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 an outstanding and rare example of an historic urban ensemble and architecture with influence from different cultures. See natural flaming gas vents on the Absheron Peninsula, where Baku is located, include fire rituals into the Zoroastrian religion. Discover the highlights of the city center and Icheri Shere (the Old Town).
The Old Town also known as Icheri Shere. 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
The exact date of construction of the Maiden Tower is unknown. In the 12th century the Maiden Tower became part of the defensive system of Baku and was the main stronghold of the Baku fortress - one of the most powerful fortresses of the Shirvanshahs. But later studies of the Maiden Tower completely refuted all previous assumptions about its defensive purpose. In the XVIII-XIX centuries, the Maiden Tower was used as a beacon. On the facade of the tower from the entrance side there is a stone with an inscription in Kufic handwriting which says: «The Tower of Masud, the son of Dawood.» Since 2010, with the aim of popularizing the Maiden Tower, the International Festival of Art «The Maiden’s Tower» is held, in which artists from various countries adorn the tower with mock-ups.
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: House Museum of Nobel Brothers in Baku Villa Petrolea, Nobel Avenue, 57/2 Behind Luna Park, Baku 1025 Azerbaijan
Explore Villa Petrolea, the Nobel Brothers’ 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
You will 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 en-route arrive in the incredible city of Naftalan, 320 kilometers north-west of the capital Baku. Naftalan’s famous crude oil baths draw tourists from all over the world. Naftalan oil’s magical properties were discovered way back in the 5th century BC. Complex SPA treatment, including world's unique crude oil bath, lasts 3-4 hours. Visitors lie naked in a pool of oil up to their neck and relax. The oil is made up of naphthalene hydrocarbons, which he claims are of a similar composition to natural, human steroids. The oils heal about 70 diseases, including: joint problems, neurological diseases, skin conditions, fungus's, and impotence. During Soviet times, it was impossible for western people to visit this spa, and now you have an unique opportunity to enjoy it.
Afterwards you will have a tasty dinner in one of the best restaurants. Return back to Baku in the evening and overnight at the hotel.
Duration: 4 hours
No meals included on this day.
No accommodation included on this day.
Day 3: Gobustan
Stop At: Gobustan Rock Art, Gobustan Settlement - Garadagh District 60 km South of Baku, Qobustan 1080 Azerbaijan
Just 30 miles from Baku visit an important site of ancient petroglyphs, the UNESCO World Heritage, with an outstanding collection of more than 6,000 rock engravings bearing testimony to 40,000 years of rock art. The site also features the remains of inhabited caves and settlements, all reflecting an intensive human use by the inhabitants of the area during the wet period that followed the last Ice Age. Explore the magnificent landscape and then make like a real Azerbaijan cook on the cooking class in a historical Gobustan. Working in a modern kitchen in the old building, learn how to create a quintessential Azerbaijan dinner. Gain valuable insider tips from an expert local chef, and then enjoy your tasty dishes during a convivial dinner, complete with well-matched Gobustan wine.
Duration: 4 hours
No meals included on this day.
No accommodation included on this day.
.jpg)
