I had first visited Iraq back in 2012, and the following year, Wild Frontiers ran a few trips to the Kurdistan region (aka the mountainous semi-autonomous northern third of the country) until we had to cease operations in 2014 due to increasing security concerns.

Having been intrigued by what I’d seen and experienced in the north, I’d always wanted to return to visit more of the country and in early 2025 I did just that, completing a lifelong dream of effectively travelling upstream along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers from Basra in the south to Baghdad, and finally Mosul in the north.

Now, admittedly, Basra, Baghdad and Mosul are not places that typically find their way into most people’s travel itineraries and in a game of word-association, it’s impossible to mention these names and not think of war and tragedy. But I’d become aware of an increasing number of people who were travelling to Iraq to see how it was rebuilding itself in the years following the devastation of the previous decade, and I wanted to see this for myself and to decide if now was the time for Wild Frontiers to return also.

As to what I found, let’s start with antiquity as…well, let’s just say that there’s a lot of it to be found in Iraq. This was after all Ancient Mesopotamia – as confirmed by the “Welcome to Mesopotamia” message proudly stamped across the top of my visa, and home to the lands that gave us the Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian Empires. Gazing upon the ancient ziggurat of Ur and seeing the ancient lapis lazuli-faced walls of Uruk (a city which peaked in the 4th millennium BC and from which the modern country has taken its name) were experiences I’d long yearned to have and which did not disappoint. Given the sheer quantity and size of Iraq’s ancient sites, it would be possible to spend several days (if not weeks and months) exploring them fully, but I wanted to see more than just what used to exist in the country; I wanted to see what was happening in the country now.

And here’s where the holy shrines of Najaf and Karbala came into play, for while their importance might date back over 1300 years to the early years of Islam, they are absolutely buzzing today with Shia visitors from all over the world coming to pay their respects. At times, the crowds were not for the faint-hearted (think the Central Line of the London Underground during rush hour), but it was always kind and welcoming. I was particularly taken by the security guards who would ensure people kept moving and didn’t dawdle by gently tapping them on the shoulder…with a giant feather.

Baghdad, too, was full of life, and it was here that Iraq’s oil (the second item noted as being possible to discover when digging a hole in Iraq’s soil) and the money that comes from it became evident. I learnt that in the last 5 years, no fewer than 20 bridges (!) have been built over the Tigris, and luxury dining and entertainment complexes such as the Dijlah Village were truly fascinating to see because they were absolutely not what I was expecting to see in Iraq. I had evidently forgotten that despite the awful challenges of the last few decades, Iraq was still one of the world’s largest oil producers and that the country was far from being a financial basket case that would forever be dependent on Western aid.

And then there are the mass graves, the existence of which haunts Iraqis and, in my opinion, should haunt any traveller visiting the country.

For when it comes to Iraq’s recent past you can take your pick as to what tragedy to mourn, be it the oppression of the Kurds under Saddam and the Ba’ath Party (arguably felt most keenly at the Barzani National Memorial or the Amna Suraka Red Security Museum in Sulaymaniyah) or the huge loss of life experienced in any one of the major wars fought on Iraqi soil since 1980.

My most lasting impression in this regard came from Mosul. I recalled all too well the scenes of the city to which Daesh had laid waste and while the horror of the last decade is still to be found in pockets all around the city (not least in the memories of the city’s inhabitants such as Mohaned and Mohammed with whom I spoke for some time about what life had actually been like under the terror group) I was equally amazed and inspired to see the restoration work that is progressing at speed in projects such as UNESCO’s Revive The Spirit of Mosul campaign. Churches, mosques, houses, streets, bridges, restaurants, and whole districts were all being rebuilt. And not just as prefabricated emergency measures, but seemingly, to my mind at any rate, with a view to last for many many years to come.

So that’s ultimately why I think now is a great time to visit Iraq. It’s certainly not an easy destination (think power cuts, horrendous traffic jams and lots of security checkpoints) and it does contravene British FCDO advice, meaning that amongst other things you’ll need special travel insurance, but I was left with an enduring sense of optimism. Iraq has been through hell for much of the last few decades. But it has so much to offer the genuinely interested and curious traveller that whether you’re drawn more to the antiquities of Iraq’s past or more to its recent history and contemporary developments, it is undeniably a unique destination whose best days may not be that far away.