Best Azerbaijan Tour

This morning, your private guide and driver will meet you at your hotel to embark on a journey through time in Baku! Our first stop is the Heydar Aliyev Center, designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate Zaha Hadid (1950-2016), one of Baku’s most iconic landmarks. As this sleek, futuristic white building comes into view, let your imagination run wild! Is it an alien spaceship? Or a pair of adorable cat ears? It’s up to you. After all, it is full of surprises from every angle. And looking to the side, you can also be shocked by the striking sharp lines of Baku Convention Center.

Next, let’s take photos at the Flame Towers, three nearly 200-meter-tall (656 ft.) towers resembling dancing flames, which can be seen from anywhere in Baku. They embody Azerbaijanis’ thousands of years of fascination and reverence for fire. 

Afterward, we’ll take a funicular to Highland Park at the city’s highest point, to admire Baku’s modern skyline and overlook its landmarks. Beneath the towering monument in the park, you can see an eternal flame burning on a giant eight-pointed star, lit to commemorate the soldiers and civilians who sacrificed their lives in the independence movement and the conflict with Armenia. 
► Tip: In Baku, the “City of Winds”, there are frequent strong winds. So, when you are walking in higher places, please take careful of your hat, scarf and other personal items that may be blown away.

After descending, follow your guide to first admire the novel architecture of the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum, which looks like a rolled-up carpet. Then stroll around Mini Venice and Baku Boulevard by the Caspian Sea, admiring the exquisite Italian-style pavilions and fountains, and overlooking the sea in the distance. We’ll keep going to Nizami Street, where you’ll encounter another side of the city. The clean, modern street is lined with fine European-style buildings, with decorative balconies and arched windows. It’s hard to imagine this is a Muslim country. In fact, this is mainly due to the Baku oil boom in the 20th century AD. Oil tycoons funded the construction of the Gothic and Baroque buildings, earning Baku the nickname “Paris of the Caucasus.”

Today’s final stop is Baku Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Through the Double Gates carved with lions and a bull head, you’ll step into the city’s thousand-year history. Your guide will share you the poignant love story behind the romantic name of Maiden Tower. We’ll visit Shirvanshah’s Palace, built of limestone in the 12th century AD, where we can learn about medieval Azerbaijani history and palace life through the exhibits of the weapons and embroidery. Last, after exploring the Miniature Books Museum, your guide and driver will accompany you back to your hotel.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Baku Marriott Hotel Boulevard (5 stars) or similar

★ Discover Gobustan’s Otherworldly Landscape & Ancient Relics

In the morning, your guide and driver will warmly greet you at your hotel, and then let’s get started with a 50-minute private drive to Gobustan, where you’ll witness one of Azerbaijan’s most unforgettable geological wonders - mud volcanoes! Azerbaijan has nearly half of the world’s mud volcanoes, about 350 in total! Completely different from the red-hot lava volcanoes you might imagine, they are not only small, but even the mud they spew is cool! You can even try putting your hand into the crater to feel the flow of the mud. After that, let’s continue to a significant World Heritage Site, the Gobustan Rocks. View videos and replicas of rock paintings at Gobustan Museum at the entrance, and then follow your guide to find the prehistoric artworks in real life! There are nearly 6,000 rock carvings and paintings dating from 5,000 to 20,000 years ago, depicting Paleolithic hunting and gathering scenes as well as medieval religious motifs, and offering a glimpse into the prehistoric social life of the Caucasus region.

Then, let’s say goodbye to Gobustan and drive north for 50 minutes along the Caspian Sea, stopping at Bibi-Heybat Mosque to marvel at its magnificent green-based, gold-gilded dome and the nearby World’s First Industrially Drilled Oil Well. Then, continue driving for 1.5 hours to reach the Atashgah Zoroastrian Fire Temple, one of the three greatest existing Zoroastrian temples in the world. Actually, the name Azerbaijan means “Land of Fire”. It is proud of its abundant oil and natural gas resources. Natural gas leaking from underground will burn continuously once it is exposed to an open flame, which was regarded as a sign of god in ancient times. As early as the 6th century BC, the ancient Persians founded Zoroastrianism and built temples around these ever-burning flames for pilgrimage. 

Soon, at Yanar Dag Burning Mountain, north of Baku, we’ll once again witness a wall of fire that has never gone out since the 13th century AD. After the tour, your guide and driver will escort you back to your hotel in Baku. 

► Warm Tip
Tomorrow we’re about to leave Baku, visit Gabala, and head to Sheki. It will be a long journey taking 11 to 12 hours, so we suggest you get a good rest tonight. If you’re worried about motion sickness, you can have your medicine prepared.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Baku Marriott Hotel Boulevard (5 stars) or similar

This morning, put on your hiking shoes and get prepared for a scenic 3-hour ride to Gabala, a secluded paradise in northern Azerbaijan, with your guide and driver. En route, we’ll stop at the Jummah Mosque in Shamakhi, whose history dates back to 743 AD. It was the first mosque in Azerbaijan, built at a time when Zoroastrianism and Christianity were the dominant faiths in the region.

Upon arrival, we’ll first take a short hike along a mountain trail to Yeddi Gozal Waterfall, also known as the “Seven Beauties Waterfall”, surrounded by dense forest. It consists of seven small falls, winding down the hillside like ribbons on the rock face and cascading into the valley. Next, we’ll continue to the nearby Nohur Lake, whose crystal-clear water reflect the surrounding majestic Caucasus Mountains. You can stroll along the lakeshore, enjoying the tranquil atmosphere and refreshing air. Or, you can experience boating or biking at your own expense if interested.

Next, take the cable car in Tufandag Mountain Resort to the summit viewpoint at an altitude of over 1,600 meters (5,250 ft.), enjoy the scenery and relieve the fatigue from your hike. Every winter, when the peaks and forests are covered in snow, the resort becomes busy with skiers waiting to explore different slopes. Meadows and pristine forests dot the slopes, together creating a scenery comparable to the Alps. There’s nothing better than embracing the breathtaking view! 

After taking the cable car down, we’ll drive for 1.5 hours to Sheki. Upon arrival, your guide and driver will assist you with hotel check-in.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Macara Sheki City Hotel (3 stars) or similar

Today, your guide and driver will pick you up from your hotel and accompany you on a tour of the precious historical sites in Sheki. First, go to the mountain town of Kish, where the roads are stone-paved, creating an authentic ancient Caucasian rural atmosphere. Let’s visit the Church of Kish, or Kish Albanian Church, built in the 6th to 7th centuries AD. It is one of the oldest surviving Christian churches in Azerbaijan, which is rare in a country where over 90% of the population is Muslim. The small museum inside displays artifacts and tombs excavated from the church, including a 2,300-year-old Bronze Age skeleton.

Next, let’s head to the Palace of Sheki Khan, built in 1797 AD, a summer palace of the ruler of the Shaki Khanate (1743-1819 AD). The two-story building has an unassuming exterior, but its interior is quite remarkable. Upon entering, you can be immediately awestruck by the interplay of light and shadow, a magical spectacle created by the stained glass of various shapes embedded in each lattice window. They refract sunlight into dreamlike patches of color, making the entire palace glitter as if wrapped in colorful candy paper. This is the “Shebeke” craft endured for centuries. Unlike Roman mosaics, the thousands of small glass pieces of a Shebeke window are precisely fitted together without any adhesive!

Then, let’s return to Sheki city center, and you’ll have chance to sample local specialties like the Sheki Halva dessert, and admire various handicrafts such as the Kelagayi headscarf worn by local women. 

Benefited from the wealth brought by the 18th and 19th-century silk trade, Sheki witnessed the construction of elegant merchant’s residences and magnificent Khan’s Palace. The next stop we’ll visit, the fortress-like Upper and Lower Caravanserais, were an indispensable part of the Silk Road. At that time, merchants traveling to Tbilisi or Baku would rest here. The central garden and the first floor were used to store goods and camels, while the second floor provided rooms for guests. When the caravans set off again, the high-quality silk produced in Sheki would be transported to more distant destinations. 

Then, follow your guide to the Bio Garden, interact with the lovely rabbits, parrots and peacocks, and learn about sustainable and recycling farming techniques in the orchards and gardens. After that, your guide and driver will escort you back to your hotel.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Macara Sheki City Hotel (3 stars) or similar

After breakfast, let’s bid farewell to Sheki and drive about 4.5 hours back to Baku. Upon arrival, your guide and driver will assist you with check-in. The rest of the day is free for you, perhaps you can further explore the Old City or select some souvenirs by yourself.

► Recommended Restaurant in Baku (at your own expense)
The traditional Restaurant Shah is worth trying, just a 5-minute taxi ride from your hotel. Plov, one of Azerbaijan’s national dishes, is the must-try. The rice is mixed with dried apricots, chestnuts, and other ingredients, cooked with stir-fried meat and vegetables. It is a perfect match with local black tea or juice! The flavorful grape leaf-wrapped rice, Dolma, and Lula kebab, are also classic Azerbaijani dishes.
Average Cost per Person: USD 15
Address: 25A Nеcеfqulu Rеfiyev Street, Baku

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Baku Marriott Hotel Boulevard (5 stars) or similar

Today, your driver will pick you up from your hotel on time and escort you to Baku Airport for your departure flight. Enjoy your onward trip!

If you’d like to explore neighboring countries, for example, discovering Georgia’s medieval relics, or delving into Turkey’s diverse civilizations, please contact us to customize your tour.

Meals: Breakfast