Saddam Tour: Explore Saddam’s palaces, hometown, monuments and the last remaining statue

Day 1: Baghdad

Visit the century-old juice shop that serves refreshing raisin juice and which was visited by Iraqi kings and presidents, including Saddam Hussein. He came to the shop accompanied by King Hussein bin Talal and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat during the Arab Summit held in 1990 in Baghdad.
Pass through Victory Arch, two sets of enormous crossed swords that mark the entrance to the parade ground near the Green Zone. The hands holding the swords are modeled after Saddam Hussein’s.
Marvel at the Martyr Monument, a blue split dome built as a memorial for the fallen Iraqi soldiers and officers during the eight-year war against Iran. It is one of the top highlights in Baghdad and was built by Saddam in 1983.
Explore the grand al-Rahman Mosque, an unfinished structure, began construction in 1999 but was halted following the US-led invasion. One of two huge unfinished mosques in Baghdad and Mosul, ordered construction by Saddam.
End at Firdos Square, where Saddam’s bronze statue was pulled down. It was erected in April 2002, a year before the fall of his regime, to mark his 65th birthday.

Day 2: Babylon

On your second day, we will make a day trip to Babylon to explore the following:
Explore Saddam’s abandoned palace and its grandeur. We will walk through its numerous rooms and halls and see the famed ceiling fresco in the throne room that tells Iraq’s history.
See Saddam’s last remaining portrait-statue, erected in 1995, which withstood attempts by the American military to demolish it.
Stop by Saddam’s favorite palm tree near the ruins of Babylon.
Explore the original lower part of the Ishtar Gate and The Lion of Babylon, a 2600-year-old black basalt statue of a lion trampling a man.
Stroll through the reconstructed palace of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II, seeing some ancient bricks stamped with cuneiform writing.
Head back to Baghdad.

Day 3: Tikrit

On day three, we will drive to Saddam’s hometown.
To see Saddam Hussein’s huge palace complex in Tikrit, built in the 1990s.
Pass from al-Auja village, where Saddam was born.
Pass from the town where Saddam’s hiding place was found.
Visit Samarra to explore the UNESCO Heritage Sites, including the 9th-century spiral Malwiya Minaret of the Great Mosque of Samarra.
Another spiral minaret of Abu Delaf Mosque, standing at a height of around 30 meters, built in 859 AD of baked bricks by the Abbasid caliph Al-Mutawakkil.
Return to Baghdad.

The Tour includes:

Experienced tour guide with a deep interest in Iraq’s history.
Modern car with a private driver for transportation.
Airport pickup & drop-off.
A pre-trip video call to explain the details of the trip and to learn basic Iraqi phrases and cultural practices.

It doesn’t include: