Planning a trip to Azerbaijan

One full day covers Baku itself — the UNESCO-listed Old City, Highland Park for the panorama, the Boulevard, and the Heydar Aliyev Center. It is enough to leave feeling you have seen the capital rather than glimpsed it.

Two days lets you add one region. Gobustan and the Absheron fire sites make one natural day; the mountains at Shahdag make another. Which you choose depends on whether you are more drawn to deep history or to landscape.

Five days is where the country opens up. That is enough to reach Sheki, five to six hours west of Baku, which is out of range of any day trip and is the stop most visitors name as their favourite afterwards.

Late spring and early autumn are the strongest windows. April to June brings green countryside and comfortable temperatures before the summer heat settles on the Baku plain. September and October bring the grape harvest around Shamakhi and exceptional forest colour around Gabala and Quba.

July and August are hot in Baku, which is exactly why domestic tourism heads for the mountains then. Gabala and Shahdag are ten degrees or more cooler, and accommodation there needs booking well ahead in that window.

Winter is for Shahdag. The ski season typically runs December into March or April depending on snowfall, and it is markedly cheaper and less crowded than comparable European resorts. Baku itself stays mild but persistently windy.

Central Baku is compact and walkable, and the metro is cheap and functional. For everything beyond the city centre, the calculation changes quickly.

The sites worth travelling for — Gobustan, Ateshgah, Yanardag, Shahdag, Gabala, Sheki — are spread out, poorly served by public transport, and in several cases require reaching a specific place at a specific time of day to be worth it. Yanardag in daylight is a fraction of Yanardag after dark.

That is the case for a private vehicle, whether as a fixed tour package or as car rental with a driver. Self-drive is viable if you are staying in the city; on mountain roads, with inconsistent signage and variable surfaces, it stops being the relaxing option.

Azerbaijan is inexpensive by European standards for food, transport and entry tickets. Central Baku hotels are the exception and can approach European prices in peak season.

Entry tickets to museums and attractions are modest individually but add up across a multi-day trip. They are set by government authorities and venue operators, which is why we do not include them in package prices or publish figures that would go stale.

Our own pricing is per vehicle rather than per person, which usually favours couples, families and small groups. A sedan on a full-day Baku city tour is 190 AZN whether one person travels or four.

Most nationalities can obtain an e-visa online in advance. Check the official portal for your passport before booking flights, as requirements change.

The currency is the Azerbaijani manat. Cards work widely in Baku; carry cash for smaller towns, roadside stalls and some entry tickets.

Azerbaijani is the official language, Russian is widely spoken, and English is common in tourism but less so outside the capital. Our drivers speak English, Russian, Azerbaijani, Urdu.

Baku is windy year-round — the name is popularly linked to a Persian phrase meaning 'city of winds' — so carry a layer even in summer, and expect it to be colder again at altitude.