☰Si-o-Se Pol Tea Houses

In the lower arched galleries of the Si-o-Se Pol bridge, a series of informal tea houses serve glass after glass of strong black tea to Isfahanis who come here to sit, talk, and watch the river. In the evenings — particularly on Thursday and Friday, the Iranian weekend — groups of men gather in the stone chambers to sing traditional Persian music, their voices amplified by the vaulted ceilings and carried across the water. There is nothing quite like it: the music drifts out of the arches, the light fades over the river, and families walk the bridge above. No alcohol is served anywhere in Isfahan, but the tea is excellent and the atmosphere is something that no bar in any other city quite replaces.