Tailor-made Azerbaijan: Introduction

Perhaps the least renowned of the three Caucasus countries, Azerbaijan can hold its own with any of its neighbours in terms of interest. Baku, the world’s first great oil city, has a marvellously atmospheric old quarter, with ornate palatial homes dotted around the suburbs – ideal walking territory. The Greater Caucasus Mountains and the Talysh Mountains on the border with Iran are breathtakingly beautiful, hiding in their folds villages of great antiquity, busy with the whirr of the carpenter’s wheel and the thud of the coppersmith’s hammer. Sheki, a oncegreat trading town, still dominates the western portion of the country. Its well-preserved caravanserai and 18th-century Khan’s Palace hark back to the days of the Silk Route, when trade between the empires of China, Persia and Rome brought wealth and status to local merchants.

Selected Highlights

Our specialists have travelled the length and breadth of the country to research the best places to stay and things to do. Here they list a few of their favourite “unmissables”. Click here for more highlights

Get lost in the old streets of Baku's Icheri Shahar

Baku's ancient hub, the old city or Icheri Shahar as it is known in Azeri, remains a maze of narrow streets, forgotten mosques and overhanging metal...  [more]

Amble around atmospheric Sheki

Sheki, a fulcrum of Caucasian trade for hundreds of years, is perhaps Azerbaijan's most interesting town. Its Khan's Palace is undoubtedly the highlight, a...  [more]

Spend an evening at the Philharmonic

During your stay in Baku make time in your sightseeing schedule for a visit to the Philharmonic. The building alone is worth a trip and is one of...  [more]