How to travel to Mosul in 2024

Wanna travel to Iraq with Against the Compass?

Join a group of like-minded travelers in our next scheduled tour in Iraq, where we’ll visit Baghdad, Babylon, Karbala, Mosul, and more

February 29 to March 10, 2024

Liberated in 2017 from the Islamic State, Mosul is the second most important city in Iraq and the place where ISIS proclaimed its Caliphate back in June 2014.

I have visited Mosul 4 times, and here’s a travel guide for the independent traveler packed with tips, things to do, and actionable advice for traveling to Mosul.

For general information on the country, read our travel guide to Iraq

Introduction to visiting Mosul

The first time I visited Mosul was at the beginning of 2021, and the way I visited it was in a particularly irresponsible way:

With the help of a local fixer, we faked some NGO papers to go through the 3 different checkpoints run by the 3 different factions you encounter on your way from Kurdistan into Mosul

While I am not particularly proud of this, I am happy I visited at a time when Mosul was just flourishing from the ashes, just at the beginning of starting to become the vibrant city it once used to be, while witnessing the struggle of the many beautiful locals who were finally seeing their neighbors coming back to their hometown.

Since then, I have visited Mosul 4 times, mainly because the city is a default in all our Iraq Tours.

Today, Mosul is busy, they keep opening businesses every other day, and the reconstruction of the old city is advancing at unprecedented levels, even though it will take years for it to be completely rebuilt.

Read: Iraq Itinerary

A Brief History of Mosul

In 2014, the unrecognized proto-state of the Islamic State took over Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.

That had been their biggest military achievement so far, leaving them so close to controlling Baghdad.

Mosul, a city whose existence had remained largely unknown by most of the Western world, was suddenly taking up headlines that filled the front pages from every newspaper worldwide.

The entire world was on the rack, looking in puzzlement at how powerful ISIS had become.

Nevertheless, travelers should know that Mosul has been a relevant city for a couple…