Most people would not think of Iraq as a travel destination. Baghdad was recently judged "the worst city in the world," which I am not sure it deserved even though it's a bit dangerous. But Baghdad and Fallujah are not the only places in Iraq.
There are places in Iraq that are safer than some of the destinations listed on this forum, like Bogota or Rio. These places are in the "Kurdish region," which is autonomously ruled by the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and in the north of Iraq. Erbil (Hawler in Kurdish) is the capital of the KRG, with its own parliament and ministries. It is pretty much a separate country from the rest of Iraq. Their security services do an amazing job of keeping the place peaceful, when you consider that one of the most dangerous cities, Mosul, is only 100 km away.
Getting there:
You can fly to Erbil on Lufthansa, Austrian and several other airlines, Royal Jordanian, Emirates, Turkish, Pegasus, Qatar, Air Arabia, FlyDubai, Iraqi, etc., see
http://www.erbilairport.net/Main/Main.aspx
Iraqi Airways flies from Istanbul and is often pretty cheap, but you have to go to a travel agent to get a ticket and their schedules are "flexible."
I don't know anything about the overland route from Turkey, but I think Chaos did it.
Visas:
USA, Canada, Australia, NZ, Japan, S. Korea and EU can get visas on arrival. Entry is for 15 days, which is enough for a good tour of the KRG if you want. I had no questions when I presented my US passport.
Hotels:
There has been a boom of hotel construction in Erbil, lots of new hotels in the $100 per night range, some less. Some are listed on Bookings.com or Agoda. If you want to go out at night and drink you should stay in or near Ainkawa, which is a suburb of Erbil mostly populated by Christians, so most of the nightlife is there. The Noble Hotel, the Sun Palace, the Classy Hotel and others are in Ainkawa.
The best/most expensive hotels, the Rotana and the Divan, are also near Ainkawa.
Nightlife:
This would not be a big swooping destination, but it is possible, mostly with the expats. Bear in mind that there are reportedly more "honor killings" proportionally in Kurdistan than in other parts of Iraq. The family of a dishonored girl will also cut your dick or balls off - it happens.
There are few nightlife destinations.
Deutscher Hof on Thursday evenings. This is a German restaurant run by a foundation. They have imported German beer on tap. The food is OK, not as good as it used to be. On Thursday they have a barbeque buffet and a firepit outside in the cooler weather.
It draws a nice crowd of expats, including some attractive women who are working as teachers and in the international businesses. It's also a place to network if you are trying to find a job in the growing oil exploration and production industry or elsewhere in the KRG.
Skybar at the Noble Hotel. This place draws more of a local crowd, so if you wanted to get a local girl, this or the malls would be your best bet. Mostly couples and groups, though. It has a DJ.
T Bar. This is in Ainkawa, a short walk from both the Deutcher Hof and the Skybar. It's the closest thing to a regular bar I've seen.
On Monday they have a Quiz Night in English for expats. It's a good opportunity to meet people, you can definitely score among the number of expat business, teacher and NGO women who show up. Also another opportunity to network for a job.
Divan Hotel bar: This is on the upper floor of this new 4-star hotel. Draws a lot of resident expats of the older manager/owner types, with a few women.
RJ's Irish pub: This is in a newer hotel in Ainkawa, can't remember the name, but you can walk from T Bar to it, about ten blocks north.
Not really Irish, more like a bare room with a DJ. I was not there long, a mixed expat, local, Lebanese and other Arab crowd. I did see some Lebanese-type hotties waiting to get as I was leaving and almost turned around, so definitely worth checking out.
Bar at the US consulate: This is very near T Bar across the street. Generally open on Thursday night, draws a few expat women all of the time, you have to go through security procedures which are subject to change.
Iskan Street: Definitely not a place of swooping but worth visiting for a cultural experience. It's closer to the center or Erbil, busy with tea shops and restaurants. 100% male except for old lady beggars and the occasional wife walking down the street with her husband.
There are bars at the Rotana and the Erbil International and other hotels, but not really a scene that I know of at any of them. The Rotana draws the oil and businesspeople, so another place for networking.
Jobs: Erbil and the KRG are booming. There are many oil exploration and production firms operating in the region, some are hiring. There are also teaching jobs at universities available. Emaar is planning a huge "Downtown Erbil" development, a smaller version of Downtown Dubai. You might be able to find a job there, a lot of the usual websites listed by Scotian on his oilsands thread also list jobs in Erbil.
Things to see: It's worth going to for the history. Erbil is said to be the oldest city in continuous habitation, like 6000 years old. The Citadel is the old city. I talked to a British archaeologist working for UNESCO who said the height of the Citadel is because it's been built on the ruins and refuse of the previous 6000 years of habituation. The Souk, which has recently been renovated, is next to the Citadel, and there is a nice public square there also.
![[Image: 13092566335.jpg]](http://www.traveliraqikurdistan.com/files/13092566335.jpg)
Citadel from http://www.traveliraqikurdistan.com
Another good picture, with the Souk (left) and the Square:
.jpg]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AkBotRUrB7k/UXrOuh5IeeI/AAAAAAAABHU/1o96DtWXR-g/s1600/photo-hewler-park-erbil-iraq-33925-xl[1].jpg
Malls: There are a few malls in Erbil, Family Mall is the biggest. There's a movie theater there.
![[Image: 10235040_family%20mall%20arbil.jpg]](http://www.altahreernews.com/inp/Upload/10235040_family%20mall%20arbil.jpg)
Family Mall
There is also Majidi Mall, I haven't been there.
![[Image: Majidi_Mall__2010_12_04_h23m53s15__HA.jpg]](http://www.krg.org/grafik/uploaded/2010/Majidi_Mall__2010_12_04_h23m53s15__HA.jpg)
It's possible to talk to women in these malls. You will not get your dick cut off right away, but be discreet for their sake.
Sulymaniyah and Dohuk: The other cities in the KRG. Both are also developing rapidly. Not as much to do as Erbil, in my opinion, but some people prefer Sulymaniyah. You'll have to hire a driver to get you there, or there are also vans and buses, but I don't have the details on bus service.
Taxis: there are a lot of taxis in Erbil. I found taxi drivers in Erbil to be pretty honest and service is cheap.
Security: As I said, it is considered to be pretty safe, but again, it's only 100 km from Mosul and you want to be aware of your surroundings and not be staggering around drunk or behaving in a way that would offend the locals.
There are places in Iraq that are safer than some of the destinations listed on this forum, like Bogota or Rio. These places are in the "Kurdish region," which is autonomously ruled by the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and in the north of Iraq. Erbil (Hawler in Kurdish) is the capital of the KRG, with its own parliament and ministries. It is pretty much a separate country from the rest of Iraq. Their security services do an amazing job of keeping the place peaceful, when you consider that one of the most dangerous cities, Mosul, is only 100 km away.
Getting there:
You can fly to Erbil on Lufthansa, Austrian and several other airlines, Royal Jordanian, Emirates, Turkish, Pegasus, Qatar, Air Arabia, FlyDubai, Iraqi, etc., see
http://www.erbilairport.net/Main/Main.aspx
Iraqi Airways flies from Istanbul and is often pretty cheap, but you have to go to a travel agent to get a ticket and their schedules are "flexible."
I don't know anything about the overland route from Turkey, but I think Chaos did it.
Visas:
USA, Canada, Australia, NZ, Japan, S. Korea and EU can get visas on arrival. Entry is for 15 days, which is enough for a good tour of the KRG if you want. I had no questions when I presented my US passport.
Hotels:
There has been a boom of hotel construction in Erbil, lots of new hotels in the $100 per night range, some less. Some are listed on Bookings.com or Agoda. If you want to go out at night and drink you should stay in or near Ainkawa, which is a suburb of Erbil mostly populated by Christians, so most of the nightlife is there. The Noble Hotel, the Sun Palace, the Classy Hotel and others are in Ainkawa.
The best/most expensive hotels, the Rotana and the Divan, are also near Ainkawa.
Nightlife:
This would not be a big swooping destination, but it is possible, mostly with the expats. Bear in mind that there are reportedly more "honor killings" proportionally in Kurdistan than in other parts of Iraq. The family of a dishonored girl will also cut your dick or balls off - it happens.
There are few nightlife destinations.
Deutscher Hof on Thursday evenings. This is a German restaurant run by a foundation. They have imported German beer on tap. The food is OK, not as good as it used to be. On Thursday they have a barbeque buffet and a firepit outside in the cooler weather.
It draws a nice crowd of expats, including some attractive women who are working as teachers and in the international businesses. It's also a place to network if you are trying to find a job in the growing oil exploration and production industry or elsewhere in the KRG.
Skybar at the Noble Hotel. This place draws more of a local crowd, so if you wanted to get a local girl, this or the malls would be your best bet. Mostly couples and groups, though. It has a DJ.
T Bar. This is in Ainkawa, a short walk from both the Deutcher Hof and the Skybar. It's the closest thing to a regular bar I've seen.
On Monday they have a Quiz Night in English for expats. It's a good opportunity to meet people, you can definitely score among the number of expat business, teacher and NGO women who show up. Also another opportunity to network for a job.
Divan Hotel bar: This is on the upper floor of this new 4-star hotel. Draws a lot of resident expats of the older manager/owner types, with a few women.
RJ's Irish pub: This is in a newer hotel in Ainkawa, can't remember the name, but you can walk from T Bar to it, about ten blocks north.
Not really Irish, more like a bare room with a DJ. I was not there long, a mixed expat, local, Lebanese and other Arab crowd. I did see some Lebanese-type hotties waiting to get as I was leaving and almost turned around, so definitely worth checking out.
Bar at the US consulate: This is very near T Bar across the street. Generally open on Thursday night, draws a few expat women all of the time, you have to go through security procedures which are subject to change.
Iskan Street: Definitely not a place of swooping but worth visiting for a cultural experience. It's closer to the center or Erbil, busy with tea shops and restaurants. 100% male except for old lady beggars and the occasional wife walking down the street with her husband.
There are bars at the Rotana and the Erbil International and other hotels, but not really a scene that I know of at any of them. The Rotana draws the oil and businesspeople, so another place for networking.
Jobs: Erbil and the KRG are booming. There are many oil exploration and production firms operating in the region, some are hiring. There are also teaching jobs at universities available. Emaar is planning a huge "Downtown Erbil" development, a smaller version of Downtown Dubai. You might be able to find a job there, a lot of the usual websites listed by Scotian on his oilsands thread also list jobs in Erbil.
Things to see: It's worth going to for the history. Erbil is said to be the oldest city in continuous habitation, like 6000 years old. The Citadel is the old city. I talked to a British archaeologist working for UNESCO who said the height of the Citadel is because it's been built on the ruins and refuse of the previous 6000 years of habituation. The Souk, which has recently been renovated, is next to the Citadel, and there is a nice public square there also.
Citadel from http://www.traveliraqikurdistan.com
Another good picture, with the Souk (left) and the Square:
.jpg]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AkBotRUrB7k/UXrOuh5IeeI/AAAAAAAABHU/1o96DtWXR-g/s1600/photo-hewler-park-erbil-iraq-33925-xl[1].jpg
Malls: There are a few malls in Erbil, Family Mall is the biggest. There's a movie theater there.
Family Mall
There is also Majidi Mall, I haven't been there.
It's possible to talk to women in these malls. You will not get your dick cut off right away, but be discreet for their sake.
Sulymaniyah and Dohuk: The other cities in the KRG. Both are also developing rapidly. Not as much to do as Erbil, in my opinion, but some people prefer Sulymaniyah. You'll have to hire a driver to get you there, or there are also vans and buses, but I don't have the details on bus service.
Taxis: there are a lot of taxis in Erbil. I found taxi drivers in Erbil to be pretty honest and service is cheap.
Security: As I said, it is considered to be pretty safe, but again, it's only 100 km from Mosul and you want to be aware of your surroundings and not be staggering around drunk or behaving in a way that would offend the locals.