What to see and do in Baku in 48 hours: a quick guide

Is Baku a good city break option? I say yes, but keep reading to decide for yourself. Baku is a city that seems to belong to two centuries. Young people enjoy modern clubs, wear trendy clothes and behave exactly what you’d expect from a 21st-century person. The older generations seem to still belong to the Soviet Union times with their on-street-tea-chats and indestructible Lada cars.

Even the city itself appears as if wasn’t sure to what century wants to belong. I am not only talking about the mix of architecture with the skyscrapers proudly overlooking the city and old neighbourhoods of once representing enormous wealth. There is so much to see beyond that.

I walked in Baku, walked a lot. Visiting cities on foot gives you this amazing opportunity to see and observe the real-life; people occupied by their daily chores and getting on with their business.

The faces say a lot. The history is written on them and no matter how modern Baku is becoming, they belong to two centuries.

When in Baku- walk beyond the old town and touristic areas. You will thank me later.

Compare flight schedules and prices to Baku through Skyscanner.
Book your accommodation in Baku on Booking.com.
Check amazing tours on Get Your Guide, Viator and Trip Advisor. All worked well for me.

Things to see and do in Baku

While you can see most of the biggest attractions of Baku in one day, I think two days would be a perfect amount of time plus another day to do an excursion. However, you might only have time for a weekend escape. I based this guide on what I managed to see in two full days in Baku with a little bit of rush. Nowadays, Baku is easily accessible from many main cities in Europe and the Middle East.

Heydar Aliyev Centre

Do you remember when I said that I walked in Baku? I actually walked to Heydar Aliyev Centre from my hotel. I do not necessarily recommend taking this walk because in a few places it was quite hard to cross the massive intersections, which resulted in making big loops. Anyway, Heydar Aliyev Centre must be on your itinerary. This iconic building with modern lines outside and inside was designed by, late now, Iraqui architect Zaha Hadid. Just Google her name to see more of her amazing projects- her resume is quite impressive.

Eat in a traditional restaurant

Food- my favourite part. If you have been on this blog before, you probably know it already. I was quite surprised to see the variety of dishes in Azerbaijan, which is a kind of mix of Georgian, Arabic, Greek and Turkish cuisine. Baku has quite a few great restaurants, but I mostly enjoyed the traditional ones, which were also full of locals. The food was amazing and the decor really cute.

My favourite restaurants in Baku for traditional food:

Firuze
Dolma
Nergiz
Sehrli Tendir

Carpet Museum

The carpet museum is a massive collection of carpets- dah. It’s not allowed to take photos inside, but it’s definitely an impressive experience as it exhibits 6000 carpets, making it the biggest collection in the world. It’s located near the old town and just next to a mall that you can see in the background in this photo.

Take a stroll along the boulevard

I love city walks along the coast. The long and wide boulevard in Baku is has a park and restaurants in the middle. I’m pretty sure it’s absolutely gorgeous in spring and summer- even the winter stroll there was great.

Maiden Tower

Archaeologists believe that Maiden Tower is ‘just’ 2600 years old. Impressive, I must say. There’s a museum inside the tower, which I didn’t visit, but if you’re keen on learning some more details on the history of Baku, that’s the place. For me the Baku trip was short and I really enjoyed being outdoors, so I skipped it.

Flame Towers

I ‘literally’ chased the towers. It took me thousands of walked steps to find the perfect spot. Highland Park would probably be the best option to get the perfect angle of the towers, but you can spot them from many places in the city. If you have a chance, try to see the towers at night as they have LED lights installed all over and imitate the fire that makes them look like actual giant flames.

Love Park

Not a huge attraction, but it’s actually quite a charming little park in the city with many hearts scattered around. Every heart has a different design, so if you’re looking for cute pictures, this might be your place.

Visit the old town and shop for crafts

Visiting an old town- what a discovery, you might say. Well, this list would be incomplete without mentioning it. The old town in Baku is really cute with some traditional restaurants and souvenir shops. The locals will try to sell you anything, obviously, but you can also have a nice chat, which is one of the best things when travelling.

Highland Park

One of the reasons that I talk to taxi drivers is that they give me invaluable tips, one of which was having a walk to Highland Park. Admittedly, it was a piece of excellent advice- just look at the views I got on my way there. Plus, when you finally conquer the hill, you’ll get the best views of the Flame Towers.

Take a day trip outside the city

A trip to see all the outside attractions will really take the full day of your time. There are plenty of tour operators in Baku, which you can find through Get Your Guide, for example. I booked all my guides and tours as private tours since the prices are not too high and give you flexibility with sightseeing.

Whichever company you chose, I only want to let you know that a trip to Baku would not be complete or the same if you skip an excursion outside the city. Azerbaijan is an amazing destination with so much history being an important stop on the Silk Road and some natural phenomena. Just scroll down to see it for yourself.

Search for day excursions from Baku here:

Yanardag– is a burning mountain due to underground gases. It used to be much more extensive, now it only burns in some places and it’s under protection. My guide mentioned that families sometimes gather there in the evening with warm tea to admire the flames, which in darkness look blue. I know why the fire is there and why it cannot be killed with water, nonetheless, I could not stop staring and disbelieving. It’s quite impressive.

BOOK YANARDAY TOUR HERE.

Gobustan Historical and Cultural Reserve– the area of Gobustan settlement is quite large, however, most of it is off-limits and you can only visit the designated areas by following a path. If you go on your own, do not skip the museum and go there first to get some background information before seeing the open-air museum.

Atashgah Zoroastrian Fire Temple– Ātash is a Persian word for fire.

The fire used to be natural in this temple. Due to the natural gas disappearing (since it has been commercialised), there’s a pipe installed to keep the flame for artificial supply. The story of this temple is captivating, so don’t skip this place.

The temple was a Hindu, Sikh, and Zoroastrian place of worship and religious rituals as well as a resting place for travellers and traders on the Silk Road. It is now a UNESCO site.

Mud volcanoes– Again, thanks to natural gases, mud volcanoes can be observed. To get there, we switched cars and got ourselves an old Lada, which is an indestructible car, according to the locals. Most of the area is now off-limits and it can only be visited in dry weather. When it rains, the paths become very muddy, slippery and occasionally cars get stuck there. The mud volcanoes have a constant flow of gas making bubbles on the surface. Sometimes, when the mud on top gets too dry, the gas accumulates inside causing an explosion. There’s also a small lake in the area where the locals go to cool down in the summer- it’s like a natural jacuzzi with bubbles.

Book your tour here:

Practical stuff for city break in Baku

Use my favourite travel resources to plan your dream trips

Booking.com for searching best prices on accommodation.
Discover Cars is a great website as they search both local and international car hire services, so you can choose the best deal for yourself. Make sure though, that the company has a good reputation and reviews.
Get Your Guide is my place to go for searching and booking tours and excursions, especially when I travel solo.
World Nomads travel insurance. I like them because they have quite extensive coverage of different activities.
Jack’s Flight Club is a service that can save you hundreds of dollars on flights, it works especially well in Europe.
Trivago where you can search and save on hotels.
Viator is a great place to search and book trusted providers for tours. They have ‘book and pay later’ option too to give you a peace of mind.
Go City is a perfect site for booking bucket list experiences and attractions all in one to avoid paying for multiple tickets. Easy and saves money.
Trip Advisor– amazing for good quality recommendations.
Skyscanner is a perfect website for searching flight routes and comparing prices.

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Book your flights to Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan seems to be quite well connected with Europe and the Middle East but before booking my flights, I always search for different options through Skyscanner, which give a list of different options.

You will need a Visa to Azerbaijan, which you can apply for online. Be careful though, I found a few fake websites that offer visas; the one linked here is the real one, but please double-check before making the payment.

Where to stay in Baku

I’d recommend staying near the old town, but not within as traffic is not allowed there and you might need to carry your luggage to the hotel. I stayed in Zarifa Aliyeva Street in Centric Baku Boutique Hotel. It was a perfect location close to restaurants, the old town, the boulevard and everything of interest to a traveller.

Enjoy your trip,

Love, Ania

P.S. if you have any questions regarding planning your trip to Azerbaijan, drop them in the comments below.

Please note that this post included affiliate links, when you decide to purchase anything through these links I get a small commission at NO extra cost to you, it helps me to keep running this blog! I only promote products and services I use or would use myself. All images are the property of Postcards from the World and cannot be used without permission.