When we find and buy cheap flight tickets to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, people ask, “Why Baku?” We encountered the question. If you are also facing the same question, let’s give a short answer.. First of all, the Istanbul-Baku flight takes about 3 hours and airline companies such as THY, Azal and Buta have direct flights.. In addition, Azeri Turkish is spoken in the country located on the shores of the Caspian Sea, so you do not have any difficulties with the language.. In fact, people can talk as they speak because they have melodies that sound very nice.. In addition, the country’s currency is the manat.. At the time we went, 1 manat was around 3.3 TL.. In other words, it is still a more advantageous option than going to the Eurozone.. Finally, visa is not applied to Turkish citizens who will stay in Azerbaijan for up to 30 days and will not transit from Azerbaijan to another country.. So payroll is a place where you are very welcome without your passport and visa. If this answer satisfied you and you decided to go to Baku, now we can move on to the details of the trip
TRANSPORTATION TO BAKU: HOW TO GO TO BAKU?
It is possible to take a direct flight from Istanbul to Baku Heydar Aliyev International Airport, which takes approximately 3 hours.. We bought our ticket from Buta Airways for 94 dollars 8 months before our trip.. We decided not to miss this opportunity while browsing Skyscanner.com and we had the chance to buy a very economical ticket.. In addition, THY and Azal, a local airline company, also have direct flights to Baku.
The airport is located 30 km from the city center.. If there is no traffic, it is possible to reach the city center in half an hour.. You can go from the airport to the city center with the most convenient buses.. You can also use a taxi.
We used the Bolt (Taxify) application to reach our house located in the city center from Baku airport for 8.5 AZN, which is approximately 29 TL.. In order to benefit from the Uber application in Azerbaijan, a local sim card is required, but the Bolt application is also very easy to use with the same Uber logic and we wanted to give this new application a chance, the result is very successful, we recommend it to you.. By the way, we paid 47 TL on the way back from home to the airport, I guess the system adjusts the price according to the density..
Is a visa required to go to Azerbaijan?
No. Azerbaijan is among the countries to travel without a visa. You can enter the country with your passport and stay for a short time.. Before going to passport control, machines were placed at the airport, but if you are going to go to a place other than Baku, you need to get a visa from these machines, other than that, you do not need a visa if you are only going to stay in Baku and your trip is not for a long time.
BAKU CITY TRANSPORTATION
Touristic points in Baku city center are very close to each other and within walking distance.. That’s why we never had to use public transport in the city.. However, there are subways, buses and minibuses.
If you want to travel to a point further from the city center, we recommend you to call a taxi using the Bolt application.. It’s really a more affordable and reliable method.
ACCOMMODATION IN BAKU: WHERE TO STAY IN BAKU?
For accommodation in Baku, you can either choose the Inner City area or You should also prefer places close to Nizami Street.
We rented a huge house with 2 bedrooms, a living room, on Khagani Street, located on the lower parallel of Nizami Street, via airbnb.. We paid 428 TL for this house for 2 days. We think it is a very good choice for a group of 3-4 people in terms of price and performance.
THINGS TO DO IN BAKU?
- Miniature Book museum has a very different future concept. Since we haven’t seen a museum made up of such tiny books before, it was one of our favorite places on this trip, we highly recommend it.
- You should definitely go to Kobustan (Qobustan) and Mud Volcanoes . It will be a very different experience where you will see the drawings of the first people on the rocky mountains and the mud volcanoes that are still active.. You should definitely spare time for this 1-day activity.
- As you know, you are on the shores of the Caspian Sea, if you like fish and seafood, you should go to a fish restaurant in the city for dinner and order fish from this sea..
WHAT TO EAT IN BAKU? WHAT TO DRINK?
Azerbaijani cuisine is actually not that different from Turkish cuisine.. Only the names of the dishes are slightly different and it is difficult to understand at first.
The most famous Azerbaijani dishes are; Azerbaijani ravioli Düşbere, Azerbaijan pancake, that is Qutab, soup type made with yogurt and greens Dovğa, Georgian ravioli Xingel , Piti, a kind of dish made in pottery with chickpeas and meat unique to the city of Sheki, and Lüle kebab.
We had lunch at Nergiz Restaurant located in Fountain Square. we ordered less than traditional dishes for a mixed table. The restaurant had a very local ambiance under the ground.. Of course it is a touristic place as well.. We also recommend you to taste Azeri cuisine accompanied by live music.. Nergiz Restaurant is a reasonable place in terms of price and performance.
Tea and hookah culture is quite common in Baku.. You will notice that there are many tea gardens especially in the inner city area.
We wanted to experience an Azeri night with live music at the Han restaurant in Icheri Şehir on our first night.. We chose mixed appetizers from the menu and ordered raki.. In this way, Azeri restaurants with live music seemed to be preferred not only by tourists but also by locals.
If you want to eat fish from the Caspian Sea alongside raki, you can visit Derya Fish Evi, which is highly preferred both for its location and menu price.
By the way, local wines are very popular and delicious in Baku.. You can both taste wine and buy your favorite wine in the cellars in the old city center.. We bought sparkling pomegranate wine for a little bit of variation.. You can try it too..
SHOPPING IN BAKU: WHAT TO BUY FROM BAKU?
There are many souvenir shops in the caravanserais in the inner city of Baku.. The sellers of the tiny shops in the inns are a little too insistent and extremely friendly.. We can say that there is a bit of Istanbul grand bazaar atmosphere.. However, they do not push the limits of tolerance as they are not too disturbing
Also, Nizami Caddesi is the number one choice of shopping lovers with many stores such as Istanbul Istiklal Caddesi.. There are many shops on the left and right along the street, enough to meet your needs such as clothes, shoes and cosmetics.
BAKU CITY TOUR
Baku’ Also, touristic places to visit are within walking distance in the Icheri city area.. Maiden’s Tower, Shirvanshahs Palace, Miniature Books museum are the places we would particularly recommend in Inner City.. After visiting this historical part, you can go to the Martyrs’ Lament with the fenicular and watch the Baku city view from the top of the hill where the Undying Fire is located.. From this hill you will see the peninsula where the Baku Eye, State Flag Square and Baku Crystal Hall are located.. In addition, Flame Towers is a very modern and interesting structure that you will see even closer from this point.. Azerbaijan Carpet Museum, Puppet Museum and Mini-Venice, which will be on your way to the Seaside National Park on the shores of the Caspian Sea on your way back, are places that should not be missed. You can click on the link here.
- Inner City
- Palace of the Shirvanshahs
- Maiden’s Tower
- Ateshgah
- Baku Boulevard
- State Flag Square
- Flame Towers
- Martyr’s Lane
- Nizami Street
- Haydar Aliyev Cultural Center
- Azerbaijan Carpet Museum
- Azerbaijan State Philharmonic
- Azerbaijan National History Museum
- Little Venice
ENTERTAINMENT AND NIGHT LIFE IN BAKU
Places around Fountain Square, the most preferred place for night entertainment in Baku. Many pubs have happy hours and drinks are discounted according to a certain hour.. Apart from pubs, there are also various nightclubs.. It is possible to find a place suitable for every budget, but there are many luxury places and the menu prices here are quite high, keep in mind. Places close around 2-3 at the most, so it is not possible to have fun until the morning in Baku.. By the way, an interesting detail is that locals ask for a pot of tea in the places (we are talking about a luxury place on the roof top here) and drink glasses of tea together with 5-6 people.. It’s a matter of preference, of course.
On our first night in Baku, we walked in and out of almost every street that made noise.. We walked the streets around Nizami street, 28 May street, Bashir Safaroglu street, Rasul Rza street, Fiskiye square.. Our route was pretty much like this. However, the streets behind the fountain square seemed a little dangerous to us.. We observed some bargains on the street and did not feel very safe. Also, an incredible male population is dominant in Baku at night and you can be exposed to glances that do not make you feel free like in Europe.. For this reason, we say be careful not to go in or out of very dark places.
We went to Hard Rock Baku on our last night.. It is necessary to make a reservation on nights with live music because the place was quite full.. Prices were not bad, but we saw young people ordering more tea and cake than alcohol.. It’s hard not to wonder why
OTHER PLACES TO VISIT CLOSE TO BAKU: ALTERNATIVE TOURS
Definitely take a day tour to Kobustan National Park and see the first people you should study the drawings and go to the mud volcanoes area, which is half an hour away from there.. If you wish, you can do this tour yourself, or you can go inside with one of the agencies located in the city area.. We organized a tour ourselves. By agreeing with the driver of the taxi we called from the Bolt application, we made the whole tour at a more affordable price.. We also recommend you. You don’t have a problem with the language anyway, so it’s worth considering.
For those who have time, we recommend that they visit Ateşgah and Yanardag region.. Unfortunately, we could not go, but according to the photos and comments, we got the impression that it is a beautiful place.
Sheki (Sheki), one of the must-see cities in Azerbaijan, is 300 km from Baku.. We couldn’t go because we didn’t have time, but if you have the opportunity, you should definitely go.. Almost everyone we encountered suggested we see this place. We are now planning to go to Sheki from Tbilisi on our next trip to Georgia
BAKU TRAVEL NOTES
Baku, more precisely, Azerbaijan is a very different country. With its volcanoes, active mud volcanoes, nature and sea, this country deserves to plan a trip for at least 1 week. a place.
Those who will go to Baku, especially in summer, can have affordable accommodation in many resorts on the Caspian Sea coast and enjoy the sea.. However, you can enjoy the city to the fullest in spring or early autumn..
