Destination
Azerbaijan,Baku and the Caucasus
Baku on the Caspian, and the mountains behind it.
Azerbaijan is the one nobody at the table has been to, which is usually the reason somebody books it.
Baku carries the trip. The old city is walled and small enough to cross on foot, with the Maiden Tower and the Shirvanshahs’ palace inside it. Step outside the walls and the city turns into oil-boom stone, then into the Flame Towers, then into a corniche along the Caspian that people genuinely walk in the evening.
The rest of the country reads as days out from that base. Gobustan’s rock carvings sit south along the coast, with the mud volcanoes on the same run. North are the mountains, Guba, Gabala and Shahdag, where the air and the cooking both change. West is Sheki, and the khan’s palace with its shebeke windows, coloured glass set into wooden lattice.
What we sell here is private and small. The Azerbaijan work on the desk is a couple with their own dates rather than a coach with a departure list, and it is booked a long way ahead. If you want a city break with mountains attached, and nobody from home in the hotel lobby, this is that trip.
Where you’ll go
Baku. The walled city, the Caspian corniche, and the newer half of town on the slope above it.
Gobustan. Rock carvings on the coast south of the city, and the mud volcanoes alongside them.
The mountains. Guba, Gabala and Shahdag, north of Baku, for cooler air and a different table.
Sheki. The khan’s palace, the caravanserai, and a town that asks you to slow down.
Practical notes
Draft: awaiting owner verification. Indicative only; confirmed in writing with your quote.
- Ask which routing you are on before you fix the first night. It decides how much of day one survives.
- Spring and autumn are the usual choice. Midsummer on the Caspian is hot, and winter in the mountains is a different holiday altogether.
- Baku sits on an exposed coast and the wind is part of it. Carry a layer, even in summer.
- The days get planned around the driving rather than the other way round. Ask for the day plan before you add a fourth stop.
- Entry requirements are confirmed for your passport before anything is held.
At a glance
Practical facts
- Plug & voltage
- C/F
- 220V · 50Hz
- Currency
- AZN
- Azerbaijani manat
- Time zone
- UTC+4
- (AZT), no DST, 1 hour ahead of Nairobi
- Driving side
- Right
- Languages
- Azerbaijani
- SIM & data
- A TravelNet eSIM, live on landing. Or an Azercell, Bakcell or Nar SIM in Baku with your passport.
- Tipping
- Check the bill before you add to it, because restaurants in Baku often include a service charge. Small notes for a driver or a guide are the usual courtesy.
- Tap water
- Treated, though bottled is what most people drink and what gets poured in restaurants. Ask your hotel.
Comparing countries? The full table puts every destination we plan side by side, and when to go does the same for the months.
Getting there
The flights for this trip are ticketed at the same desk as the rest of it: 66 airlines, all ticketed in Nairobi, whatever the routing turns out to be. Ask for the fare when you ask for the trip, and one person holds both.
Why go
Azerbaijan in five lines
- Baku's walled old city, the Maiden Tower and the Shirvanshahs' palace
- The Caspian corniche, and the Flame Towers above it
- Gobustan's rock carvings, and the mud volcanoes on the same run
- Mountain days at Guba, Gabala and Shahdag
- Sheki, and the khan's palace with its shebeke windows
Privately crafted
There's no set itinerary here
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What you can do in Azerbaijan
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