Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan’s capital Baku (or Bakı in Azeri) is the architectural love child of Paris and Dubai…albeit with plenty of Soviet genes floating half-hidden in the background. Few cities in the world are changing as quickly and nowhere else in the Caucasus do East and West blend as seamlessly or as chaotically. At its heart, the Unesco-listed İçəri Şəhər (Old City) lies within an exotically crenellated arc of fortress wall. Around this are gracefully illuminated stone mansions and pedestrianised tree-lined streets filled with exclusive boutiques. The second oil boom, which started around 2006, has turned the city into a crucible of architectural experimentation and some of the finest new buildings are jaw-dropping masterpieces. Meanwhile romantic couples canoodle their way around wooded parks and hold hands on the Caspian-front bulvar (promenade), where greens and opal blues make a mockery of Baku’s desert-ringed location.

Snoozing amid green pillows of beautifully forested mountains, Şəki (Sheki) is Azerbaijan’s loveliest town, dappled with tiled-roof old houses and topped off with a glittering little khan’s palace. In 2019 its old core was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site.

For those prepared to climb over 1500 steps up a mountain crag, one of Naxçivan's great highlights is the magnificent view from the sparse medieval ruins of Alinja Castle, sometimes nicknamed 'Azerbaijan's Machu Picchu'.

Xınalıq, often transliterated as Khinalug, sits at 2335m – by some definitions, that makes it Europe’s highest village. The settlement's upper half retains many ancient stone houses that form distinctively austere, stepped terraces up a steep highland ridge. The whole scene is often magically wrapped in spooky clouds that part sporadically to reveal 360-degree views of the surrounding Caucasus.

Apart from gazing at the hypnotic views, and enjoying the fabulous journey to get here, the main attraction is meeting and staying with Xınalıq’s hardy shepherd folk who have their own language (Ketsh) and culture. Bring warm clothes – outside mid-summer, nights here can be icy cold.

The Unesco-listed Qobustan Petroglyph Reserve protects thousands of stick-figure stone engravings dating back up to 12,000 years. Themes include livestock, wild animals and shamans. The images were carved into what were probably caves but over time they have crumbled into a craggy chaos of boulders. Even if you have no particular interest in ancient doodles, Qobustan’s eerie landscape and the hilltop views towards distant oil-workings in the turquoise-blue Caspian are still fascinating.

Lahıc is a pretty, highland village that's locally famous for its Persian-based dialect and traditional coppersmiths. It can feel just a little touristy at weekends when Bakuvians arrive to get photographed in vaguely preposterous sheepskin costumes. But stay a day or two and listen to the mellifluous mosques as mists swirl around the partly forested crags and you'll find it a delightful starting point for hiking and meeting locals who, more than in any almost other village in Azerbaijan, speak a smattering of English.

The unique Ateşgah is an 18th-century fire temple whose centrepiece is a flaming hearth. Arching above is a four-pillared stone dome with side flues which also spit dragon breath…but only on special occasions, notably the four Tuesdays leading up to Novruz (21 March). The fire-altar sits in a roughly triangular courtyard surrounded by the simple stone cells of former devotees. Well over a dozen cells now host a well-explained museum. Allow around an hour to see it all.