Azerbaijan, from the fire fields up to Khinaliq.
Which Gobustan day also gets you to the mud volcanoes. What the drive to Khinaliq really takes. Whether Gabala is worth four hours each way. Every tour in Azerbaijan, reviewed.
Gobustan, Yanardag, the Old City: where a first trip starts.
Rock carvings on a limestone ridge, mud that comes out of the ground cold, a hillside that has burned for as long as anyone has written it down, and a walled city sitting inside the modern capital.
What everyone books out of Baku.
Every review →The days that fill first, whether that is the run south to the petroglyphs or the long climb north into the Guba mountains.
1
Gobustan, Mud Volcano, Fire Mount, Temple Lunch Entry
Review of Baku’s Gobustan and Absheron tour, covering mud volcanoes, petroglyphs, fire sites, mosque, costs, guides, lunch, and practical tips.
From · $6
Read our review →
2
Guba, Shahdag, Laza & Lunch w/ Free City & Night Tour
from $5
3
BEST Gobustan, Volcanoes & Absheron Fire Tour (Group or Private)
from $33
4
Gobustan and Absheron tour (All inclusive)
from $85
5
Shamakhi And Gabala Tour (All inclusive)
from $39
6
Gabala and Shamakhi Tour (Free Baku City Tour)
from $28
7
Candy Cane, Guba, Khinaliq village with Homemade Lunch
from $55
8
Guba & Sahdag Tour Lunch included and Laza Waterfall
from $15
9
Guba Khinalig & Candy Cane Tour with Homemade Lunch
from $54
Gobustan: petroglyphs, mud and fire in one day.
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The reserve is an hour south of Baku, the volcano field is a track beyond it, and Ateshgah and Yanardag sit on the way back. These three carry the most travellers; the full list splits the rest by how much driving you want.
Petroglyphs, volcanoes and fire in one run
Rock art on the Beyukdash ridge, the grey cones out on the plain, then the fire sites on the road back into the city.
The mud fields on the Caspian plain
The last kilometres to the cones are a track rather than a road, which is why these days run in old Ladas. The mud comes out cold and moves while you watch.
Ateshgah and Yanardag after lunch
A pentagonal fire temple in Surakhani, then a burning hillside twenty minutes further north. Both fit comfortably into an afternoon.
Guba, Khinaliq and a road that ends at 2,000 metres.
Apple orchards around Guba, red and white stripes in the hills near Khizi, then switchbacks up to Khinaliq, where the houses are stacked so that each roof is the next yard and the road simply stops.
Sheki and Gabala keep the trip out of the desert.
Four hours west of Baku the ground turns green. Gabala sits under the Greater Caucasus with a cable car and a lake; Sheki has the Khan’s Palace, whose shebeke windows are built without glue or nails, and a caravanserai you can still sleep in.
All 30 Gabala tours →
Cold mud, standing fire, and a village at 2,000 metres.
Rock art and old walled towns run right along the Caucasus. The mud fields, the flames that never went out and the road up to Khinaliq belong to Azerbaijan alone.
The Mud Volcanoes
Azerbaijan holds more mud volcanoes than any other country, and most of them sit on the flat land south of Baku beyond Gobustan. The mud is cold, grey and slow, the cones rebuild themselves after each eruption, and the final kilometres are unsurfaced, which is why the trips out there run in old Ladas rather than coaches.
- 1Gobustan, Mud Volcano, Fire Mount, Temple Lunch Entry★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 3,246 reviews
- 2Gobustan Mud Volcanoes Temple & Entry tickets included★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 178 reviews
- 3Half-Day Gobustan and Mud Volcanoes Tour with Entry★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 144 reviews
Ateshgah and Yanardag
Gas seeps up through the rock across the Absheron peninsula, and where it reaches the surface it burns. At Ateshgah a pentagonal temple was built around one of those flames by fire worshippers and Indian merchants who traded through Baku. At Yanardag, twenty minutes north, a hillside has been alight for centuries.
- 1Gobustan, Volcanoes, Fire Temple and Yanardag Day Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 433 reviews
- 2Gobustan & Mud, Fire Temple, Burning Mountain (Group & Private)★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 418 reviews
- 3Mud Volcan-Fire Temple and Mountain Tour/Entrance inc★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 267 reviews
Khinaliq
The village stands above 2,000 metres in the mountains behind Guba, its stone houses built one on top of the next. People here speak Khinalug, a language of their own and nobody else’s. The drive from Baku takes most of a day, and snow shuts the top of the road for months.
- 1Candy Cane, Guba, Khinaliq village with Homemade Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 519 reviews
- 2Guba Khinalig & Candy Cane Tour with Homemade Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 447 reviews
- 3Guba and Khinaliq Village Tour including Homemade Lunch★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 241 reviews
What a day out of Baku actually costs.
Every tour on the site, cheapest first. A group seat on the Gobustan run costs less than dinner on the Boulevard; a private car with a driver for the mountains is a different order.
Group seats on the Gobustan and Absheron runs, Old City walking tours, and half-days on the peninsula.
The standard full day: petroglyphs and volcanoes, Guba and Khinaliq, Gabala with Shamakhi, lunch usually included.
Private cars with a driver, the long loop to Sheki, and multi-day trips into the mountains.
- 1Sheki Tour 2 Days, 1 Night (All Inclusive)from $190
- 2Full Day Trip in Baku (Gobustan & Absheron)from $180
- 3Private Gabala Tourfrom $120
Baku switches its lights on at the Boulevard.
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The Azerbaijan days that need a whole day.
Most of Baku can be arranged the night before. These cannot. They are long drives on mountain roads, and the good ones leave early and get back after dark.
- 01Candy Cane, Guba, Khinaliq village with Homemade LunchBaku to Khinaliq is around 200 km each way, and the last stretch climbs on switchbacks. Snow closes the top of the road in winter.
- 02Full Day Tour to Five Regions of AzerbaijanSheki sits roughly 300 km west of Baku. As a day trip it is a dawn departure, and it works far better as an overnight.
- 03Shamakhi And Gabala Tour (All inclusive)Gabala and Shamakhi lie on the same western road about four hours out, so the two are almost always sold as one long day.
- 04Gobustan, Mud Volcano, Fire Mount, Temple Lunch EntryThe volcano field beyond Gobustan is reached on an unsurfaced track, so the transfer is part of the booking rather than something you arrange there.
Baku is named for its wind, and the khazri blows all winter.
The northerly khazri comes straight off the Caspian and strips the Boulevard bare. The answers are inland and under a roof: the lanes of the walled city, the old bathhouses and museums, a long lunch, and the cellars out toward Shamakhi.
By region, Baku outwards
Baku252 tours- Gobustan67 tours
The Absheron Peninsula29 tours
Guba33 tours
Khinaliq20 tours
Gabala30 tours
Sheki14 tours- Shamakhi20 tours
- Shahdag20 tours
- Every tour in Azerbaijan →
One week: Baku, the fire sites, the mountains, Sheki.
The newest Azerbaijan tour reviews.
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4-hr Gobustan & Mud Volcanoes Tour (Tickets Included)
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Private Hike through Magic Valley to Laza waterfalls
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