---
title: "Arbil – what to see, and every way to get there | Mixroutes"
description: "How to get to Arbil from Kirkuk, Baghdad and Najaf: every way compared, with today's quickest and its fare. Erbil, also called Hawler, is the capital and…"
url: "https://www.mixroutes.com/places/arbil"
markdown: "https://www.mixroutes.com/places/arbil.md"
image: "https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a8/Shar_Park%2C_Hawler%2C_Erbil_Governorate%2C_Iraq.jpg/3840px-Shar_Park%2C_Hawler%2C_Erbil_Governorate%2C_Iraq.jpg"
---

![Arbil](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a8/Shar_Park%2C_Hawler%2C_Erbil_Governorate%2C_Iraq.jpg/3840px-Shar_Park%2C_Hawler%2C_Erbil_Governorate%2C_Iraq.jpg)

# Arbil

Erbil, also called Hawler, is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the capital of the Erbil Governorate.

[Plan a trip to Arbil](https://www.mixroutes.com/?to=Arbil) [From Kirkuk](https://www.mixroutes.com/results?from=Kirkuk&to=Arbil)

## Every way there

- Kirkuk → Arbil 87 km · quickest by road, 1h 26m · $8–10 [Guide](https://www.mixroutes.com/routes/kirkuk-to-arbil) [Today](https://www.mixroutes.com/results?from=Kirkuk&to=Arbil)
- Baghdad → Arbil 319 km · quickest by road, 4h 36m · $28–39 [Guide](https://www.mixroutes.com/routes/baghdad-to-arbil) [Today](https://www.mixroutes.com/results?from=Baghdad&to=Arbil)
- Najaf → Arbil 464 km · quickest by road, 6h 50m · $42–60 [Guide](https://www.mixroutes.com/routes/najaf-to-arbil) [Today](https://www.mixroutes.com/results?from=Najaf&to=Arbil)

Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.

The field note

What is in and around Arbil, ranked by how widely it is written about, how you reach it, and the nearest places where we have researched how people move.

[Read the note on Arbil](https://www.mixroutes.com/notes/arbil)

What Arbil has

- Y Scheduled flights Arbil (EBL), 8 km
- N Trains and coaches no timetable feed known for this country
- N Ferries no crossing within 25 km
- Y Driving and taxi OpenStreetMap roads; cab fare from the country band
- N Bike and scooter share no share feed known
- N Cruises no open itinerary source anywhere

Y routable now · F found, not yet implemented · N no source known. Nearest place with more: Khasnahzān, 12 km.

36.191°, 44.009°

Erbil is described as the region's cultural, economic, industrial, educational and medical hub.

Get in

## Getting to Arbil

Comprehensive and up to date info on visa requirements and cost can be found in the article Iraqi Kurdistan under Get in.

1. Erbil International Airport Serves Northern Iraq with a growing number of international airlines.
2. Erbil International General Terminal

See

## Worth seeing

1. Citadel of Erbil
2. Grand Mosque Erbil's historic central mosque, still open despite renovations on the Citadel.
3. Kurdish Textile Museum
4. Erbil Gem Museum 52R5+3H.
5. Mudhafaria Minaret
6. Qaysari Market

Do

## Things to do

Stroll around in the deserted city inside the citadel in the centre of Erbil. Hundreds of houses that appears to have been abandoned in a hurry. Walk into the court yards, sleeping rooms and bed rooms or up to the rooftop terraces to enjoy a spectacular panorama of Erbil or ponder what life might have been in this place before the inhabitants were repopulated.

1. Erbil Marathon Sami Abdulrahman Park, info@erbilmarathon.krd.

Eat

## Where to eat

Many good restaurants exist in Erbil. However, the vast majority serve kebabs and chicken, with some Lebanese and Turkish restaurants. Options for foreign food are limited. Most restaurants, except those in high-end hotels, do not serve alcohol or accept credit cards. Iskan Street. Popular street lined with cheap Kurdish and Turkish kebab shops, as well as one of the center of (male) social gathering.

1. Kebab Yasin
2. Dawa 2

How locals move

## Getting around Arbil the local way

- Get around Compared with other cities in the Middle East, shared taxis and buses are very infrequent and impractical.

From [Wikivoyage: Erbil](https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Erbil), CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erbil) and [Wikivoyage](https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Erbil), CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.


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