Best Day Trips from Baku: 9 Trips, How Long They Take and What They Cost

Day Trips from Baku at a Glance

Prices are for a sedan (1–3 passengers), per car, and cover the drive there and back on the same day — the driver waits while you visit. SUV and minivan prices are on each route page.

1. Gobustan Rock Art and the Mud Volcanoes

The easiest trip from Baku and one of the most rewarding. About 70 km south-west of the city, the Gobustan reserve protects more than 6,000 rock carvings — hunters, dancers, boats and animals — made over thousands of years, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007; a modern museum explains them. A few kilometres away, small mud volcanoes bubble and gurgle on a bare hillside. Half a day is enough, and it pairs well with an afternoon in Baku. See our Gobustan guide.

2. The Fire Sites of Absheron: Yanar Dag and Ateshgah

Azerbaijan is called the Land of Fire for a reason. At Yanar Dag, about 25 km north of the centre, natural gas burns out of a hillside in a wall of flame that has not gone out in living memory — best seen at dusk. At Surakhani, about 30 km from the centre, the Ateshgah fire temple was built in the 17th–18th centuries around natural gas flames and was a place of pilgrimage for fire-worshipping Hindu traders; its small cells are now a museum. Both fit into an afternoon. Because this is a multi-stop city trip rather than a fixed route, tell us your plan on WhatsApp and we will confirm a fixed price — or see private driver hire.

3. Shamakhi and Lahij

Two hours west, Shamakhi — the old capital of the Shirvanshahs — has the great Juma Mosque and the Yeddi Gumbez mausoleums on a hill above town. An hour beyond it, down a mountain road, the stone village of Lahij has worked copper by hand for centuries; its cobbled main street is lined with workshops. Doing both makes a full, satisfying day. See our Shamakhi and Lahij guides.

4. Quba and the Candy Cane Mountains

Quba, two and a half hours north, is the classic easy day out: the Red Settlement of the Mountain Jews, the Juma Mosque, carpets and apple orchards. On the way, a detour into the Khizi hills reaches the “Candy Cane Mountains”, ridges striped pink, red and white by iron in the rock — ask your driver to add it when you book, as it adds time. See things to do in Quba.

5. Khinalug

A stone village above 2,000 m with its own language, at the end of a mountain road beyond Quba, and on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2023. It can be done in a day, but with about five hours of driving each way it is a very long one; a night in Quba or Khinalug makes it far more enjoyable. Read our Khinalug guide first.

6. Shahdag

Three hours north, Shahdag is a ski resort in winter and a cool mountain escape in summer, with cable cars, an alpine coaster and the waterfalls of nearby Laza. A day trip works well, especially combined with Quba on the way. See things to do in Qusar and Shahdag and our winter guide.

7. Gabala

Forests, the Tufandag cable car, Nohur Lake and a waterfall, about three hours away. It works as a day trip with a stop in Shamakhi, but you will spend around six hours in the car, so many visitors stay a night. See things to do in Gabala.

8. Sheki

Sheki’s Khan’s Palace and caravanserai are among the highlights of Azerbaijan — but at four and a half to five hours each way, this is not a day trip. Plan at least one night, or combine it with Gabala in a three-day loop. See things to do in Sheki.

9. Lankaran

Three and a half hours south along the Caspian, Lankaran is a different Azerbaijan: tea plantations, citrus groves and a humid subtropical climate. It is possible in a day but more relaxed with a night. See our Lankaran guide.

How to Choose

• Only one free day? Gobustan in the morning and the fire sites of Absheron in the afternoon give you two of Azerbaijan’s most distinctive sights without a long drive.
• Want mountains in a day? Choose Quba (easiest), Shahdag (best in winter or high summer) or Shamakhi and Lahij (villages and crafts).
• Have three or four days? Make a loop instead of out-and-back trips: Baku → Shamakhi → Gabala → Sheki → Baku, with a driver who stays with you.

How Our Day-Trip Prices Work

Every trip above has a fixed price per car, agreed before you travel and paid to the driver in cash after the trip — no prepayment. A same-day trip there and back costs the same as one way, and the driver waits while you visit. Two examples, per car:

Ready-made day trips with fixed prices and hours are on our day trips page; one-way routes are on the destinations page. For multi-day loops, see private driver hire.

Updated: October 2026