| Duration: | 7 Day(s) - 6 Night(s) |
| Tour Category: | Classic Tours |
Azerbaijan is a country with ancient history and culture. There are more than 6000 historical and architectural monuments. Many centuries ago and till our days this land served as a crossroads of trade routes from Asia to Europe being a key part of caravan routes. Already then numerous merchants, travelers, ambassadors, historians, and ethnographers marked interesting historical-architectural monuments in the land of Azerbaijan.
Day 1. Gobustan / Baku city tour
The tourists will have spare time for rest before we start the first excursion to Gobustan reserve. The reserve is well known for its perfectly preserved rock paintings - petroglyphs - a kind of artistic "archive" of human evolution on the Earth.
Before the start of the tour around Gobustan guests will visit the interactive museum with the same name, where with the help of special programs and multimedia touch screens you will get information about nature, and the flora of Gobustan.
After the guests are driven back to their hotel.
Day 2. Baku - Absheron
Breakfast at the hotel. Start of the excursion. We will launch the trip to the Absheron peninsula where the most important Zoroastrian monuments had been preserved.
Fire Temple Ateshgah (literally Fire House) is located 30 kilometers from the center of Baku, in the south-eastern outskirts of the Absheron Peninsula.
Next to this small village in the Absheron peninsula, Mount Yanardagh is situated. The word "Yanar" in the Azeri language means "burning", and "Dagh" - "mountain". And this is really a burning mountain - not metaphorically, but literally. Once in Absheron, it had were a lot of places where natural gas coming out from the earth to the surface ignited spontaneously, but with the start of mass extraction of oil and gas in Absheron, these places started to disappear. At present, it is the only place of this unique natural phenomenon - the output of natural gas to the surface.
Overnight in Baku.
Day 3. Baku – Shamakhi - Gabala
We go to the northwest of Azerbaijan through the Caucasus Mountains. The dry landscape around Baku was replaced by dense forest mountains.
After checking into the hotel, you can walk to the famous waterfall Seven Beauties, named in honor of the great poem of Nizami. The waterfall consists of 7 stages and is famous throughout the country.
A trip to Gabalanad. It is believed that the beauty of this park is the fourth largest in Europe. The locals are very proud of this fact. Overnight in Gabala.
Day 4. Gabala - Sheki - Kish
Breakfast at the hotel. Check-out. Visit Nij village (this village is famous for its ancient religious buildings and its citizens. It is the only place in the world where the Udins ethnicity lives –very ancient Caucasian ethnos that has its own authentic culture and traditions) and visit Chuhur Gabala ( the ruins of ancient Caucasian Albania’s capital Kabala. At that time it was a very significant place in the Middle East as it was a huge educational center for mags – the priests of Zoroastrian temples.
Start exploring Sheki. Sheki is one of the most famous and ancient places in Azerbaijan. Situated 700 m (2297 ft.) above sea level like an amphitheater surrounded by mountains and forests of oak trees, this ancient city was long famed as a silk center and an important stop on the Great Silk Route. We’ll start our Sheki tour by visiting the 18th-century Khan's Summer Palace with magnificent frescos and exquisite stained glass work. Then I visited of “Shebeke”( handmade frescos) workshop, the “Pakhlava”(special and famous in Azerbaijan sweet) workshop, and the “Tekulduz” ( a kind of weaving popular in this area) workshop. Walking in the old street and visiting different craftsman workshops.
Ilisu is a small town, where all houses are built along one single street but it still remembers the days of former glory when Ilisu was the capital of an independent sultanate, which was later joined by the Russian Empire. In addition to charming village houses in Ilisu, there are a few buildings, reminiscent of the last Ilisu: the Sumuggala fortress of the 16th century, which was almost completely destroyed, the tower Galadzha( the 19th century), and the well-preserved 18th-century mosque. Here you can buy natural honey harvested by local beekeepers, walk to the waterfall, and enjoy tea from a samovar outdoors.
Drive back to Sheki.
We will continue to discover Sheki and will visit Kish village and the legendary church.
Later we will drive to Lahij - a famous Lahij village in the Ismayilly district. Most parts of the 2,000 people living in Lahij is involved in ancient crafts such as engraved copper work and carpet weaving. In the mid-19th century, there were more than 200 workshops in Lahij. Traders discovered Lahij crafts many centuries ago and sold them for high prices at bazaars in Baghdad [now Iraq], Shiraz [now Iran], and other Middle Eastern cities. Stop by a copper workshop for an impromptu lesson in ancient craftsmanship you'll get to see coppersmiths use small mallets to decorate plates, trays, jugs, goblets, and pitchers, just as their ancestors have done for centuries. After we will set up the way to Baku.
Overnight in Baku.
Day 6. Baku- Guba – Khinaliq –Baku
Breakfast in the hotel. The district has a unique Alpine village of Khinalig, situated at an altitude of 2500m above sea level. The population of the village is a separate ethnographic group with its own language, which no one else in the world does not speak. Not far from Khinalig, there is another distinctive mountain village - Griz.
Overnight in Baku.
Day 7. Baku
Breakfast. Check out from the hotel. Departure to Airport.
End of Tour
