What a trip to Azerbaijan really costs

Here is the honest version, in US dollars, with the arithmetic shown.

Everything below is land only, per person, based on two people sharing a room. It excludes international flights, because those depend entirely on where you fly from. It includes accommodation, food, ground transport with a driver, entries and the guiding we would normally build in.

Daily cost by traveller type

These are the four anchors our consultants price against, and they are the same numbers as in our complete Azerbaijan guide, because the guide and the magazine should not contradict each other.

Two things to notice. The gap between careful and comfortable is mostly the vehicle rather than the room. And the gap between boutique and luxury collapses the moment you leave Baku, because in Lahic and Xinaliq there is no luxury option to buy at any price.

What the same trip costs at each tier

Seven days is the shape most first visits take and it is our classic route. Ten adds the northern mountains properly, with nights up there rather than a day trip. Fourteen adds Georgia over the land border in the northwest.

Accommodation, night by night

This is where an Azerbaijan budget is decided, and the spread between the capital and everywhere else is wider here than anywhere else we work in the region. Rates below are per room per night for two sharing, as planning guidance rather than a quote. We confirm the live rate for your exact dates before anything is booked.

The village line is the one to read twice. In Xinaliq at about 7,500 feet (2,300 m) the standard is a family room with a stove, and that is the region rather than a corner we are cutting. The food in those houses is usually better than what you eat in your Baku hotel, which is the trade.

Food and tea, which is the good news

Azerbaijan is one of the countries where we routinely tell people they are budgeting too much for food.

• Qutab, a folded flatbread with greens or meat, from a street counter: $2 to $4
• A bowl of dushbara, the tiny dumpling soup: $3 to $5
• Piti in Sheki, the mutton and chickpea pot: $5 to $8
• Lunch in a provincial restaurant, three dishes shared: $8 to $14 a head
• Dinner in a good Baku restaurant, three courses: $20 to $35 a head
• Tasting menu at the top of the Baku market: $60 to $100
• Bottle of Madrasa red in a restaurant: $12 to $22
• A pot of tea in a chaykhana with jam and nuts: $2 to $4

A realistic daily food budget for someone eating well and eating widely is $25 to $40. You can eat very well at $20. Above $70 a day you are eating at the handful of Baku restaurants trying to be internationally serious, which is a decision rather than a default. Our article on what to eat in Azerbaijan explains where that money is best spent.

Entries barely register. Gobustan, the Sheki palace, the Shirvanshahs’ palace and the Heydar Aliyev Center are a few dollars each. Mosques and shrines are free.

Transport, and the mountain premium

Rooms outside Baku are cheap. Wheels are not, and the mountain wheels are the line that surprises people.

Split between two people, a highway driver day is $35 to $55 each, which is the best value item in the country. The Xinaliq day costs roughly twice a highway day because it needs a vehicle and a driver who does that road for a living, and that is the whole reason a ten-day route with the north in it costs more than a seven-day route without.

The overnight train from Baku to Tbilisi is a genuine alternative to a long driving day on a two-country trip and costs roughly $25 to $60 depending on the compartment. Fares are set by the railway and move, so we price the current one with your dates.

Three complete seven-day budgets

Each of these is seven days, six nights, per person, two sharing, land only, on the Baku, Gobustan, Shamakhi, Lahic and Sheki shape.

The careful trip, about $805

Guesthouses and simple town hotels, dinner in the house most nights, a driver only on the days that need one, independent days in Baku, one guided day.

The compromises are in bathrooms and flexibility, not in what you see or eat.

The comfortable trip, about $1,295

A good three or four star hotel in Baku, the best available rooms in Sheki and Lahic, a private car and driver throughout with one mountain day, three guided days.

This is the most common shape of trip we build here and the one we would choose ourselves for a first visit.

The boutique trip, about $2,170

A small hotel inside the Baku old city walls, a wine estate room near Ismayilli, the best room in Sheki, a private vehicle throughout with a mountain 4×4 day, private cellar visits and a table in a family house.

What actually moves the number

1. How many nights are in Baku. The gap between a good Baku hotel and a good Sheki hotel is larger than in any neighbouring country. Five Baku nights costs meaningfully more than three, and it is a worse week.
2. The mountain vehicles. Xinaliq and Laza need a 4×4 and a specialist driver, at roughly twice a highway day. The road to Xinaliq explains what you get for it.
3. The week you choose. The Formula 1 street race in Baku puts central hotel rates up two or three times and closes roads for the better part of a week. Novruz, around 20 to 21 March, fills domestic travel. Late September delivers a better trip than either for less money, which Azerbaijan month by month sets out in detail.
4. Hotel changes. The map tempts people into one-night stops in Shamakhi, Ismayilli, Qabala, Sheki and Quba in sequence. Three bases is the right number on a week, and it is cheaper as well as better.

Plan this trip

Tell us your dates, your rough budget and whether the northern mountains are part of the plan, and an Azerbaijan specialist will build you a first outline with real hotels and real numbers. Free, and with no obligation.

Start planning

Keep reading

• Azerbaijan: the complete guide to planning your trip
• Azerbaijan month by month
• How many days do you need in Azerbaijan?
• What we would skip in Azerbaijan
• The northern mountains on foot, 10 days
• All our Azerbaijan trips

Frequently asked questions