Basra
Where the Tigris and the Euphrates finally become one river and run for the sea — through date groves, creeks, and a port that has faced east for a thousand years.
The River That Ends at the Sea
Above Qurna the two rivers of Mesopotamia meet and become the Shatt al-Arab, and Basra spreads along the creeks that branch off it. Medieval geographers described a city crossed by boat rather than by bridge, ringed by the largest date forest in the world — which is why Sinbad sails from here in the telling, and why the port has traded east for a thousand years.
The groves thinned in the war years and some of the creeks silted up, but the geography has not moved. This is still the only coast Iraq has, still where the fish comes from, and still the doorstep of the Ahwar an hour to the north.
Continue to the AhwarBasra, practically
Heat, water and distance shape a trip to the far south more than anything else. Start with these.
When to come
November to March. Summer here is the hottest in the country and humid with it — the high forties are ordinary in July.
What to eat
River and Gulf fish, grilled or stewed, and dates in everything — including the syrup poured over gaymar at breakfast.
Getting there
Basra International takes regional flights, and both the highway and the overnight train run the length of the country to Baghdad.
Around the city
Qurna, where the two rivers meet, is an hour north. Just past it the Hammar marshes begin, and with them the road into the Ahwar.
One country, seven thousand years
No single city tells the whole story. Follow the thread onward — through the gallery of destinations, or straight into planning the trip.