Language · 11 published
Country guide
Azerbaijan lies on the boundary between Western Asia and Eastern Europe, in the South Caucasus, with the Caspian Sea along its entire eastern edge and Iran to the south. Baku is both the capital and the largest city. The country is not one continuous block. The exclave of Nakhchivan is cut off from the rest by Armenian territory, and it holds the only stretch of border Azerbaijan shares with Turkey. Georgia is the neighbour to the northwest and Russia's republic of Dagestan to the north. It is one of six independent Turkic states, and the first secular democratic Muslim-majority state in the world, declared in 1918.
Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor
Every city catalogued in this country so far, ranked by how much there is to see.
Photograph · Ludvig14 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
53 places match
Category
Typical visit duration
Interests
İçərişəhər
Baku Old City, locally called İçərişəhər, is the walled medieval core of Azerbaijan's capital. This living historic district contains the UNESCO-listed Palace of the Shirvanshahs, the Maiden Tower, mosques, baths, and caravanserais.
Qız Qalası
The Maiden Tower, known locally as Qız qalası, stands as Baku's most recognisable medieval landmark and the emblematic monument of the UNESCO-listed Old City.
Şirvanşahlar Sarayı Bakı
The Palace of the Shirvanshahs is a fifteenth-century royal complex forming the architectural centrepiece of Baku's Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Heydər Əliyev Mərkəzi
The Heydar Aliyev Center is a cultural complex in Baku designed by the late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. Completed in 2012, the building is celebrated for its fluid, curvilinear form that deliberately avoids straight lines and sharp angles.
Dənizkənarı Milli Park
Baku Boulevard, known locally as Bakı Bulvarı, is a long Caspian waterfront promenade that serves as Baku's principal public leisure corridor.
Qobustan Qayaüstü İncəsənət Mədəni Landşaftı
Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape is a UNESCO World Heritage site located south of Baku. The protected area encompasses a vast collection of rock engravings, ancient human settlements, and archaeological remains spanning multiple historical periods.
Azərbaycan Xalçası Muzeyi
The Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum is a purpose-built institution in Baku dedicated to the preservation and display of Azerbaijani carpet weaving heritage. Its distinctive architecture resembles a rolled carpet, making it a recognisable landmark along the Caspian Sea waterfront.
Dağüstü Park
Highland Park, known locally as Dağüstü Park, is Baku's principal elevated viewpoint. It sits on a hill overlooking the Caspian Sea bay, the Boulevard promenade, and the city skyline, with the Flame Towers immediately adjacent.
The Ateshgah Fire Temple is a religious-historical complex and museum located in Surakhani, on the outskirts of Baku.
Yanardağ
Yanar Dag is a continuously burning natural-gas hillside on the Absheron Peninsula near Baku, Azerbaijan. The flames emerge from the ground where natural gas seeps through porous rock and ignites upon contact with oxygen.
Flame Towers are a trio of skyscrapers in Baku, Azerbaijan, completed as a distinctive modern landmark on the Caspian Sea waterfront. The local name Alov qüllələri reflects their flame-shaped design, which references Azerbaijan's historical identity as the Land of Fire.
Milli Azərbaycan Tarixi Muzeyi
The National Museum of History of Azerbaijan is Azerbaijan's principal history collection, housed in an ornate former mansion.
Fountains Square is a central public space in Baku, Azerbaijan, known locally as Fəvvarələr Meydanı. The square functions as a pedestrian gathering point and downtown landmark.
Azərbaycan Milli İncəsənət Müzeyi
The Azerbaijan National Museum of Art is the country's premier institution for fine arts, housed across two adjacent historic mansions in central Baku. Its local name is Azərbaycan Milli İncəsənət Muzeyi.
Şəhidlər Xiyabanı
Martyrs' Lane is a hillside memorial cemetery in Baku, Azerbaijan, known locally as Şəhidlər Xiyabanı. It commemorates victims of Black January 1990, when Soviet forces suppressed an independence movement in the city, as well as casualties from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts.
Səadət Sarayı
The Palace of Happiness, locally known as Səadət Sarayı, is a Neo-Gothic mansion in Baku, Azerbaijan. Built during the oil boom era, it was originally the Muxtarov mansion.
Ismailiyya Palace is a Venetian Gothic building constructed during Baku's oil boom era. The palace was commissioned by Agha Musa Naghiyev in memory of his son Ismail.
Nizami Gəncəvi adına Milli Azərbaycan Ədəbiyyatı muzeyi
The Nizami Museum of Azerbaijani Literature is a national museum dedicated to the literary heritage of Azerbaijan. Named after the 12th-century poet Nizami Ganjavi, it occupies a prominent landmark building located near Baku's Old City.
Bibi Heybət Məscidi
Bibi-Heybat Mosque is a rebuilt Islamic shrine mosque located on the Caspian Sea coast near Baku, Azerbaijan. Its local name is Bibiheybət məscidi. The site is a major pilgrimage destination associated with a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.
Heydər Məscidi
Heydar Mosque, known locally as Heydər məscidi, is a monumental modern mosque in Baku, Azerbaijan. It stands as one of the city's largest religious buildings and serves as a prominent landmark in the northern part of the city.
Kiçik Venesiya
Little Venice, known locally as Kiçik Venesiya, is a compact leisure landscape situated along Baku's waterfront boulevard. It consists of a network of artificial canals, small islands, and connecting bridges designed to evoke the atmosphere of Venice, Italy.
Bakı Gözü
The Baku Ferris Wheel, known locally as Bakı Gözü, stands as a prominent observation wheel on Baku Boulevard along the Caspian Sea waterfront. It serves as a landmark attraction offering elevated views across the urban coastline.
The International Mugham Center of Azerbaijan is a purpose-built performance venue dedicated to mugham, a traditional Azerbaijani musical form recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
YARAT Contemporary Art Center
YARAT Contemporary Art Space is Baku's leading contemporary-art organisation. Its local name is YARAT Müasir İncəsənət Məkanı. The organisation operates from a converted waterfront industrial building, repurposing former industrial infrastructure for cultural use.
Museum of Modern Art
The Baku Museum of Modern Art, known locally as Bakı Müasir İncəsənət Muzeyi, is a dedicated institution for Azerbaijani avant-garde and contemporary art.
Miniatür kitab muzeyi
The Baku Museum of Miniature Books, known locally as Miniatür Kitab Muzeyi, is an unusual museum situated within Baku's Old City. It holds a specialist international collection devoted entirely to miniature editions of books.
Nobel Qardaşlarının Ev-Muzeyi
Villa Petrolea is the restored residence associated with the Nobel brothers, Swedish industrialists who played a major role in Baku during the late nineteenth-century oil boom.
Müslüm Maqomayev adına Azərbaycan Dövlət Akademik Filarmoniyası
Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Hall is a central Baku concert venue in an ornate building associated with the city's early twentieth-century oil boom. Its facade reflects the eclectic architectural character that developed as oil wealth reshaped Baku into a cosmopolitan capital.
Filarmoniya bağı
Philharmonic Garden, also known as Filarmoniya bağı, is a compact green space beside the Azerbaijan State Philharmonic Hall and the walls of İçərişəhər, Baku’s Old City.
Hökumət Evi
Government House, locally known as Hökumət Evi, is a monumental civic building on Baku’s central seafront beside Azadlıq Square. Its long formal façade, repeated arches, and imposing scale make it a defining architectural feature of this part of the boulevard.
Dövlət Bayrağı Meydanı
National Flag Square is a ceremonial waterfront landmark on Baku’s extended boulevard, where the Caspian shoreline gives the space an unusually broad horizon.
Bakı Kristal Zalı
Baku Crystal Hall is a multipurpose indoor arena located on the waterfront of Baku, Azerbaijan. The venue was constructed to host the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest and has since become a prominent event space in the city.
Daş Salnamə Muzeyi
Stone Chronicle Museum, also known locally as Daş Salnamə Muzeyi, is a Baku museum devoted to Azerbaijan’s stone heritage.
Hərbi Qənimətlər Parkı
Military Trophies Park, known locally as Hərbi Qənimətlər Parkı, is an open-air military display in Baku. It presents equipment captured during the 2020 Second Karabakh War and serves as a state commemorative site as well as a public exhibition.
Bakı Funikulyoru
Baku Funicular is a hillside railway linking the Caspian Sea boulevard area with Highland Park above. The ride turns a steep climb into a short urban journey and gives you a changing view over Baku’s waterfront and city skyline.
Dədə Qorqud parkı
Dede Gorgud Park, also known as Dədə Qorqud Parkı, is a substantial landscaped public park in Baku centred on an artificial lake. Its name refers to Dədə Qorqud, the revered sage and central figure of the Oghuz epic tradition.
Bakı Zooparkı
Baku Zoo, or Bakı Zooloji Parkı, is a rebuilt zoological park beside Dədə Qorqud Park in Azerbaijan’s capital. It is a family-oriented place where a city visit can include outdoor recreation alongside animal exhibits.
Yaşıl Bazar
Yashil Bazaar, or Yaşıl Bazar, is Baku’s best-known produce market and one of the city’s most concentrated encounters with Azerbaijani food culture.
Şərq Bazarı
Sharg Bazaar, also known locally as Şərq Bazarı, is a restored domed market hall in Baku.
Təzəpir Məscidi
Taza Pir Mosque, also known as Təzəpir məscidi, is a major religious landmark in central Baku. Its pale stone exterior, domes and paired minarets give it a distinctive presence within the cityscape.
Məhəmməd Məscidi
The Muhammad Mosque, locally called Məhəmməd məscidi, is an eleventh-century mosque and minaret located within İçərişəhər, Baku's fortified Old City. Also known as Sınıqqala, it represents one of the oldest securely dated monuments in this UNESCO-listed historic core.
Qoşa Qala Qapısı Bakı
The Paired Fortress Gates, known locally as Qoşa Qala qapısı, constitute the ceremonial main entrance through the preserved Old City walls of Baku, Azerbaijan.
Bukhara Caravanserai is a compact fifteenth-century courtyard inn in Baku’s Old City. Its name connects the building with Bukhara, a major Central Asian trading centre, and with the commercial routes that linked the Caspian region to inland Asia.
Multani Karvansaray
Multani Caravanserai is a medieval caravanserai in Baku's Old City, historically associated with merchants from Multan in present-day Pakistan. Caravanserais served as roadside inns for traveling merchants along trade routes.
Bakı Marionet Teatrı
Baku Marionette Theatre is a specialist puppet-theatre venue in Baku’s Old City, known locally as Bakı Marionet Teatrı.
Opera və Balet Teatrı
Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater is one of Baku’s most recognisable performing-arts landmarks, combining an active opera and ballet programme with an ornate historic façade.
Azərbaycan Döylət Akademik Milli Dram Teatri
The Azerbaijan State Academic National Drama Theatre is the country’s national dramatic stage and one of central Baku’s important cultural institutions. It presents theatrical works connected with Azerbaijan’s dramatic tradition in a formal performance setting.
Muzey Mərkəzi
Museum Centre, or Muzey Mərkəzi, occupies the Baku building that formerly served as the Lenin Museum. The change gives the building a different civic role: its Soviet-era architectural setting now holds collections focused on Azerbaijani national heritage.
Heydər Əliyev Sarayı
Heydar Aliyev Palace is a major Soviet-era concert palace in central Baku. It remains a prominent cultural venue rather than a museum or ordinary sightseeing interior.
Müqəddəs Mürdaşıyan Zənənlər Başkilsəsi
Holy Myrrhbearers Cathedral is a restored Russian Orthodox cathedral in Baku and the seat of the city’s Orthodox diocese. Its early twentieth-century architecture connects the church with the period when Russian imperial influence shaped parts of the Caucasus.
The Synagogue of Mountain Jews represents Baku’s Mountain Jewish community, one of the longstanding Jewish populations of the Caucasus. Mountain Jews, also known as Juhuro, have centuries of presence in Azerbaijan and maintain distinct linguistic and cultural traditions.
Xəqani bağı ( Malakan bağı )
Khagani Garden, known locally as Xaqani bağı, is a compact historic garden in central Baku. It sits among nineteenth-century streets and civic buildings, offering a leafy pause within the urban centre.
Üzeyir Hacıbəylinin ev-muzeyi
The Uzeyir Hajibeyli House Museum is the preserved former residence of Azerbaijan's foundational composer, located in Baku. Uzeyir Hajibeyli created the first opera in the Muslim world and established Azerbaijani composed classical music tradition.
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata ·
Six to nine days can cover Baku, Gobustan or Absheron and one overnight route toward Sheki or the mountains. Western Azerbaijan and remote villages add real road time, so do not schedule them as casual extensions from a three-day capital stay.
Check Azerbaijan’s official ASAN Visa portal against your nationality and intended entry date. The service states the applicable electronic-visa process; border access and passport conditions should be confirmed there rather than inferred from a previous Caucasus trip.
Baku has metro and bus services, while rail and coaches connect selected cities. Rural monuments and mountain areas often need a hired driver or car; verify current road and boundary-area access before setting out, since the shortest mapped route may not be open to visitors.
Late spring and early autumn generally balance Baku walking weather with regional travel, but the Caspian coast and highlands do not share one climate. Build dates around the highest or most exposed leg and check official access information for mountain roads.
Prices are recorded in Azerbaijani manat. Keep some AZN for smaller regional businesses and use regulated banking or exchange channels; in Baku, confirm the final manat amount before accepting a card terminal’s optional foreign-currency conversion.
Dial 112 for the recorded emergency service and expect Type C or F plugs at 220 V. Tap-water advice is Not recorded, so ask the accommodation or local utility; also retain current official guidance for any journey near restricted boundary areas.
