Arrival in Baku.

After passing passport control meet with a tour guide or company representative at Baku International Airport and transfer to the hotel.

Overnight: Baku
Total drive: 25 km

Breakfast at the hotel.

10:00 – Starting the tour with a panoramic view of Baku city and Baku Bay from Highland Park passing through Martyrs Alley; enjoying the marvellous view of Flame Towers (30-45 minutes).

11:00 – Later, visiting the most interesting part of the Pearl of Caspian Sea, Baku, the Old City – with the discourse of Azerbaijani – Icherisheher:

Entrance gates of Old Baku; fortification tower; Caravanserai complexes – Bukhara and Multan; Maiden Tower (under UNESCO protection); old mosques and baths; Miniature Book Museum; Shirvanshahs’ Palace (under UNESCO protection); narrow small cobbled stone streets; (2-3 hours).

14:00 – Continue with Nizami Street – a large shopping street in downtown Baku (30 minutes).

15:00 – Visiting one of the unique architectural buildings in the world – Haydar Aliyev Centre – designed by Zaha Hadid (Iraqi British designer); Free time for taking photos around the building (10 minutes).

14:30 – Transfer to Yashil Bazar (Green Bazar) – Oriental Style Bazar: here everything is natural, organic, and from the village.

Free guided walk in the bazaar.

Overnight: Baku
Total drive: 20 km

Breakfast at the hotel.

09:00 – After breakfast 1-hour drive to visit the mud volcano near Gobustan – mud volcano is a landform created by the eruption of mud, water and gases on the hill which is located 8 km from the highway. Several geological processes may cause the formation of mud volcanoes. Mud volcanoes do not produce hot lava. The Earth continuously exudes a mud like substance. We will change our transport to local taxis. It is off the road to the mud volcano area. On a rainy day, it is impossible to drive up the hill. (30 minutes)

11:30 – Visiting Gobustan National Park (under UNESCO protection): Gobustan is an open sky museum on rocky mountains on the Caspian Seaside. Primary people carved their daily lifestyles on rocks. There are more than 6000 carvings on the rocks near the Caspian Seaside. (1.5 hours)

14:00 – Starting to Absheron Peninsula Sightseeing tour by visiting Fire Worshippers’ Temple – Ateshgah: The temple was built over a pocket of natural gas that fuelled a vent providing an ‘eternal’ fire which Zoroastrians used to worship. (30-45 minutes)

16:20 – Continue to visit Yanardag – Fire Mountain: a natural gas fire that blazes continuously on a hillside on the Absheron Peninsula near Baku which itself is known as the “land of fire.” Flames jet into the air 3 meters from a thin, porous sandstone layer (30 minutes).

Overnight: Baku
Total drive: 222 km

Breakfast at the hotel.

08:30 – After breakfast start the trip to Shamakhy city; on the way visiting Diri Baba Mausoleum – the tomb of Sufi Sheikh – in Maraza 1,7 km from the highway (30 minutes)

11:00 – Continue to Juma Mosque (the first Mosque of Caucasus) in Shamakhi city (30 minutes)

13:00 – Passing through Girdimanchay River Canyon of Grand Caucasus Mountains arriving in ancient Lahij village: Lahij was one of the main points on the Great Silk Road. Visiting workshops of blacksmith, potteries, carpet weaving shop, cobbled stone streets. The population of Lahij is ethnic Tats. The settlement is located on 1505 m above sea level. It was one of the centres of copper and weapon production in Azerbaijan in the 18th and 19th centuries.

16:00 – Driving to the suspension bridge to Zarnava village: this bridge is the only one way to walk to the village over the river; while driving to historic Lahij many people think of what is behind those steep cliffs surrounding the road. One may be surprised to learn that in fact those cliffs are not impassable and you can reach behind-the-cliffs Zarnava and Mushkamir villages on foot.

18:30 – Arrival in Sheki: Check-in at hotel

Overnight: Sheki
Total drive: 340 km

Breakfast at the hotel.

Sheki – nestled at the foot of the southern Greater Caucasus Mountain. The town dates back two and a half thousand years, making it one of the oldest and an important point on the legendary Silk Road with its silk, textiles and embroidery. Guests will enjoy walking at the cobbled streets of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Old City of Sheki, admire the intricate brickwork of the buildings and enjoy viewing historical relics.

09:00 – Visiting Kish village: the first church of the Caucasus which was founded by the Apostle St Eliseus in the 1st century on the site of pagan Moon Temple.

10:00 – Free time to visit Eastern style Sheki bazaar (45 minutes).

11:00 – Visiting Sheki Halva master workshop (traditional local sweet of Sheki prepared from rice floor).

12:00 – Visiting Old Sheki: medieval fortress, The Palace of Shaki Khans (under UNESCO protection) – the summer residence of Shaki Khans, Historical Museum; Round temple (outside);

Guests will see the work of talented craftsmen who make pots, hats (national headdress), miniature caskets and national instruments, and whose skills are passed down from generation to generation. And in the shebeke workshop in the Sheki Fortress, you can look at impressive mosaics, painstakingly composed of thousands of tiny pieces of stained glass, fixed in wooden lattices of all shapes and sizes.

Continue with Sheki Caravanserai – a historical monument in Sheki;

Free time for shopping around Caravanserai (2 hours).

Overnight: Sheki
Total drive: 20 km

Breakfast at the hotel.

09:00 – Passage to Sheki – Ganja route: on the way visiting Mingachevir city on Kur River Side; boat tour on Kur River with extra payment

11:00 – Later visiting Mausoleum of Nizami Ganjavi near Ganja city

Arrival in Ganja: Caucasian province with a German spirit. Famed in Azerbaijani poetry, painting and songs, Lake Goygol is the most famous mountain lake in the country, located under the dramatic rocky peak of Mount Kapaz and surrounded by dense green forests that turn golden in autumn. Lake Maralgol nearby is also very attractive. However, this region offers more than just the beauty of Lake Goygol and the national park that surrounds it: here and today you can feel the spirit of the German city that once existed here, and enjoy local wines that are still prepared according to original German methods.

12:00 – Visiting Imamzade Complex of religious architecture; Bottle House (outside).

14:00 – Check in at hotel; free time freshen up

15:00 – Walking tour in Ganja city: visiting caravansary; Shah Abbas Mosque (XVII cc.); Javad Khan Mausoleum; Azerbaijan First Parliament Building (today Agriculture University); Khan’s Garden; Aleksandr Nevski church.

Overnight: Ganja
Total drive: 172 km

Breakfast at the hotel.

09:00 – Trip to Goygol (“Blue Lake”) Mountain Lake (30 km from Goygol city) located in Goygol National Park at an altitude of 1500 meters above sea level and surrounded by lush forests in the Lesser Caucasus Mountains. The lake was formed after an earthquake occurred in 1139.

14:00 – Visiting German Lutheran Church in Helenendorf – the former German colony settlement from Baden-Wurttemberg

Overnight: Baku
Total drive: 300 km

Breakfast at the hotel.

Check-out from the hotel.

Departure to the airport.

End of the program.