Question: I am planning to visit Iran as I almost got the visa through an Iranian friend. As Italian I heard about the legendary Persian hospitality and has always been my dream to visit this country.

Now I am facing some practical problems as "the Credit Card" issue.

Does anyone know which is the real situation ? Is it really impossible to find ATM Machines and pay the Hotel with credit card ?

And also what about the language ? What is the average english level of the population ?

What is the suggestion to move around the cities as Tehran, Shiraz, Eshfan ? What is the cost of the air ticket or other transportation ?

The road sign are in both languages or just in farsi ?

Thanks to anyone could help me !

Answer: The only solution is to bring enough cash (EUR or USD) in Iran. There are a lot of banks (sometimes exchange offices) in every town and you can change money there with no problems.

There are not many people speaking English. Some people speak like natives but most people know the same set of basic words. Mostly the youth I the urban areas can speak a little English.  On the other hand, people are really helpful even though they do not speak English so we had no problems with understanding.

Transportation is the cheapest thing in Iran. Overnight trains and buses are suggested (e.g. sleeper train Tehran-Yazd = 8USD). Both are very comfortable.