Baku and its surroundings
Azerbaijan's Caspian capital has an ancient heart yet buzzes with 21st-century pizzazz
Best for: Cosmopolitan comforts seasoned with art, history and culture
Why do it? To discover Azerbaijan's metropolitan contrasts and charms with a minimum of effort
Route: Walk the evocative Old City, then explore fire temples, mud volcanoes and the impressive Heydar Aliyev Centre
For anyone who has watched the Azerbaijan Formula 1 Grand Prix, you'll have an inkling that Baku is much more than just a Dubai wannabe. Bold feats of 21 st-century architecture may include a 28-storey, crescent-shaped building and a shopping mall that looks like a lotus flower, but there is a wealth of history here too.
The city's century-old ‘oil boom’ bestowed a Neoclassical grandeur on many of its old neighbourhoods, recalling a time when Baku was the one of the world's top petroleum producers. Then there's the UNESCO-listed Old City (Icheri Sheher), a medieval walled core home to sights such as the Maiden Tower and the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, along with caravanserai restaurants, art galleries and a maze of alley-ways. For convenience, it's worth finding accommodation inside its walls or within stumbling distance of Fountains Square, the pedestrianised epicentre of an enticing dining zone filled with wine bars and pubs.
Join locals in strolling the bayside promenade and gazing at the Caspian. For panoramic city views, head up to High-land Park using the short funicular railway, then return by bus from the stop opposite the aptly named Flame Towers, a trio of skyscrapers that taper to flicker-shaped points in honour of Azerbaijan's moniker, ‘The Land of Fire’.
The city technically encompasses most of the Absheron Peninsula, a 60km-long beak of land pecking at the Caspian Sea. While much of it is rather industrial, Qala has an ancient heart that is preserved as an ethnographic museum, while on the fringes of the main city you'll spy architect Zaha Hadid's exquisite Heydar Aliyev Centre.
