Where to Stay in Karaj, Alborz Province

What is Karaj known for?

On the Karaj River at the foot of the Alborz mountains, west of Tehran, it grew from a country town into a great industrial city, and it keeps the works and factories of the plain, the old Qajar baths and shrines of its past, the dam and gorge up the river, and the mountain slopes above the town. The mountains rise to the north. Factories fill the plain.

What are the main landmarks in Karaj?

The old baths are the pride of Karaj. The Qajar baths and the Soleymanieh palace of the old town, with their tilework and courtyards, are the emblem of Karaj, downtown. A great dam holds the gorge.

The Karaj dam up the river gorge and the shrines of the town draw the visitors nearby, while the Alborz peaks, the mountain resorts, and the ski slopes mark the country around Karaj.

What is the history of Karaj?

A town stood on the river. Long ago Karaj was a country town on its river, a stop on the road that ran west from the capital under the Alborz. The Qajar kings built here.

In the Qajar age palaces, baths, and gardens rose at Karaj, a resort on the river below the mountains for the court of Tehran. The dam tamed the river. In the last century a great dam was built up the Karaj gorge, holding the mountain water for the farms and the city below.

Industry filled the plain. As Tehran grew, factories and mills and people spread west to Karaj, and it swelled into a great industrial city, and later the seat of its own Alborz province. The mountains still rise above.

Karaj keeps its city below the Alborz.

Where is Karaj?

Karaj lies in the north of Iran, below the Alborz mountains. The city sits on a high plain at the foot of the Alborz, where the Karaj River comes down from the peaks, between the mountain wall to the north and the dry plateau to the south, with the great range rising above the town and the plain running away toward Tehran. High peaks stand over the town.

The plain runs south.

What is the climate of Karaj?

Karaj has a cool, semi-arid mountain climate. Warm dry summers and cold snowy winters cross the foothills, with clear hot days in summer and deep snow on the peaks in winter. Snow blankets the high peaks.

Summer bakes the plain.

How do you get to Karaj?

Karaj lies in northern Iran, on the highway west of Tehran. The freeway and the rail run to it from Tehran, and the mountain road climbs north to the Alborz resorts. Trains cross the plain.

Tehran lies east down the road.