Azerbaijan

In May 2026 our trip took us to the not-so-well-known destination of Azerbaijan – a country we approached with a bit of scepticism, but which really surprised us. 🇦🇿 We flew from Hamburg via Istanbul to the capital, Baku, where we rented a car and drove around the country ourselves for 12 days. Baku is an impressive, modern city of millions, with oil and gas money clearly invested in grand boulevards, parks and a long seaside promenade – and prices are astonishingly low, whether for hotels, food or transport. From Baku we headed up into the Caucasus mountains to the old mountain town of Lahij, where we spent two nights as homestay guests with a local family. From there we continued to Sheki with its old khan's palace, on to Ganja – the country's second-largest city and far less touristy – and back towards Baku past the moon-like mud volcanoes of Gobustan (Azerbaijan is home to almost half of the world's mud volcanoes!) and the eternally burning mountainside of Yanar Dağ. We were met with incredible hospitality and felt safe the whole way round, even though several people back home had warned us before we left. English is fairly limited outside Baku though, so Google Translate became a constant travel companion. 12 days with a great mix of big city, mountains, desert-like landscapes and authentic village life – Azerbaijan really surprised us. 🌍❤️