Baku, Gobustan, Quba and Shahdag: 6-day sightseeing tour

Day-by-day itinerary

1. Day 1

   The day of arrival and a soft entry into the city: you will be met at the airport, taken to the hotel and left alone with Baku. Then — free time, and this is more an invitation than a pause: you can go out onto Nizami Street, walk along the Seaside Boulevard, look into the large shopping centers or the New Year fair on the Fountain Square. The pace is your own, no obligatory points.

2. Day 2

   The most packed day: a sightseeing tour of Baku, where in one pass the city shows both modernity and antiquity. The main impression is the contrast between the Heydar Aliyev Center with its fluid forms and the Old City, where you literally step over an invisible threshold. Along the way — Flame Towers Baku, the Alley of Martyrs, the Philharmonic Garden, Little Venice with its canals and the Carpet Museum. In Icherisheher the Maiden Tower and the Palace of the Shirvanshahs rise, and between them — caravanserais and souvenir shops. Lunch in a restaurant of the Old City — optionally, for a separate fee.

3. Day 3

   An outing day, with a slant toward antiquity and the elements. First Gobustan: caves with petroglyphs, a museum with interactive screens and mud volcanoes that geologists compare with the relief of Mars. Then — the Land of Fire: the Ateshgah temple in the settlement of Surakhany and the Yanar Dagh nature reserve, where the flame burns continuously. This part is optional and for an additional fee, as are the tickets to the museums. The day is long, with transfers, but the impressions are dense.

4. Day 4

   A respite without excursions: a late breakfast and the whole day at your disposal. The main event of the season is the New Year fair on the Fountain Square with stalls, concerts, souvenirs and street food; you can try kutabs, chestnuts and persimmons. If there is no fair — Nizami Street, the boulevard and the city in festive illumination remain. The pace is slow, no obligatory program.

5. Day 5

   The longest and most diverse outing — to the north, to Quba and to Shahdag. Along the way they stop at the foot of Mount Beshbarmag, look at the Juma Mosque of red brick and the Sakina Khanum Mosque, as well as the old bathhouse Chukhur Hammam. In Krasnaya Sloboda — a settlement of Mountain Jews with red tiled roofs and synagogues. The carpet-weaving factory shows how the local craft is being revived. In the Gyachresh forest you can have lunch in a national restaurant at your own expense, and for the active — the Shahdag ski complex with slopes and routes. Return to Baku.

6. Day 6

   Departure day: breakfast, check-out from the hotel and transfer to the airport. If time remains, it can be spent at the Yashyl Bazar — there they sell homemade cheeses, honey, dried fruits, jams from feijoa and walnut. A quiet finale of a packed trip.