Tabriz is one of Iran's cheapest big cities: the UNESCO bazaar costs nothing to enter, most shrines and mosque courtyards are free, and a filling lunch runs under 150,000 rials. Three days here, transport included, fit comfortably inside a modest daily budget.
The Seljuk-era congregational mosque attached to the bazaar's western end, with a massive brick dome chamber and Ilkhanid stucco mihrab. Entry is free for worshippers and visitors alike outside prayer times; open roughly 08:00–19:00. Women need a headscarf, chadors are lent at the door.
A Safavid mosque rebuilt in Qajar times on Tabriz's old royal square, near the Mehran river channel. The tiled portal and courtyard are free to enter, with shoe racks at the door. Locals rest here at midday; the surrounding square has free drinking-water fountains.
The colossal 14th-century brick remnant of Taj al-Din Ali Shah's mausoleum, 25 m of sheer wall rising over the city centre. The archaeological compound is normally viewable from the surrounding public plaza at no cost, and the scale reads best from the north side.
Tabriz's oldest public park, laid out in the Qajar era beside Ferdowsi Street, with plane trees, a fountain pool and chess tables. Free and open until late; families spread picnic blankets after sunset and vendors sell tea and roasted corn for a few tens of thousands of rials.
The most ornate vaulted hall of the covered bazaar, built 1880 for the carpet trade. Browsing costs nothing, and the surrounding lanes sell walnut-stuffed dates, dried apricots and nougat by weight from about 200,000 rials a kilo. Closed Fridays and public holidays.
A century-old Tabrizi confectioner famous for ghorabiye almond biscuits, loz and nougat, sold loose so you can buy 100 g rather than a box. Tarbiat is a pedestrian street, so window-shopping is free and prices are posted per kilo on the counter.
The jewellery section of the bazaar, with a domed hall of goldsmiths and small chaykhanehs tucked into the corridors. A glass of tea with a sugar cube costs around 30,000–50,000 rials, and dizi (abgusht) at the bazaar workers' canteens runs about 250,000 rials.
The pedestrian spine between Saat Square and the bazaar fills with stalls after work: kalle-pache in the morning, and by evening liver kebab sandwiches, felafel and pizza-e Tabrizi from roughly 80,000 to 150,000 rials, eaten standing at the counter.
The stepped pilgrim trail up Tabriz's northern ridge to the shrine at 1,800 m, climbed free of charge by hundreds of locals each morning. Allow 60–90 minutes up; the summit gives the full panorama of the city and the Sahand range to the south.
The city's cheapest sightseeing: a metro or BRT ticket costs roughly 5,000–10,000 rials with a rechargeable card, and the surface bus corridor runs the length of Emam Khomeini Street past the Arg and Saat Square towards the southeast suburbs.
The white cable-stayed footbridge over the Quri Chay valley links Valiasr's cafe streets with the older quarters, free to cross at any hour. The modern district below has bakeries and juice bars where a fresh carrot-ice-cream (havij bastani) is about 150,000 rials.
The ridge road on Tabriz's northeastern edge, reached by shared taxi for about 100,000 rials, looks back over the whole basin as the lights come on. No entrance fee, no ticket office — just the terraced hillside, cypress rows and a long, quiet sunset.