15 Best Baku Tours & Experiences 2019

The perfect local guide

We spent with Nijat one and a half day, a half day Baku tour and a full day trip to Qobustan, mud volcanos, Ateshgah and Mardakan castle. He was a real friend for these few days with a lot of information, fun and helpfulness.
He gave us trips to eat, where to spent the evenings, what to do in our free time too. He has a kind and enthusiastic character.
I highly recommended him for everybody who visits Azerbajdzsan.

Reviewed by András • March 29, 2018

2-Hour Walking Tour of Baku's Top Sights

Baku tour with Nijat

I had a wonderful day with Nijat who was my tour guide in Baku. Nijat took me through the old town and major sightseeing destinations in Baku. He shared many useful tips and took me to local wine tasting which was fantastic. Once you plan to visit Baku Nijat is your main point of reference. Get in touch with him and experience local life of Baku.

Reviewed by Pavel • May 13, 2018

2-Hour Walking Tour of Baku's Top Sights

Great Tour - We loved it!

This was a great tour and Vadim was an excellent guide. He covered the entire program and threw in a few extra, amazing stops. He also found us a nice lunch stop, helpfully met our requests, and went above and beyond when our son left his camera in the car at the end of the tour. We would highly recommend this tour. Thanks Vadim!

Reviewed by Penny • October 29, 2018

Scenic Day Trip to Lahij: Ancient Settlements and Copper Craftsmanship

Awesome day with an awesome guide

Feeling a sudden urge for marshmallows next to an ancient flame temple. Driving a Lada in the middle of a muddy desert Safari. Climbing an ancient castle in flip-flops. Totally awesome day.

We were so satisfied that we took another tour the next day to check out the old city and the local winery.

Tour in Baku: Day Tour to Gobustan Reserve, Mud Volcanoes, Fire Temple and Mardakan Castle. Photo by Kirke.

Image by Kirke who visited Day Tour to Gobustan Reserve, Mud Volcanoes, Fire Temple and Mardakan Castle.

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Reviewed by Kirke • July 10, 2018

Day Tour to Gobustan Reserve, Mud Volcanoes, Fire Temple and Mardakan Castle

Fantastic walking tour

Nijat is your ultimate guide for Baku. Friendly, easy going, knowledgeable, and amazing sense of humour. The tour of the old city was relaxed and really interesting. Nijat is also great for local recommendations and is more your Baku friend than just your guide.

Reviewed by Genny • November 28, 2018

2-Hour Walking Tour of Baku's Top Sights

Passionate guide with great experience

This trip is well balanced. You have a museum, a hike and a nature sight (including driving an old Soviet car). Nijat is opened for sharing local experience and does not give too much of “waste touristic” information:)

Reviewed by Aleksandrs • May 04, 2019

Short trip to UNESCO World Heritage Listed Gobustan and Mud Volcanoes

Enjoyable day out with Nejat

It was an enjoyable day out of Baku with Nejat, with him being very friendly and accommodating. Learnt a great deal about the sights as well as about Azerbaijan. Definitely recommended!

Reviewed by Shyh Jie • May 28, 2019

Day Tour to Gobustan Reserve, Mud Volcanoes, Fire Temple and Mardakan Castle

Great tour!

Vadim is so kind and accommodating! Had a great time with him

Reviewed by Cynthia • July 22, 2019

Scenic Day Trip to Lahij: Ancient Settlements and Copper Craftsmanship

Amazing trip,amazing guide and amazingand driver

Reviewed by Tania • May 22, 2019

Day Tour to Gobustan Reserve, Mud Volcanoes, Fire Temple and Mardakan Castle

Z

Interesting history and a real adventure

This is a really interesting tour that brings you to two very unusual sites. Nijat is a wonderful guide, warm, fun and full of knowledge about not only the sites but anything and everything you'd ever like to know about Azerbaijan. He made what would have been a very challenging and potentially exhausting and problem-ridden excursion into a fun trip.
The museum at Gobustan is world-class excellent, both for kids (we have an 11- and a 9-year-old) and grown-ups. The little hike to some of the pertroglyphs is also great. There aren't many places in the world where you get to see carvings this old.
The taxi ride to the mud volcanoes is a real adventure and the volcanoes themselves are different from anything you might get to see anywhere else. As we were wandering around, one of them erupted and got us all spattered with mud drops, whish made the kids' day.
If you have half a day to spare in Baku, we can warmly recommend this trip!
We'd spent the morning with Nijat as well, doing the 2-hour tour of the city and visiting Yashil Bazaar where we tried all kinds of delicious foods. It was a wonderful day thanks to Nijat and his knowledge and passion for sharing it. If you want to learn about Azerbaijan from the inside out, you should definitely book a tour with Nijat. He gaves us great tips of where tp go for dinner and what Azerbaijani dishes we shouldn't miss.

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Reviewed by Zita • September 23, 2019

Short trip to UNESCO World Heritage Listed Gobustan and Mud Volcanoes

P

Full-day tour to Gobustan (petroglyphs), Mud Volcanoes and Absheron peninsular (castles, Ateshgar temple, Yanar Dag burning hillside)

My 2 friends and I went on a long interesting tour with Vadim, firstly 2 hours to the south of Baku to see mud volcanoes, petroglyphs and the Gobustan museum. We travelled comfortably in Vadim's 4x4 car along the spectacular coast of the Caspian Sea, and he described what we were going to see as he drove. The only difficulty with this was that the passengers in the back couldn't always hear him clearly. I would have liked more time to walk around the museum exhibits, but we had many other things to visit. We then travelled another 2 hours to the east of Baku to the Absheron peninsular, where there were many "nodding donkey" oil wells, still in use. We visited the Zoroastrian (fire worshippers) Temple at Ateshgar and the continuously-burning 'fire mountain' at Yanar Dag, as well as 2 castles and the Qala archaeological museum - all the sights were very interesting and unusual, and we spent longer than scheduled there, but Vadim was very patient even though it was a long day's driving, returning to Baku after 8pm. It was a fascinating day, helped by Vadim's local knowledge.

Reviewed by Patricia • October 16, 2018

Day Trip to Explore Baku's Surroundings: Ramana Castle, Gobustan, Mud Volcanoes & Ateshgah Temple

Z

One of the best day tours we've done!

My partner and I have travelled a lot and done a lot of tours but this was one of the best day tours we've been on.
Our guide Nijat was friendly, funny and knowledgeable. There were only two of us on the tour but we felt at ease straight away. The car picked us up where we were staying and we headed to Qobustan which included petroglyphs, fantastic Azeri landscape and the mud volcanoes! The drive to the mud volcanoes was fantastic. We travelled in a local soviet era taxi and it was off road. Very bumpy fun. I was smiling the whole time. The mud volcanoes themselves were unreal. Felt like we were on a different planet.
After that we headed to the Fire Temple. Very interesting history!
Our final stop was a small 'castle' which was more like a tower but it was so cool. It's looked after by a local man who was very friendly (we also got to see the super cute kittens in his garden).

Overall it was a great day out. We couldn't recommend this tour enough. Baku is well worth visiting and we would go on this tour again!

Reviewed by Zak • April 14, 2019

Day Tour to Gobustan Reserve, Mud Volcanoes, Fire Temple and Mardakan Castle

Z

Interesting and entertaining - a great experience

This 2-hour tour of the Old City was great! It took in all the important sights and also others that added interest and quirk. Nijat is wonderful - warm, friendly and so knowledgeable. He's great at explaining and he's fun and entertaining at the same time. Our 9- and 11-year-old kids came along as well, and he adjusted the tour so it was interesting for them as well. The tour was the best introduction to Baku and Azerbaijan possible.
We actually spent the whole day with Nijat. After the city tour, he took us to Yashil Bazaar where we got to try fresh fruit, nuts and veggies, dried fruit, sweets, halva, bakhlava, cheeses and kaviar. He helped us negotiate and buy what we'd liked. This was a lot of fun for the kids and yummy for all of us.
After that visit, we didn't need lunch and went to see the petroglyphs at Gobustan and the mud volcanoes. It was a fantastic day, full of different impressions and things to learn - all interesting in their own way.
We can't recommend going on a tour with Nijat enough!

Reviewed by Zita • September 23, 2019

2-Hour Walking Tour of Baku's Top Sights

K

AMAZING tour!

I really cannot say enough positive things about Vadim, he made our trip to Azerbaijan an incredible experience and went far beyond our expectations, showing us an insider view of Azerbaijani culture. He took us in a nice SVU and was very flexible in meeting our needs, even taking us to the pharmacy and bazaar after the official tour had finished. Such a professional, kind, knowledgeable and overall good person, I would highly recommend Vadim to anyone looking to visit sites outside of Baku. As for the tour itself, it is very much worth every penny, you get to have a great tour of the mud volcanoes and rock art and the Ramana Castle shows you another side of the area with a view of the oil fields. If I ever go back to Azerbaijan, I will definitely contact Vadim again and I will suggest him to all of my friends.

Reviewed by Kate Elizabeth • August 20, 2018

Day Trip to Explore Baku's Surroundings: Ramana Castle, Gobustan, Mud Volcanoes & Ateshgah Temple

M

Great tour with a pleasant guide

I booked this tour to get to know a bit of Azerbaijan outside of Baku. Nijat picked me up at my hotel and we were safely and comfortably driven to the various sites. We spoke in advance about the extent of the tour and Nijat has responded flexible to my special requests. He has an extensive knowledge of the sights and their history and he knows how to impart this knowledge entertaining. In between, there was always enough time for photos. As a special experience, the trip to the mud volcanoes took place on gravel roads in a Lada taxi. At lunchtime there was a lunch with national typical dishes from the buffet, so that you could try many different dishes. Thank you Nijat for this interesting and eventful day.

Reviewed by Martin • May 26, 2019

Day Tour to Gobustan Reserve, Mud Volcanoes, Fire Temple and Mardakan Castle

M

Unique sites and excellent guide!

This tour had everything I was looking for in my short trip to Baku: access to the petroglyphs, a Lada ride to the mud volcanoes, and a visit to the fire temple.

Nijat is a superb tour guide who will go great lengths to ensure that his guests leave with good memories of their trip to Azerbaijan. I’ve taken a lot of tours in a lot of places, but this one truly stood out because of Nijat - his guide style is really engaging (evidence of his previous training as a teacher!) and he genuinely wants to share his home country with visitors.

Definitely glad I ended up booking with Nijat! Was a great experience and the highlight of my Baku weekend.

Reviewed by Megan • April 02, 2019

Day Tour to Gobustan Reserve, Mud Volcanoes, Fire Temple and Mardakan Castle

M

A Fantastic Day

We had six days in Baku and booked this day tour in advance to give us the opportunity to see some more of Azerbaijan. Vadim was a great guy and a very knowledgable guide, who provided us with lots of information everywhere we visited. We couldn't fault the day and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Some of the sites are fairly remote and require off road vehicle access - we felt safe with Vadim at the wheel! Thank you Vadim for providing us with so many memories of beautiful Azerbaijan.

Reviewed by Mandy • August 25, 2018

Day Trip to Explore Baku's Surroundings: Ramana Castle, Gobustan, Mud Volcanoes & Ateshgah Temple

P

Excellent tour with amazing guide

The tour was fabulous!!!
Nijat is a very friendly and knowledgeable guide, during the whole tour, I felt very comfortable.
We visit Qobustan which is a fabulous place to visit!!!
We went to the mud volcanoes in a local soviet era taxi and it was a very fun moment and with a lot of adventure!!!! :)
Near the Fire temple, we had a small break and the food at the restaurant was very nice.
One of the best tours I have done!
Definitely recommended!

Reviewed by Paula Cristina • July 02, 2019

Day Tour to Gobustan Reserve, Mud Volcanoes, Fire Temple and Mardakan Castle

M

History and landscapes of central Azerbaijan

A comfortable (and safe) trip by car to the ancient village of Lahij, with stops at locations that tourist agencies may not even know about. The sceneries are beautiful! And most importantly, Vadim is a nice and friendly guy who tells you a lot of information about the places as well as anything else you may want to know about life in Azerbaijan. We also took the mud volcano / Gobustan tour. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Martin • October 01, 2018

Scenic Day Trip to Lahij: Ancient Settlements and Copper Craftsmanship

A

The best!

I had a fantastic afternoon with Nijat — far beyond my expectations! After a very through and informative introduction to Baku’s History, we roamed the “streets” of the old city uncovering Interesting moments and experiences from a baklava tasting to a hidden rug museum to a local ceramicist’s studio. I highly recommend anyone visiting Baku to book at least a few hours with Nijat; you’ll love him!

Reviewed by Adam • December 05, 2017

2-Hour Walking Tour of Baku's Top Sights