Baku + Old City + Apsheron peninsula + Qobustan reserve + Shemakha + Lahij + Gabala + Sheki + Kish

Individual tour 6 nights / 7 days

from 592 USD

About The Tour

Duration of the tour: 6 nights / 7 days

Itinerary:  Baku + Old City + Apsheron peninsula + Qobustan reserve + Shemakha + Lahij + Gabala + Sheki

Accommodation: Selected 3*, 4* or 5* hotels

Type of Tour: Individual (Private)

Language: English

Prices (per person in USD):

On the example of 3* Hotel

Single  Double/Twin Triple
from 950 per person from 490 per person from 395 per person

DAY

Day 1

Meeting at the airport
Transfer to the hotel
15:00 Standard Check-in time

Day 2

08:00 – 09:00. Breakfast in hotel

09:30 – 11:30. Baku Sightseeing tour

Highland Park

Panoramic view of Baku Bay from the highest point of the city.

Flame Towers

Seaside Park (Baku Boulevard)

“The Boulevard” is a promenade that runs parallel to Baku’s seafront. This area – popular for strolling and taking in views of the Caspian – was recently named a national park. Its history goes back more than 100 years, to a time when oil barons built their mansions along the Caspian shore and when the seafront was artificially built up inch by inch.

White City

For a long time, this oil and industrial district of Baku was under the name of “Black City”. Nowadays a huge project is carried out with the aim to restore and develop the eastern part of the capital city (Black City), which covers an area of 221 hectares, in order to attract investments. The general plan of Baku White City envisages the creation of 10 universal urban areas.

Heydar Aliyev Center (outside)

The center of Heydar Aliyev is a cultural center built on Heydar Aliyev Avenue in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Center is a complex structure, which includes an auditorium (congress center), a museum, exhibition halls, and administrative offices. It is named after the third president of Azerbaijan Republic – Heydar Aliyev. The project of the center was developed in 2007 by the architect Zaha Hadid. The cultural center of Heydar Aliyev is considered as one of the symbols of modern Baku.

In 2014 it was recognized as the best building in the world – the 2014 Design of the Year award.

11:30 – 14:00. Walking tour in Old City

Shirvanshahs` Palace

Palace of the Shirvanshahs is the biggest monument of the Shirvan-Absheron branch of the Azerbaijan architecture, situated in the Inner City of Baku. The complex contains the main building of the palace, Divanhane, the shah’s mosque with a minaret, Seyid Yahya Bakuvi’s mausoleum, a portal in the east – Murad’s gate, a reservoir and the remnants of the bath-house

Maiden Tower

The Maiden Tower is known locally as Giz Galasi, located in the Old City, Baku, in Azerbaijan, was built in the 12th century as part of the walled city. Together with the Shirvanshahs’ Palace, dated to the 15th century, it forms an ensemble of historic monuments inscribed in 2001 under the UNESCO World Heritage List of Historical Monuments as cultural property, Category III.

Juma Mosque

Located in the historic Icheri Sheher, the mosque has been rebuilt several times. The present Friday Mosque was built in 1899 under the financing of Baku merchant Haji Shikhlali Dadashov. There are traces of a Zoroastrian temple at the site. A minaret, constructed in 1437, adjoins Friday Mosque.

Double Gates, Bazar Square, Caravan Saray and etc.

14:30 – 15:30. Dinner (for extra payment)

15:30 - 18:30. Excursions around Apsheron (Ateshgyah, Gala Complex, Yanardag)

The temple of eternal fire Ateshgyah is the real Azerbaijani exotica. It is known practically all over the world. It is located 30 km from the center of Baku, on the outskirts of the village of Surakhani. This area is known for such a unique natural phenomenon as burning natural gas exits (gas, bursting out, touching oxygen and lighting up). In the modern form, the church was built in the XVII-XVIII centuries.

The territory of Gala Archeological and Ethnographic Museum Complex covers 156 hectares and dated to the period from III millennium BC. before the 20th century, burial mounds, crypts, houses, 4 water storage facilities, ruins of an ancient castle, 5 mosques, 3 baths and so on. To preserve these monuments, as well as further enrich the reserve due to the archaeological finds discovered on Absheron in 2008, the first archaeological and ethnographic complex under the open sky was created here with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. The museum complex occupies 2 hectares of territory.

Yanardag is one of the most amazing natural attractions of the Apsheron Peninsula. It is a mountainside covered in flames, which can not be extinguished by rain or covered with sand, which has been burning for several millennia.

Free time

Day 3

Breakfast in hotel

10:00 Departure from Baku, Baku-Shemakha-Lahij-Gabala trip

Shemakha

Shemakha is an ancient capital of Azerbaijan. It was founded in V century B.C. In IX—XVI centuries it was the capital of Shirvan Khanate, the residence of Shirvanshah’s and one of the most beautiful cities of the East. From the middle of the XVIII century, Shemakha was the center of Shemakha khanate.

Nowadays, Shemakha is also considered as a winemaking & carpet weaving center. In addition to all the above, Shemakha is a literary city, which is the hometown of many Azerbaijani poets.

Lahij

High-altitude village Lahij, situated in Ismayilli Region, is an original monument of the ancient architecture. In this medieval town, well known not only in the Caucasus, but all over the world, cobbled streets & ancient squares are preserved in their origin. Here you can find not only articles made of copper, leather, and wood, used in the household but also peculiar samples of cold steel. Here you can find a lot of workshops, where hereditary blacksmiths are still creating household items. In addition to observing the process, you can acquire just made good.

The village was found in III-IV B.C. Interesting fact, water and sewage system was constructed more than 1500 years ago, and no one of local citizens know where it starts, where it ends & how it works. Nowadays town Lahij is an historical-architectural heritage, preserved by the government in its original form.

Qabala.

Qabala is a unique and beautiful region, located on the bank of Demiraparanchay River & overlooking the highest peak of Azerbaijan – Bazardyuzyu mountain (altitude 4466 m).

The modern infrastructure of hotels & resorts provides a high level of services that will satisfy the needs of worldly-wise tourists. Every summer Gabala hosts international festivals, which attract famous musicians, artists & art collectives from all over the world.

Overnight in Qabala

Day 4

Breakfast in hotel

Tour at Gabala
Qabala is a unique and beautiful region, located on the bank of Demiraparanchay River & overlooking the highest peak of Azerbaijan – Bazardyuzyu mountain (altitude 4466 m).

The modern infrastructure of hotels & resorts provides a high level of services that will satisfy the needs of worldly-wise tourists. Every summer Gabala hosts international festivals, which attract famous musicians, artists & art collectives from all over the world.

Optional places to visit:

Gabala Historical Museum
Ancient town Kabalaka
Gabala Land Entertainment center
Summer-Winter Touristic Complex Tufandag
Ropeway
Nij village, Albanian temple
Gabala Shooting Center
Nokhur Lake
House-Museum of Ismail Kutkashenli
“Seven Beauties” Waterfall
Trip to the winery with degustation of local wines

Transfer to Sheki
Overnight

Day 5

Breakfast in hotel

Sheki-Kish-Baku tour

Sheki

Sheki is an ancient historical city, located in the southern foothills of the Greater Caucasus, in 300 kilometers north-west from Baku.

Archaeological evidence suggests that Sheki could be considered as one of the oldest settlements in the Caucasus, many findings on its territory are dating back more than 2500 years old.

There are a lot of historical monuments, preserved in its original form. The main sightseeing of the city is majestic Sheki Khan’s Palace, with its magnificent wall paintings, constructed in XVIII century without using nails. Another popular places of interest are: Ancient Albanian temple situated in Kish settlement, not far from Sheki, Gelersen Gerersen fortress (VIII-IX centuries), numerous of caravanserais, house of Sheki Khans, Juma Mosque (XVIII centrury), minaret of the Gileili mosque (XVIII century), medieval baths, theater, historical museum, house-museum of the famous Azerbaijani writer M.F.Akhundov.

Arrival to Baku

Overnight in Baku

Day 6

09:30 - 14:00 Excursion to Gobustan

Excursion around the museum (closed exposition) and the reserve (open part)

Museum of Petroglyphs (Museum under the open sky)

The museum of petroglyphs is the name of Gobustan - a mountainous place in the southeast of the Greater Caucasus Range, located 65 km from Baku. It was here that ancient sites of primitive people were found, leaving behind them a lot of rock paintings - petroglyphs. These primitive monuments of art reflect the culture, economy, worldview, customs, and traditions of ancient people. Once the sea splashed right at the foot of these mountains, but then it retreated, leaving characteristic relief marks on the polished boulder rocks. After accidentally, in the 30-ies of the XX century, unusual drawings on rocks were discovered, more than 6 thousand (on 1000 rocks) were "discovered". Also, ancient primitive dwellings - caves and parking lots, more than 100 thousand items of material culture were found. Gobustan petroglyphs belong to different epochs. They are made in the period from X - XVIII thousand BC. until the Middle Ages of our era.

* Depending on the weather conditions, it is possible to visit mud volcanoes (for an additional fee)

13:00 – 14:00. Dinner (for extra payment)

Free time

Day 7

Breakfast in hotel
Check-out before (12:00 standard time)
Transfer to the airport

Individual tour 6 nights / 7 days

6 nights / 7 days

592 USD

Baku + Old City + Apsheron peninsula + Qobustan reserve + Shemakha + Lahij + Gabala + Sheki + Kish

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