Five nights in Baku covering the walled old city and the Caspian promenade, the rock art at Gobustan, the Absheron fire sites and a day up in the Guba mountains.
Baku sits on a bay on the Caspian, and almost everything worth seeing is either inside its old walls or within a couple of hours drive of them. The walled city, Icherisheher, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with the Maiden Tower and the Palace of the Shirvanshahs inside it. Above the town the Flame Towers light up after dark, and along the water the Boulevard runs for kilometres of shaded park.
You stay in the city for all five nights, so nothing is packed and unpacked. Two days go to Baku itself, one to the petroglyphs and mud volcanoes at Gobustan, one to the Absheron peninsula for the Ateshgah fire temple and the burning hillside at Yanar Dag, and one full day north into the Guba highlands. Airport transfers, an air-conditioned coach with an English-speaking driver-guide and daily breakfast are arranged.
The essentials
Trip information
Package code
EH06BA001
Pickup
Heydar Aliyev International Airport (GYD), Baku
Drop
Heydar Aliyev International Airport (GYD), Baku
Night count
05 Nights, 06 Days
Travellers
6 pax
Vehicle
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Coach (AC)
At a glance
Itinerary highlights
Day 1Arrive in Baku and walk the Boulevard
Day 2Inside the walls, then the Heydar Aliyev Center
Day 3Gobustan rock art and the mud volcanoes
Day 4Fire on the Absheron peninsula
Day 5A day north in the Guba mountains
Day 6Check out and fly home
Your route, day by day
Day-by-day itinerary
Baku Boulevard
The seafront park that runs along the Caspian below the old city, laid out more than a century ago and still the city's main evening walk.
Day 1
Arrive in Baku and walk the Boulevard
You are met at Heydar Aliyev International and driven into the city. Check-in is from 2 PM. The rest of the day is free, and the easiest thing to do with it is walk the Boulevard — it starts a few minutes from the hotel and runs for kilometres along the bay. After dark the Flame Towers on the hill above run their light sequence, and the whole promenade turns to look at it.
Starts from Heydar Aliyev International Airport (GYD), ends at Hotel Boulevard Central, covering around 25 km in an estimated 40m.
Sightseeing
Baku Boulevard & the Flame TowersOpen all dayAllow 120 min
A long seafront park with a small marina, a Ferris wheel and tea houses under the trees. The three Flame Towers stand on the ridge behind the city and are covered in LED screens that show flames, a waving flag and a falling figure through the evening.
Walk the promenade to the marina
Watch the Flame Towers light sequence
Tea at one of the Boulevard cafes
Icherisheher
The walled old city of Baku, still lived in, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.
Day 2
Inside the walls, then the Heydar Aliyev Center
A day on foot to start with. You enter Icherisheher through the double gates and work through the lanes to the Maiden Tower and the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, with a caravanserai courtyard for lunch. In the afternoon you drive out to the Heydar Aliyev Center, then up to Highland Park for the view back over the bay at dusk.
Based at Hotel Boulevard Central, covering around 20 km in an estimated 7h 00m.
Sightseeing
Maiden TowerOpen 10 AM – 6 PMAllow 60 min
A stone tower of about 29 metres standing at the seaward corner of the old city. Nobody has settled what it was built for — a watchtower, an observatory and a fire temple have all been argued. A stair runs up through the floors to a roof terrace over the rooftops.
Climb to the roof terrace
See the museum floors on the way up
Photograph the tower from the square below
Palace of the ShirvanshahsOpen 10 AM – 6 PMAllow 90 min
The fifteenth-century seat of the Shirvan rulers, on the high ground of the walled city. It is a set of connected courtyards rather than one building — the palace itself, a burial vault, a mosque with its minaret, and a bathhouse dug into the slope.
Walk the upper and lower courtyards
See the carved portal of the burial vault
Look into the excavated bathhouse
Heydar Aliyev CenterOpen 11 AM – 7 PM, closed MondayAllow 90 min
Zaha Hadid's white building on the edge of the centre, built without a straight line anywhere in the shell — the roof runs down into the plaza as one continuous curve. Inside there are exhibition halls and a collection of classic cars.
Walk the sloping plaza outside
See the exhibition halls
Photograph the curves from the lawn
Highland Park & Martyrs' LaneOpen all dayAllow 45 min
The terrace at the top of the funicular, beside the Flame Towers. Martyrs' Lane runs along it — a memorial to those killed in January 1990 and in the Karabakh conflict — and the balcony gives the widest view over the bay.
Funicular ride up from the Boulevard
View over the bay at dusk
Walk the memorial avenue
Gobustan
A dry hill of tumbled boulders an hour south of Baku, carved with rock art going back around twelve thousand years.
Day 3
Gobustan rock art and the mud volcanoes
South along the coast road to Gobustan. You start at the museum, which sets out what the carvings show, then walk the marked trail among the rocks. From there a local 4x4 takes over for the last stretch to the mud volcano field — the track is unsealed and coaches cannot use it. Back in the city by late afternoon.
Based at Hotel Boulevard Central, covering around 140 km in an estimated 7h 00m.
Sightseeing
Gobustan Rock Art Cultural LandscapeOpen 10 AM – 6 PMAllow 120 min
A UNESCO World Heritage Site holding over six thousand carvings cut into the boulders — hunters, cattle, dancing figures and long reed boats. A Roman inscription from the first century, left by a passing legion, is on the same hillside.
Walk the marked petroglyph trail
See the reed boat and dancer carvings
Museum galleries before the walk
Gobustan Mud VolcanoesDaylight hoursAllow 75 min
A field of low grey cones that bubble cold mud rather than lava, pushed up by gas from deep below. Azerbaijan has more of them than any other country. Reached on a rough track and closed off after heavy rain.
Watch the cones bubbling
4x4 ride out to the field
Views back over the Caspian
Absheron
The peninsula east of Baku, where natural gas seeps have kept fires burning long enough to give the country its name.
Day 4
Fire on the Absheron peninsula
A shorter driving day out onto the Absheron peninsula. You visit the Ateshgah temple at Surakhani first, then Yanar Dag, where a strip of hillside has been alight for decades. Both are close together, so there is time for the Carpet Museum or the Boulevard on the way back.
Based at Hotel Boulevard Central, covering around 80 km in an estimated 6h 00m.
Sightseeing
Ateshgah Fire TempleOpen 9 AM – 6 PMAllow 75 min
A pentagonal walled complex at Surakhani built around a natural gas vent, used by Hindu, Sikh and Zoroastrian travellers who came up the trade routes from India. The cells around the courtyard carry inscriptions in Sanskrit and Punjabi. The original vent ran dry, so the flame is now piped.
See the central altar flame
Read the Devanagari inscriptions on the cells
Museum rooms around the courtyard
Yanar DagOpen 9 AM – 8 PMAllow 45 min
A ten-metre stretch of hillside near Mehemmedli where gas escaping through the sandstone burns continuously. It has been alight for decades and shows best after dark or on a dull day. A viewing terrace runs along the front of it.
Watch the burning slope from the terrace
Tea at the cafe above
Small museum on the site
Azerbaijan Carpet MuseumOpen 10 AM – 6 PM, closed MondayAllow 60 min
A museum on the Boulevard built in the shape of a rolled carpet, holding the largest collection of Azerbaijani weaving anywhere. The galleries are arranged by regional school, and weavers often work at looms on the floor.
See the regional weaving styles
Watch a weaver at the loom
Photograph the building from the promenade
Guba
An orchard town in the foothills of the Greater Caucasus, about three hours north of Baku.
Day 5
A day north in the Guba mountains
The long day of the trip, and the one that gets you out of the dry country around Baku into apple orchards and forested hills. You drive north to Guba, cross the river to the Red Settlement, then climb to Tenghi canyon and the Afurja waterfall. Lunch is at a mountain restaurant. Back in the city late in the evening — carry a jacket, it is noticeably cooler up there.
Based at Hotel Boulevard Central, covering around 340 km in an estimated 11h 00m.
Sightseeing
Qirmizi Qasaba (Red Settlement)Open all dayAllow 60 min
A settlement across the Gudyalchay river from Guba, home to Mountain Jews for centuries and one of the few all-Jewish towns left outside Israel. The synagogues and the low red-brick houses along the river are the reason to walk through.
Walk the river bridge into the town
See the restored synagogue
Quiet walk through the old streets
Tenghi Canyon & Afurja WaterfallDaylight hoursAllow 120 min
A narrow gorge in the hills above Guba, with a waterfall of about 70 metres at the head of it — one of the highest in the country. The last approach is on foot over uneven ground and a stepped path.
Walk into the gorge
View point below the falls
Photograph the Caucasus foothills
Guba Town & the Apple OrchardsOpen all dayAllow 90 min
The town itself is small and easy to walk, with the Sakina Khanum mosque, a bazaar selling local honey and preserves, and orchards on every side. Guba apples and the town's carpets are what people take home.
Lunch at a mountain restaurant
Buy local honey and preserves at the bazaar
See the Sakina Khanum mosque
Baku
A last morning by the Caspian before the transfer to the airport.
Day 6
Check out and fly home
Breakfast, then check out by 12 noon. You are driven to Heydar Aliyev International in time to check in — allow three hours for an international departure. If your flight is late in the day we can usually hold the room a little longer or leave the bags at reception; just ask.
Starts from Hotel Boulevard Central, ends at Heydar Aliyev International Airport (GYD), covering around 25 km in an estimated 40m.
Airport pick-up and drop
× 2
Full-day Baku city tour
4x4 transfer to the Gobustan mud volcanoes
Full-day Guba mountain excursion
The fine print, clearly
What’s included
Inclusions
Five nights of accommodation in the selected hotel category.
Daily breakfast at the hotel.
Airport transfers and all sightseeing by private air-conditioned coach.
Gobustan, Absheron and Guba excursions as per the itinerary.
Local 4x4 vehicle for the mud volcano track, where road conditions allow.
English-speaking driver-guide on the touring days.
Driver allowance, fuel, toll and parking charges.
Exclusions
Azerbaijan e-visa fees and any processing charges for the visa.
International airfare to and from Baku.
Travel insurance, which we strongly recommend you buy separately.
City and tourism taxes levied by the hotel, paid directly at check-out.
Entry tickets at museums and monuments unless stated — Maiden Tower, Palace of the Shirvanshahs, Heydar Aliyev Center and similar.
Lunch, dinner and anything ordered outside the stated meals.
Personal expenses such as laundry, tips, shopping and optional activities.
Good to know
Policies
Payment policy
50% of the package cost is needed at the time of booking to confirm it.
The remaining 50% must be cleared at least 21 days before departure.
Peak season (June to September, and the New Year and Novruz weeks) needs full payment at booking.
The booking is confirmed only once the advance payment reaches us and visa documents are submitted.
Payment by bank transfer or UPI.
Cancellation policy
0–15 days before departure: 100% of the booking amount is charged.
16–30 days before departure: 70% of the booking amount is charged.
31–45 days before departure: 30% of the booking amount is charged.
Visa fees are non-refundable once the application has been filed.
No refund for unused nights, missed tours or an early check-out.
Peak season (25 December – 5 January): no refund on cancellation.
Important information
Indian passport holders need a visa for Azerbaijan. The ASAN e-visa is applied for online before travel and your passport must be valid for at least six months from the date of entry.
Azerbaijan does not admit travellers whose passports carry an Armenian visa or entry stamp, and the land border with Armenia is closed.
The old city lanes and the climb inside the Maiden Tower are steep and cobbled — wear flat shoes with grip.
Cover shoulders and knees when visiting mosques and shrines, and carry a scarf; shoes come off at the entrance.
The Gobustan mud volcanoes are reached on an unsealed track and are switched to a local 4x4. After heavy rain the track can be closed and the stop is dropped.
Winter in the Guba highlands brings snow and the mountain roads can close at short notice; the day may be swapped for a lowland alternative.
Easy Holiday
