My visit to the Golestan Palace got off to a bit of a rocky start. It was 15 minutes after 'opening' time, and while there was already a line of foreign and local tourists waiting to go in, the man at the desk resolutely ignored everyone. Eventually, another man appeared, 'coincidentally' at the exact same time as a large French tour group, to start issuing tickets. He seemed offended when I wanted to be served before them, even though I'd been in line for 20 minutes.

The ticketing process itself is pretty arcane. Base entry price (circa April 2016) was 150, 000 rial (5USDish), a ticket to see the main attractions (the throne, hall of mirrors, etc) another 150, 000, and eight (!!!) other rooms (such as Persian paintings, European paintings, royal gifts) each costing 80, 000 and requiring their own printed ticket. The total price for everything was 940, 000 rial, or something like 30USD. I declined this offer, and settled on the two main tickets.

The garden area is pleasant enough, but not spectacular. The ornate throne room is covered by scaffolding and a large fabric curtain, but the guards did not mind me peeking my head and camera through the middle. I've seen perhaps too many European palaces in my time to still be enthused by opulent room interiors, and the Golestan Palace isn't really an exception. It was explicitly inspired by a visit from.the Shah to Versailles, and is inscribed for its nature as a Persian adaptation of European art and architecture, so it felt pretty familiar.

My favourite part was the painted tilework on the garden walls, with many regal boys with very bored-looking faces. The loudspeakers blaring what I assume to be inspirational nationalistic music was fun too.