What to Expect
Itinerary
Day 1: Incredible Baku
Stop At: Baku Old City, Neftchilar Ave, Baku 1000 Azerbaijan
Get an early start this morning to take in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku. The Walled City of Baku represents a rare example of a historic urban creation of architecture with influence from different cultures. See natural gas vents, discover the highlights of the city center and Icheri Shere (the Old Town).
The Old Town used to be a whole town is UNESCO listed and is the best place to picture its history. It is completely encircled by the old city walls with their medieval gates. The winding streets and alleyways are home to private homes, mosques and madrassahs, carpet merchants and small shops.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Fountain Square, Baku Azerbaijan
Visit the Fountain Square. Take some time to stroll about Fountain Square and the adjacent square. The square is a pedestrian plaza, a place to sit and relax, and a great vantage point from which to people-watch.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Palace of the Shirvanshahs, Zamkovskaya Side-street, 76 Icherisheher, Baku 1000 Azerbaijan
The palace was the former residence of the rulers of the Shirvanshahs. It is a complex where, in addition to the palace itself, can also be found a courtyard of the Diwankhana, the courthouse, the Shirvanshahs’ burial vault, the palace mosque of 1441 with its minaret, the bathhouse and the mausoleum of the court scholar, Sayid Yahya Bakuvi. The palace complex was built in the period from the XIII to the XVI century. On the palace itself, no inscriptions have survived. Therefore, the time of its construction is determined by the dates on the inscriptions on various architectural monuments, which relate to the palace complex. In 1964, the palace complex was declared a museum-preserve. In 2000, a unique architectural and cultural ensemble, along with the fortified walls enclosed by the historic part of the city and the Maiden Tower, was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Shirvanshahs Palace is considered one of the pearls of the architecture of Azerbaijan.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Maiden Tower, Downtown Baku Old City, Baku 1000 Azerbaijan
Pay tribute to victims of Caucasus conflicts at Martyrs' Lane, an alley of black granite tombstones and a memorial to those killed by the Soviet Army and Armenian police in January 1990. Set in a large, hilly cemetery close to the parliament building, the site features a stone memorial with a flame, plus a wide observation deck with a sweeping view of Baku and the Caspian Sea. You'll also see graves from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (1988-1994), a memorial to Turkish troops who opposed the Bolsheviks during the 1918 Battle of Baku, and a plaque with the names of 47 British soldiers killed from 1918-1919.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: House Museum of Nobel Brothers in Baku Villa Petrolea, Nobel Avenue, 57/2 Behind Luna Park, Baku 1025 Azerbaijan
You will visit Villa Petrolea, which is the Nobel Brothers’ (that created the Nobel prize) Museum.
The history of Baku’s oil boom is inextricably bound up with the Nobel family, including Alfred, the man who established the Nobel Prizes. About 12% of the money he used to fund prizes came from Alfred's interest in the Branobel Oil Company, founded by siblings in 1876. Villa Petrolea is where the Nobel brothers lived, built on the border of the "White City," the residential section, and the "Black City," the industrial section of Baku. Using ships that took away the oil, fertile soil was imported and used to create landscaped gardens around the Villa.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Martyrs' Lane, Mehdi Huseyn Street Dagustu Park, Baku 1006 Azerbaijan
Then be taken to the Martyr’s Lane.
Pay tribute to victims of Caucasus conflicts at Martyrs' Lane, an alley of black granite tombstones and a memorial to those killed by the Soviet Army and Armenian police in January 1990. Set in a large, hilly cemetery close to the parliament building, the site features a stone memorial with a flame, plus a wide observation deck with a sweeping view of Baku and the Caspian Sea. You'll also see graves from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (1988-1994), a memorial to Turkish troops who opposed the Bolsheviks during the 1918 Battle of Baku, and a plaque with the names of 47 British soldiers killed from 1918-1919.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Bibi-Heybat Mosque, Baku Azerbaijan
Visit the beautiful Bibi-Heybat Mosque, originally constructed in the 13th century in honor of the sister of Imam Ali. Today, it sits near one of Azerbaijan’s first oil fields, which grew during the first oil boom in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Duration: 30 minutes
No meals included on this day.
No accommodation included on this day.
Day 2: World's Only Crude Oil Spa
Stop At: Chinar Hotel & SPA Naftalan, Shirvan, av. 12, Naftalan 4600, Azerbaijan
After a picnic lunch you will arrive in the incredible city of Naftalan that is 320 kilometers north-west of Baku. Naftalan is famous for its crude oil baths and its' oil properties that were discovered in the 5th century. The spa treatment is unique and lasts 3-4 hours. Visitors lie naked in a pool of oil up to their neck and relax. It is thought the oils can heal around 70 diseases, including: joint problems, neurological diseases, skin conditions, funguses, and impotence.
Afterwards you will have a tasty dinner in one of the best restaurants. Return back to Baku in the evening.
Duration: 4 hours
No meals included on this day.
No accommodation included on this day.