Salam Azərbaycan

Day by day

The itinerary

1. 1 Baku: Flame Towers & the Old City Salam Azərbaycan: A City Dressed for the Holidays +

   Our first morning in Baku started with breakfast at Green Garden 145. Then we explored a city decked out for the season, with shopfronts wrapped in lights and Christmas trees on the cobbled streets. From the hilltop by the Boulevard we looked down over the Caspian, and at night the three Flame Towers glowed green, blue and red, the colours of the Azerbaijani flag.

   “Salam Azərbaycan! Every day with you is a fairytale.”

   
2. 2 Qobustan & Yanar Dag Ancient Rock Art & a Mountain on Fire +

   Our driver took us south to Qobustan, where Stone Age people carved hunters, boats and animals into the rocks thousands of years ago. A curious, fluffy-tailed fox even came to see us at the reserve. On the way back we stopped at Yanar Dag, the "burning mountain," where natural gas has been feeding a wall of flame along the hillside for centuries. It's why Azerbaijan is called the Land of Fire.

   “Where the earth has been on fire for centuries.”

   
3. 3 Baku, New Year's Eve Bye Bye 2024, Welcome 2025 +

   We spent New Year's Eve on the Baku waterfront with crowds from all over the world. At midnight, fireworks burst over the bay and lit up the Flame Towers. It was the perfect start to a new year.

   “Bye bye 2024, welcome 2025! New Year's Eve in Baku.”

   Photos from this stop are coming soon.
4. 4 Shahdag Snow, Sunshine & the Greater Caucasus +

   We drove north into the mountains to Shahdag, Azerbaijan's ski resort, with bright blue skies, snowy slopes and chairlifts climbing into the Caucasus. We took sunglasses-and-snow photos and had a lot of family fun in the cold, crisp air.

   “Out of office, into the snow.”

   
5. 5 Gabala & Tufandağ Mountain Calling at 2°C +

   We drove west through bare winter forest to Gabala and stayed at the Qafqaz Resort Hotel, with the Caucasus right outside. We took the cable car up to Tufandağ and stood on the glass viewpoint at 2°C, looking out over a sea of snowy peaks. As the sun went down, the sky turned pink and orange and the lights of the valley came on below.

   “Mountain calling. 2°C at Tufandağ and worth every shiver.”

   
6. 6 Kish village Stone Lanes & an Ancient Albanian Church +

   In the foothills near Sheki, the village of Kish is home to one of the oldest churches in the Caucasus, the Caucasian Albanian Church, with stone paths, quiet gardens and mountains rising all around. We stopped there on a calm, sunny winter morning, and it was one of the most peaceful moments of the trip.

   “Morning views in the Caucasus foothills. Kish, timeless and quiet.”

   Photos from this stop are coming soon.
7. 7 Back to Baku & Heydar Aliyev Airport It's a Wrap +

   We drove back across the open plains to Baku ("Baku loading..."), then flew out of the striking Heydar Aliyev International Airport. One last surprise came on the flight home: a sea of clouds over snowy peaks out the window, a beautiful end to the trip.

   “It's a wrap. Thank you, Azerbaijan, Land of Fire.”

   Photos from this stop are coming soon.