Self-drive tour Azerbaijan

Flight to Baku. Airport pickup and transfer to your centrally located hotel in Baku.

At 10.00 a.m. you will meet your friendly Azerbaijani guide to explore the metropolis on the Caspian Sea. Panoramic view of the city from Martyrs’ Avenue and explore the old town. Visit to the Palace of Shirvanshah and
Walk along the promenade on the Caspian Sea. You can also discuss any remaining questions about your trip with your guide in the coming days. Free time in the afternoon.

At 7:00 p.m. you meet again for a big welcome dinner in a nice restaurant.

Drive with your guide to the famous sights of the Absheron Peninsula with the fire temple Atashqakh. Refreshment on site and free time in the afternoon in Baku.

9.00 a.m. Collection of the rental car at the hotel
Your first destination will be Gobustan 60km south of Baku. You can also test the rental car on this route and get used to it. You should start straight away so you’ll be there by 10:00 am. Here you will visit the state historical open-air museum of prehistoric rock carvings. In 2007 the sites were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The drawings from the Stone Age represent e.g. people, animals and hunting scenes and can be viewed in up to 20 caves.

In the afternoon we drive north via the Baku bypass to the edge of the Greater Caucasus to the town of Quba.
Distance: 270 km / travel time: 3.5 hours

Today you drive to the small mountain village of Khinaliq, at 2350 meters the highest village in the country. Enjoy the beautiful mountain panorama and plan a picnic along the way (you can buy fresh produce in Quba).
Distance: 100 km / travel time: 3 hours

Drive to mountain resort Shahdag. Here you can take the chairlift up the mountain or plan many other activities (cycling, horseback riding, etc.) or if you wish, you can go a little further to the village of Laza.
Distance: 50 km (to Laza) / travel time: 1 hour

Drive back along the Caspian Sea to Shamakhi. Optional: photo stops en route at Beshbarmag and Shurabad.
Continue to Shamakhi, where stands one of the country’s most important mosques, the Juma Mosque, built by the Arabs in the 8th century.
Distance: 290 km / travel time: 4 hours

Drive west along the Greater Caucasus mountain range. You should definitely take a trip to the picturesque ancient village of Lahic and see the traditional crafts of the coppersmiths there. There are also spices, skins and many other locally produced products.
Continue to Sheki – probably one of the oldest settlements in the Caucasus and known for the impressive 18th century khan’s palace and the caravanserais, which indicate an important trading center on the Silk Road of the time.
Distance: 230 km / travel time: 4.5 hours

You discover Sheki on your own. Optional we can organize you a local guide. In the afternoon you can drive on your own to the nearby village of Kish. An early Christian Albanian church was extensively restored here by the Norwegian state under the leadership of Thor Heyerdaal. The Kingdom of the Albanians existed here between the 1st and 8th centuries until the Arab invasion. The skeletons in the tombs are unusually large. A 35-year-old woman was 2.20 meters tall. Men were significantly larger. Thor Heyerdaal’s research led to his theory that Norwegians migrated to Scandinavia from the land of Aser. Distance: 25 km / travel time: 0.5 hours

In the morning you can visit the bazaar in Sheki. Then you drive to the industrial city of Mingachevir. Mingachevir Reservoir is the country’s largest reservoir and one of the largest in the Caucasus. In the center of the city on the Kura River, it is worth having a lunchtime snack. Continue to Ganja. Stroll through the second largest city in the country with the Khan’s Park, closed to the public for centuries or try the wonderful cuisine and wines that are made around Ganja. Distance: 150 km / travel time: 2 hours

Walk along the beautiful city center of Ganja. Optional we can provide you a local guide.
In the afternoon we recommend you to visit the outskirts of Ganja. From 1819 to 1941, a large number of German emigrants lived as colonists under the protection of the Russian Tsar on the slopes of the Caucasus and very successfully cultivated wine. Khanlar is the former German village of Helenendorf which has been sympathetically restored. In the former evangelical church there is now a small museum about the life of the Germans in the Caucasus. Tour in the village. Short drive to the “Blue Lake” Goy Göl in the afternoon, here you can walk and enjoy the beautiful nature. Distance: 90 km (to Göy Gol Lake et cetera) / travel time: 2 hours

Drive to a small winery near Ismayilli (approx. 30 km), where you can visit the wine cellar and taste the house wines in the evening. Relaxation is guaranteed here!
Distance: 150 km / travel time: 2 hours

In the morning you head back to Baku. You stay in a pretty beach hotel on the Caspian Sea. Car drop off at your hotel.

In the evening you can go for a walk on the beach, swim and review your trip. Distance: 270 km / travel time: 3.5 hours

Departure from Baku
Transfer to the airport and departure