Qazvin is only 150 kilometers away form Tehran or IKEA airport. Then normally the travelers choose this town as a beginning or finishing point of their trip next to a one or multi-day trip to Alamut Valley.
This old-times-capital of Iran, in terms of monuments can offer a lot to see :
Vegetarian Travelers to Iran
Besides from the historical sites, you can have a nice time walking around the streets of the town or you can rent a bicycle in Qazvin!
The station for renting the bicycles which is called "Salamat" (meaning: Health) is located at the northern edge of the town 
, next to one of the roads ending up in Alamut Valley. There is this special cycling and walking/jogging path next to this road. This trail can be specially busy on our weekends i.e. Thursdays and Fridays. You can take the bicycles to wherever you want, no limit!
When you are at this spot at the time of lunch or dinner, you are very close to one of the best restaurants in Qazvin, i.e. Talare Shahr. The address and the info is presented in our other post:
Eating in Qazvin
There is a point: Clothing Code.
When cycling or jogging in an open air, the clothing for woman should cover the hip part of the body and they should wear a scarf or a cape/helmet covering their hair (as far as possible 🙂 ). What if it does not? Police? About this code, we are not talking about legal limits but the cultural look.
Mr. Abbas Hoseini the manager of this station or his assistant can help you to choose the bicycle that fits you. You can trust them on this.
His Contact number: +989121826602
He is present on whatsapp as well. Please ask your hotel or a local call him before your moving from the town to this spot to make sure they are there.
What do you need to rent a bicycle?
You will need to fill in a form including your ID and contact info. Then you need to leave a deposit for each bicycle you take. This deposit can be your passport or 100 Euro/USD.
How to get there?
If you are going from the town to the station, you can ask your hotel to call for a taxi, or you can take the yellow shared savaris. Since the station is located in front of Azad University of Qazvin, you should go for the savaris taking students to this university.
These Savaris are at two main spots in Qazvin:
- Azadi sq (Sabzeh Meydan) - Farsi : سبزه میدان
- Vali-Asr Intersection - Farsi: چهار راه ولیعصر
We used to have an integrated taxi system called 133. So if you asked the hotel receptionist or a shop or some Iranian person calling this number for you, there would be a taxi coming in some 5 minutes. This system is quite governmental, and has an integrated system of fair for the taxis. They receive the money based on the kilometers and distance.
Recently there came a new system of taxis. It is called Snapp. This company is very similar to Uber. You need to download the application on you mobile phone for free and the remaining is quite easy. This transport company offers cheaper prices and a little less quality/older cars as well. But they are ok for a short trip inside the town.
Caution: No matter what system of transport you take in Iran, please do not grab a private car just our of your hotel next to the road. By private car we mean the cars which are not Taxis or are not organized by a system like 133 or Snapp.
The legal taxis in Qazvin are yellow. The color may change from city to city to green or orange. But by asking a hotel receptionist of a local person, you can easily get the idea.
If you take your cars from these transport companies or integrated systems, in the cases of you forgetting your stuff in the car or any kind of bad driving, they can be traced. Normally all of them have a three or four digit number written on the rear window. In the times of need, feel free to take a picture with your mobile from that number or from the number plate!
Cycling in Alamut Valley is also possible: http://valleyofassassins.com/en/cycling-in-alamut-iran/
Contact in Farsi:
The contact info of this station is presented here in Farsi for the time your helping agent does not speak English:
Address: قزوین - ابتدای جاده باراجین - مقابل دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی قزوین - ایستگاه دوچرخه سلامت
Contact: 09127821562 آقای عباس حسینی
Many thanks to: Massoud Jalali Abbas Hoseini Photos by: Hosein Farhady
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