Explore Azerbaijan
Baku faces the Caspian with pale stone, oil-era mansions and new towers sharing the same skyline. Beyond it, mud volcanoes, mountain villages and caravan routes reveal a country whose landscapes and histories meet between Europe and Asia without fitting neatly into either. Give Baku time beyond a single landmark, then choose one contrasting region rather than rushing across the map. Walk the old city's lanes, learn how oil changed the capital and let a slower day outside it show the scale and dryness of the wider landscape. Check current entry rules and travel advice, including areas near the Armenian border and former conflict zones where mines and unexploded ordnance remain a risk. Do not photograph military or sensitive sites, do not bring a drone without confirming the law, carry identification and use established transport. Accessibility varies considerably outside modern Baku. Count this complete after visiting Baku and at least one place beyond the capital. Add it if you are drawn to journeys built on contrasts: stone walls and glass towers, fire traditions and contemporary ambition, dry hills opening onto an inland sea.