Where to stay

Generally speaking, there are a range of hotels to stay at in Baku depending on your budget and type of holiday. At one end, you have the Marriott, Hilton and Fairmont Hotels, all providing 5-star luxury. However, there are lots of other places to choose from. I was at the Holiday Inn, which was a walkable distance from most places in the city.

Getting around Baku

• • Walking: The city is compact, so bring comfy shoes.

• • Taxis: Use the Bolt app for affordable rides (a 15-minute trip cost me only £2).

• • Tip: In summer, Baku gets very hot (up to 35°C+), so taxis can be a lifesaver.

Currency and Mobiles

• • Currency: Azerbaijani Manat (AZN). Cards are widely accepted, but keep some cash for tips and small purchases.

• • Mobile SIM: Azercell is the most popular local provider, though I used my UK roaming plan.

Safety & Security

Baku felt very safe – safer than London in fact. I had no issues, and was happy enough walking alone in the dark at night back to my hotel. Tourist scams/traps are very uncommon in the city, and there is a good police / CCTV presence. The locals that I spoke to were all very friendly, and happy to help you in their country. I could feel the pride they had for Baku and Azerbaijan in general, and wanted to make sure you had a good time there too.

Language

The main languages spoken are Azeri (very similar to Turkish) and Russian, although a lot of people will also speak English in Baku. In most places, you shouldn’t have a problem communicating with others. That being said, if you would like to learn a few basic phrases in the local language [with the phonetic spelling], here you go:

• • Yes – Ha [he]

• • No – Yox [yokh]

• • Hello – Salam [salam]

• • How are you? – Necəsən? [nejasan?]

• • I’m good – Yaxşıyam [yahshiyam]

• • Thank you – Sağ ol [sagh ol]

• • Thank you very much – Çox sağ ol [chok sagh ol]

• • Good bye – Sağ ol [sagh ol]

• • Where is…? – …hardadir? […hardadir?]

Map

The map below shows all the main spots I hit in Baku, as well as some additional places should you have more time.

Old Town, Carpet Museum, Funicular, Highland Park

On your first day in Baku, make your way to the western side of the city, where the old town and surrounding attractions await.

Old Town Walking Tour

GuruWalk offer a great walking tour of Icherisheher (translates to Old City). Run by Gani, a local guide, he will take you through the countries history, landmarks, old town streets and modern architecture. The walk was a great place to learn about the development of the country, with it’s Soviet era past, through to independence and how it looks to develop in the future. The walking tour is 2 hours and well paced, and Gani is also a great resource to ask for any further suggestions to your travel. If you’re tight on time in Baku, I’d recommend using this tour to get a good overview of the city.

Fountains Square

The above walking tour actually starts at Fountains Square, so it’s a good time to tick this off the list too. A fully pedestrianised area, Fountains Square is a great place to grab some lunch at the many restaurants during the day, or return at night where it comes to life with performances and entertainment. I used this spot for a lunch break after my walking tour before heading to the carpet museum.

Carpet Museum

I didn’t know carpets could be made into an entire museum, but seems like they can! This was a unique and interesting experience in Baku – where hand made Azeri carpets played a huge part in their exports in the past. The carpet museum displays the various styles and designs of Azerbaijani carpets, as well as detailing how they are made, materials required, and where in the country each style of carpet originates from. The highlight for me was seeing someone hand-making a carpet live in the museum – the amount of skill needed is unreal!

Funicular to Highland Park

From the Carpet Museum, take a short 5 minute walk across the road (using the underpass!) to the bottom of the funicular. Riding this will take you to Highland Park, offering great views of the city and also home to Martyrs’ Lane and the Shahidlar Monument. Alternatively, you can walk up the set of stairs that run parallel to the funicular, but there was no chance I was doing that in 36 degrees.

Highland Park

Baku Panoramic Viewpoint

Upon exiting the funicular at the top, you will find yourself in Highland Park. Make your way to the panoramic viewpoint, where you can enjoy sweeping views of Baku and the Caspian Sea. Sunset is also a nice time to go there. This is probably the best view you’ll have of the entire city.

Martyrs’ Lane

On a more solemn note, behind the viewpoint is Martyrs’ Lane, which pays homage to those who lost their lives for Azerbaijan’s independence and freedom. You can walk along the memorial to the Shahidlar Monument, otherwise known as the Eternal Flame Memorial.

Shahidlar Monument

This is at one end of Martyrs’ Lane, and is an octagonal structure with an eternal flame inside, burning in memory of the fallen. It also offers great views of the city, overlooking the Caspian, reminding visitors and locals to remember those who have fallen.

The above should be plenty for you to cover in a day, and by the end you’ll probably want to find a nice place for dinner to unwind and relax. It’s a packed itinerary, but the above places are all relatively close to one another, making them ideal to do on a single day.

Heydar Aliyev Center, Victory Park & Baku Boulevard

in Baku, there’s a collection of other places that you might want to visit. They aren’t super close to eachother like the day 1 itinerary, so this is where you may need to use that Bolt app I mentioned.

Heydar Aliyev Centre

Before even stepping inside, you’ll be impressed by the architectural design and structure of the Heydar Aliyev Centre, with it’s flowing undulating design. Upon entering, the architecture remains equally impressive. Serving as a museum, auditorium, exhibition space and promotion of the legacy left by Heydar Aliyev, I spent a good few hours in here wandering around.

I found learning about the life of Heydar Aliyev, Baku’s former President, interesting, and it tied in nicely to what I had heard at the walking tour the day before. It reinforced some of Baku’s history and culture, and the reasoning for how it’s developed. There were also some other exhibitions, such as a classic car show, some more carpets, artwork and presidential cars – so plenty on offer. They also had a cafe, where I stopped for a coffee and to admire the building even more.

Victory Park

After finishing up at Heydar Aliyev Centre, grab a Bolt for a short 10 minute ride to Victory Park. Built to commemorate the country’s victory in the 44 day war with Armenia, it is an immaculately kept park with a geometric feel. You don’t need long here, but I used it as a walk to get to the War Trophy Park, another interesting piece of Azerbaijan’s history.

War Trophy Park

Of all the places I’ve travelled, I haven’t comes across something like this before. Some might say this is a controversial landmark, others would call it a display of patriotism by Azerbaijan. The War Trophy Park (officially called the Military Trophy Park) is a military themed public park next to Victory Par. It showcases various military equipment captured from the 44-day war with Armenia, including tanks, artillery and armoured vehicles. Walking through it, I found it interesting that a country proudly showcases it’s military wins, something that you don’t really see around the world. I’d recommend visiting – allowing 1-2 hours to see it properly.

Baku Boulevard

Finally, to finish your second day of sightseeing, take a walk along Baku Boulevard in the evening, when temperatures are much cooler in the summer. You’ll find in the evening it’s much busier than in the day, with locals and tourists alike taking in the Caspian and enjoying the lights of the city. Walk as much or as little as you like, with various malls and parks along the way. If you’re into your running, I’d recommend a sunrise run along the boulevard – the 04:30am wake up was worth it!

And that covers my 2 day itinerary for Baku. However, you’re of course going to get peckish along the way, so below I’ve included a few vegan-friendly restaurants to visit.

Plant-based in Baku

Generally, being vegan in Baku was trickier than when I’ve travelled to other places. However, with a bit of research and exploring I found a few places that offer plant-based dishes.

Manipura Cafe

Hands down the best place to go to as a vegan, as the entire cafe is vegan! Probably the only 100% plant-based restaurant in Baku, Manipura Cafe is run by a family that are very friendly and hospitable. They have vegan versions of traditional Azeri dishes (such as Shah-plov), as well as a host of other continental cuisine. I’d also recommend their lentil burger, super delicious!

Megobari Georgian Restobar

For one of our team dinners we visited a Georgian restaurant, and honestly I was pleasantly surprised by the vegan options! Megobari Georgian Restobar is not fully vegan, but has more than enough food to keep you full. The salads, spinach focaccia and vegetable khinkali (dumplings) were delicious. Great hospitality, I’d defo come back here.

Restaurants that have plant-based options:

• • The Hunger Port Baku – serves a variety of dishes. Vegan options include noodles, pizza and zucchini spaghetti.

• • Jasmine Port Baku – Asian cuisine. Vegan options include spring rolls, dim sum and vegetable pad thai. Portion sizes are quite large.

• • Scalini – Italian joint that serves a vegan Spaghetti aglio e olio (spaghetti with garlic and olive oil)

• • Harbour Tap and Grill – “pub” style restaurant that does good Indian food.

• • The Noodles House – oriental restaurant. Vegan options include vegetable stir fry and noodles.

• • Kenny’s Cafe – They do a great vegan bowl, which includes tofu, rice and plenty of salad.

And with that, is the end of my guide to Baku! I hope you’ve found it useful, and that I’ve shown you can get a good flavour of the city in a short space of time. With its mix of ancient history, Soviet-era influences, and futuristic architecture, Baku is a unique city. Two days is enough to see the highlights, but you could easily spend longer and venture beyond the capital.