Azerbaijan itineraries: 1 week, 2 weeks and 3 weeks

Nights are the minimum that does each stop justice. Costs are not listed here — see the cost of travel page for 2026 estimates and build your own total from accommodation, transport and food.

Base in Baku for the first four nights. Give the Old City, the Shirvanshahs' Palace and the boulevard a full day, then use two more days for the Absheron fire sites (Ateshgah and Yanar Dag) and for Gobustan's rock art and mud volcanoes. Both are half-day trips from the city.

Drive west on day 5, stopping at Shamakhi and the copper village of Lahic before reaching Sheki. Two nights in Sheki covers the Khan's Palace, the caravanserai and the halva shops without rushing. Return to Baku on day 7 and sleep there — the seventh night is in Baku, after the drive back, so you are at the airport in the morning.

This is the itinerary to pick if you have one week and want one long move rather than several. It also works in reverse if flights or weather push you that way.

Ten days lets you go north before heading west. Take two nights for Quba and Khinaliq: one in Quba town, one up in Khinaliq village if the road is open and you have arranged a driver. Khinaliq sits high and is a summer stop; check road conditions outside June–September.

Then return to Baku for a night and continue to Sheki for two nights, as in the 7-day plan. Finish with one night in Ganja — the Nizami mausoleum and the bottle house are the main stops — and take the train back to Baku for your last two nights. The Ganja–Baku train is the one intercity leg where you do not need a car and driver.

Two weeks is enough to see Azerbaijan properly and continue into Georgia. Spend the first eight nights in Azerbaijan: Baku 4, Quba and Khinaliq 2, Sheki 2, then one night back in Baku. That is nine days on the ground, day 9 being the flight out.

Fly Baku–Tbilisi on day 9 and spend five nights in Georgia before flying home from there. The overland Sheki–Georgia crossing is not an option while land borders are closed, so budget for the flight and check schedules when you book. If you would rather stay in Azerbaijan, swap the Georgia nights for Gabala (mountains and lakes, best June–September) and Lankaran in the south.

Three weeks lets you stop moving every other day. Start from the 14-day route, then use the extra week in Azerbaijan instead of adding Georgia nights: two nights in Gabala between Sheki and Ganja, two nights in Lankaran in the south reached by car or domestic flight from Baku, one night in Quba town itself rather than treating it as a pass-through, and the remaining two nights back in Baku.

With this much time you can also wait out bad weather in the mountains instead of skipping a stop, which matters for Khinaliq and Gabala. Keep the last night in Baku before any international departure.

Get the e-visa on the official ASAN Visa portal before you fly, and check your own government's travel advice for the Armenia border and former conflict areas. Those areas are not part of any itinerary here.

Distances look short on the map but mountain drives take longer than you expect. Baku to Sheki with stops is a long day (check), and Quba to Khinaliq is slow and weather-dependent. Many travellers hire a car with a driver for intercity days (check); if you do, agree the price and the stops in advance.

Book accommodation in Sheki and Khinaliq ahead in summer, when domestic tourism peaks. Carry some cash in manat for village guesthouses and small cafés, and check the money page for tipping norms.