Shopping Around Twon

Mashhad offers an interesting selection of shopping venues, from trendy boutiques and malls to a more traditional atmosphere with its bazaars and open air & closed markets. The savvy shopper can find anything their heart desires in these places. However, few points should be keep in mind to help you get a good start:

How to pay

  • Cash & Credit Cards

    Cash & Credit Cards

    How to pay: Iran presently does not accept foreign credit cards so everything must be paid in cash using Iranian currency.
    Currency: The currency of Iran is the rial. Paper bills of Iran are printed in 5,000; 10,000; 20,000; 50,000; 100,000; 500,000; and 1,000,000 rials.
    The official name of Iran’s currency is the rial. But, in the streets it is referred to as toman and the last digit of the rial is dropped. As an example, 1,000 rial is 100 toman.

  • Man Card

    Man Card

    Nowadays, Mashhad municipality has started a system where in you can purchase a card, similar to a debit card, and use it to pay for parking and public transportation (buses and the Metro). This card is called Man Kart and can be bought and charged at Metro stations or designated kiosks around the city.

Bargaining

Traditional stores still keep a bargaining policy but nowadays this practice is becoming less common. Large stores and chain stores have a no-bargaining policy contrary to family-owned stores.