A country · 84 places · 8 regions

Azerbaijan, all of it.

84 curated places across 8 regions — photographed, mapped, and noted with the season each is best in.

Gobustan National Park, Azerbaijan
Gobustan National Park · via Wikimedia Commons

The 4 biggest regions — Ismayilli District, Guba District, Shamakhi District and Astara District — read below as chapters, with 4 more waiting past them.

Chapter I · Ismayilli District · 3 places

Ismayilli District

A historic hillside settlement in the foothills of Azerbaijan known for silk kelaghayi headscarf making. Cobbled lanes and old stone houses climb the slope amid orchards and vineyards.

Khinalig, Azerbaijanvia Wikimedia Commons

Chapter II · Guba District · 2 places

Guba District

One of the highest permanently inhabited villages in the Caucasus at approximately 2,200 meters, Khinalig occupies a bare mountain ridge in the Quba district of northern Azerbaijan. The community speaks the Khinalig language, classified as a language isolate distinct from all neighboring tongues, and the stone houses of the village step up the ridge in a compact cluster with flat roofs serving as terraces for those above. The surrounding landscape of open mountain steppe and the visual isolation of the village against the high Caucasus backdrop make it one of the most scenically remote settlements in Azerbaijan.

✦ June to September · $

Chapter III · Shamakhi District · 2 places

Shamakhi District

The largest national park in Azerbaijan, protecting alpine meadows and forests along the Greater Caucasus. It shelters wildlife such as the East Caucasian tur across its high ridges.

Hirkan National Park, Azerbaijanvia Wikimedia Commons

Chapter IV · Astara District · 1 place

Astara District

A protected expanse of ancient relict forest in the Talysh Mountains near the Caspian coast. Its rare temperate broadleaf woodland shelters leopards and species surviving from before the ice ages.

✦ April to October

Every place in Azerbaijan

84 places, one country.

Gobustan National Park, Azerbaijan

Gobustan National Park

Gobustan, Azerbaijan

✦ March to May, September to November · $

Baku, Azerbaijan

Baku

Absheron, Azerbaijan

✦ April to June, September to November · $$

Sheki, Azerbaijan

Sheki

Sheki-Zaqatala, Azerbaijan

✦ April to June, September to November · $

Lahij, Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan

Lahij, Azerbaijan

Ismayilli, Azerbaijan

✦ May to September · $

Khinalig, Azerbaijan

Khinalig

Guba District, Azerbaijan

✦ June to September · $

Ateshgah of Baku, Azerbaijan

Ateshgah of Baku

Absheron, Azerbaijan

✦ March to June, September to November · $

Yanar Dag, Azerbaijan

Yanar Dag

Absheron, Azerbaijan

✦ Year-round · $

Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Azerbaijan

Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic

Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan

✦ April to June, September to November · $

Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower, Azerbaijan

Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower

Sabail raion, Azerbaijan

✦ May–September · $$

Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape, Azerbaijan

Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape

Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan

✦ May–September · $$

Historic Centre of Sheki with the Khan’s Palace, Azerbaijan

Historic Centre of Sheki with the Khan’s Palace

Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan

✦ May–September · $$

Cultural Landscape of Khinalig People and “Köç Yolu” Transhumance Route, Azerbaijan

Cultural Landscape of Khinalig People and “Köç Yolu” Transhumance Route

Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan

✦ May–September · $$

Flame Towers, Azerbaijan

Flame Towers

Baku, Azerbaijan

✦ April to June · $$$

Heydar Aliyev Center, Azerbaijan

Heydar Aliyev Center

Baku, Azerbaijan

✦ April to October · $$

Gobustan mud volcanoes, Azerbaijan

Gobustan mud volcanoes

Gobustan District, Azerbaijan

✦ April to June · $

Quba, Azerbaijan

Quba

Guba District, Azerbaijan

✦ May to October · $

Laza, Azerbaijan

Laza

Qusar District, Azerbaijan

✦ June to September · $

Shahdag Mountain Resort, Azerbaijan

Shahdag Mountain Resort

Qusar District, Azerbaijan

✦ December to March · $$

Nizami Street, Azerbaijan

Nizami Street

Baku, Azerbaijan

✦ April to October · $$

Basqal, Azerbaijan

Basqal

Ismayilli District, Azerbaijan

✦ May to October · $

Amirjan, Azerbaijan

Amirjan

Baku, Azerbaijan

✦ April to October · $

Ganja, Azerbaijan

Ganja

Ganja, Azerbaijan

✦ spring and autumn

Goygol Lake, Azerbaijan

Goygol Lake

Goygol, Azerbaijan

✦ May to October

Naftalan, Azerbaijan

Naftalan

Goranboy, Azerbaijan

✦ spring and autumn