if you need them. The taxi drivers at the border will take US dollars, so technically there’s no need to exchange then and there.
Going to Iran? Make sure to check our article on things you need to know before going to Iran!
Leaving the Norduz border crossing
We took a taxi from the Norduz border crossing to Jolfa, as there are no buses of any sort to be found. After a bit of bargaining via an old Iranian man that spoke German (no one spoke any English), we paid $15 for two people to Jolfa, and the ride was about an hour. If you walk completely outside of the border complex, it might be a couple of dollars cheaper to get a taxi.
Jolfa is another small border crossing town, which serves an Iran-Azerbaijan border crossing. There’s an Armenian church that you can visit, but we decided to pass, and head on to Tabriz, having already had our fair share of churches in Armenia.
Getting to Tabriz from the Armenia – Iran border
To get to Tabriz, you must take a shared taxi from the taxi stand in Jolfa, as there are no buses from Jolfa. The taxi driver from the border dropped us off at the Jolfa taxi stand, where we waited for others to fill the taxi. We paid $10 for two people, and the ride took little over 2 hours.
The taxi stand at Jolfa is just a line of yellow/Peugeot brand cars, basically.
Once in Tabriz, we were dropped off at a bus terminal outside of the city center, where we had to take another taxi. The driver quoted 105,000 rials, which we got down to 80,000. The ride to the city center was 10 or 15 minutes, and we were dropped off… somewhat close to the Darya guesthouse, where we were staying.
Have you recently crossed the border from Armenia to Iran or vice versa? What was your crossing experience like? Help us stay up-to-date!
I did this last month (August 2016) and way faster than you guys. It took less than half and hour. It was a Friday.
Got to the broder around 1 pm, the taxi driver insisted to escort me up to the x-ray machine. I passed the bag and continued to passport control. The guy there literally checked the document with a magnifying glass for around 3 minutes. The new Spanish passport is super cool since it has a page with your photo in the background made with the code of the passport repeated many many times. I think he was impressed.
I got the stamp and started walking towards the bridge but saw a magazine and bought some water. Then the Armenian guy at the beginning of the bridge asked me if I had a visa and no other questions.
On the other side there was a soldier with an AK looking pretty bored, he waived me by and when I got to the little building there were three other soldiers super amused to find a Spanish guy entering the country. They played with the passport and asked questions about Real Madrid and Barcelona football teams for 3 minutes and then one took me to the main building.
The clerk there was super friendly, welcomed me to the country, asked ZERO questions about my travel plans, and stamped me in less than 2 minutes.
I changed money at 38000 IRR/EUR and took a taxi to Tabriz for 1.1 million. Maybe slightly overpriced, but I was in a hurry. I remember I was at the hotel room around 5pm.
Thanks for the update, really useful. Glad everything went smoothly. Have fun!
I need to cross the border in the late afternoon, do you know if the border is open 24h?
Hi Michal,
We’re not 100% sure, but we think the border closes between 16:00 and 17:00. We’re pretty confident it’s not open 24/7. If you’re arriving in Meghri in the afternoon, we advice you stay there for a night and cross in the morning. Good luck!
We crossed the border one week ago at 6.45 pm, so it’s open at least till 7 . All procedures took less than 30 minutes. We traveled from Iran to Armenia.
It could be much cheaper to cover a distance between the border and Tabriz.
From Tabriz city center to the bus station in the north it costed 50000 rials vel 5000 tomans (less than 2 $) A minibus to Hadishahr is 75000 rials (less than 3$), but you can also try to find a bus or train to Julfa. From Hadishahr to the border (village Nonduz) it costs between 400 000 and 500 000 rials (but remember all taxi drivers give the price in tomans while bargaining – 1 toman = 10 rials; also sometimes just say fifty tomans instead of fifty thousands). It is better to leave the Hadishahr bus station on foot as taxi drivers usually want extra 50 000 rials for covering the distance between the station and the town centre. By the way usually taxi drivers at the bus station there are the most unpleasant guys. One of them tried to cheat us with price (we negotiated the price but he went to the city centre and said that he would like to get more money).
If you want to try hitchhiking to leave Hadishahr for Nonduz, it is better to catch cars at the eastern route (not the northern one, it was our fault).
We left Tabriz at 2.30 pm and reached the border 6.20 pm.
After crossing the border you can stay in the cheap hotel in Agarak’s outskirts or the more expensive one in the town centre or go to Meghri (75 minutes walking).
The nearest ATM in Armenia is just at the exit from the Armenian x-ray point.
From Agarak to Goris, Kapan and then to Yerevan probably every working day there is a marshrutka at 7 am (cost 5000 AMD), it is better to ask someone, e.g. from your hotel, to reserve a seat for you.
Hi there. Thanks for the detailed report. Very useful. Cheers!
Michael, by Nonduz you mean Nordooz close to Agarak?
Excuse me, Michael. I have more questions. I have traveled a lot in Iran already but not in the north and I only used buses, trains and ships. I traveled around Iran without any plan. I believe traveling in Iran is so easy. But crossing the border on land in this part of the world is totally new for me and I want to plan it. So I plan to cross the border from Armenia to Iran. This is how I plan it based on your experience.
1. Walkthrough the border from Agarak to Nordooz.
2. Nordooz – Hadishahr for 400,000 – 500,000 rial by grand taxi. Is it grand taxi? If it’s a grand taxi, why 400,000 – 500,000 rial. Grand taxis should have a fixed price per person.
3. Hadishahr to Tabriz north by minibus for 75,000 rials. By minibus you mean the marshutka style vehicles, right?
4. North Tabriz to the center of Tabriz for 50,000 rials. Not sure what you mean by the north but I guess north of Tabriz.
Thanks for the feedback.
Hi, do you know if it is possible use this border to enter Armenia from Iran with a foreign car?
Yes, it’s possible to drive through this border with a foreign car. Check to see if you need a Carnet de Passage or anything similar—that I’m not sure about for Armenia.
Hi my dear. I’m English and Turkey with Persian translators Naser Baini. VIP Taxi service. I’m ready to cooperation with you. 00989360337952.Naser. Taxi.tabriz.nb@gmail.com.
Any information on the status of the border today? Is it open or is it still closed due to COVID?
Iran is closed to tourism right now due to the pandemic, though I’ve heard people have been getting in on medical visas if they can prove they have some kind of procedure scheduled. Whether this specific border is open or not, I don’t know, though I imagine it at least has to be open for some trade.
Hi Alex,
Wonderful and very helpful post. Assuming the land border will open up by summer (July) of 2021 for fully vaccinated travelers holding United States passports and Iranian Tourist Visas with arrangements for official escort required for Americans (geopolitical craziness), what else should we keep in mind?
Nothing much that I can think of—it’s a relatively straightforward border crossing!
Hi! Do you know if border procedures are any different/faster/hassful when travelling all the way from Yerevan to Tabriz by direct bus?
I’m planning to do that as soon as tourist visas will be issued again (I’ve read from mid-July). Thank you!