Bam has essentially one major sight: the Arg-e Bam, the great mud-brick citadel that has defined the city for two thousand years. Everything else — the date palm oases, the surrounding desert, the rebuilt city centre — exists in relation to it. The citadel alone justifies the journey, and for those with an interest in earthen architecture, pre-Islamic Persian history, or the aftermath of the 2003 earthquake and the extraordinary reconstruction effort, it is a compelling destination.
Allow a full morning or afternoon for the Arg. The scale of the complex — essentially a walled city within a city — rewards slow exploration, and the ongoing restoration work is itself worth watching.