Azerbaijan
Baku is the Land of Fire's capital, a Caspian port where a walled medieval core sits beneath three flame-shaped glass towers and one of the most fluid buildings ever drawn.
This guide books the city properly: the Old City of Icherisheher with its Maiden Tower and the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, the Flame Towers that light the skyline at night, Zaha Hadid's Heydar Aliyev Center, a seaside Boulevard walk and a street food tour through the centre. Beyond the city it covers the day trips that make Azerbaijan unlike anywhere else: Gobustan's rock art and bubbling mud volcanoes, the Zoroastrian-era Ateshgah fire temple and Yanar Dag, the hillside that has burned for centuries. Then it matches you to a hotel, from the Fairmont inside the Flame Towers to an Old City boutique inn and a budget-friendly ibis, because in Baku where you sleep decides whether you walk to the fortress walls or ride to the Boulevard.
The Old City (Icherisheher)
Baku's walled medieval heart, a UNESCO-listed maze of limestone lanes, caravanserais and mosques that still has residents hanging washing between museums. Two hours with a guide turns the maze into a story, and it is the right first thing to do.
Heydar Aliyev Center
Zaha Hadid's flowing white landmark, a building with no straight lines that looks poured rather than built. Walk the sweeping plaza, then go inside for the exhibitions and the same flowing curves.
Maiden Tower
The stout limestone cylinder that has symbolised Baku for centuries, with a museum inside and a rooftop view over the Old City roofs to the Caspian. Its origin is a mystery, which is half the charm.
Palace of the Shirvanshahs
A fifteenth-century royal complex on the Old City hill, with a palace, mosque, mausoleum, bathhouse and reservoir in pale carved limestone. Quiet, photogenic and a clean lesson in medieval Azerbaijani architecture.
Baku's walled medieval heart, a UNESCO-listed maze of limestone lanes, caravanserais and mosques that still has residents hanging washing between museums. Two hours with a guide turns the maze into a story, and it is the right first thing to do.
The stout limestone cylinder that has symbolised Baku for centuries, with a museum inside and a rooftop view over the Old City roofs to the Caspian. Its origin is a mystery, which is half the charm.
A fifteenth-century royal complex on the Old City hill, with a palace, mosque, mausoleum, bathhouse and reservoir in pale carved limestone. Quiet, photogenic and a clean lesson in medieval Azerbaijani architecture.
Three curved glass skyscrapers shaped like tongues of fire, lit by thousands of LEDs after dark. They hold a Fairmont hotel, apartments and offices, so you admire them rather than climb them, and the best way is on a night tour.
Zaha Hadid's flowing white landmark, a building with no straight lines that looks poured rather than built. Walk the sweeping plaza, then go inside for the exhibitions and the same flowing curves.
Baku's best half-day trip: thousands of prehistoric rock carvings at a UNESCO-listed reserve, then a short drive over barren hills to cones of grey mud that gloop and bubble. Strange, scenic and nothing like the city.
A pentagonal caravanserai-style temple on the Absheron Peninsula, built around a once-eternal flame and used by Indian pilgrims and traders. Small but atmospheric, and easily paired with Yanar Dag on one afternoon.
A hillside where natural gas seeps from the rock and burns in a long, low wall of flame, one of the sights that earned Azerbaijan its Land of Fire name. Best near dusk, and a quick stop on the Absheron tour.
The long seaside promenade along the Caspian, founded in 1909 and still the city's favourite evening walk. Gardens, a Ferris wheel, canals, the Carpet Museum and views of the Flame Towers, all free to stroll.
A three-hour guided tasting walk through central Baku, with six tastings from qutab and perashki to kebab wraps, tea and pakhlava. The friendliest way to learn Azerbaijani flavours and find your way around the centre.
Hotels we would book ourselves, from splurges to good-value bases.
$$$$Flame Towers, Old City heights
Baku's landmark luxury hotel, set inside one of the three Flame Towers with Caspian or city views from most rooms. A spa with a hammam, a rooftop pool and the best skyline address in the city.
Rates on Expedia →
$$$Azadlig Avenue, central Baku
A big-name hotel on Azadlig Avenue, about 1.5 km from the Old City, with a spa, a grill restaurant and the reliability of the Hilton brand. A comfortable upper mid-range base for leisure and business.
Rates on Expedia →White City, Baku Bay
A very large Autograph Collection hotel in the White City district on Baku Bay, near the end of the seafront promenade. Three restaurants, an Elemis wellness centre and a base for families and groups.
Rates on Expedia →
$$Old City (Icherisheher)
A small boutique hotel on Boyuk Gala street inside the walls of the Old City, with a terrace, restaurant and the kind of stone-lane location you cannot get anywhere else in Baku.
Rates on Expedia →Khatai, Khojali Avenue
A straightforward 202-room budget hotel in the Khatai district with a restaurant, a lobby bar and a gym. Good value for travellers who plan to spend their days out and use taxis in the evenings.
Rates on Expedia →The practical first-visit plan for Baku: what to book ahead, how to get around, how many days you need and where the Old City, Flame Towers, Heydar Aliyev Center, Gobustan and the fire sites fit.
A neighborhood guide to Baku hotels: the Old City for atmosphere, the Flame Towers hill for views and luxury, central Azadlig Avenue for chains, White City on the bay and budget Khatai.
