Baku - With grand stone architecture, a medieval walled city centre and super-stylish dining, Azerbaijan's exciting
capital is a dynamic boomtown that changes almost while you watch.

Sheki - Cupped in beautiful wooded mountains with an 18th-century palace, picturesque old town and unforgettable caravanserai-hotel.

Qobustan - Explore Stone- and Bronze Age petroglyphs, then move on to a nearby 'family' of wonderfully weird little mud volcanoes.

Laza to Xinaliq hike - glorious valley hike linking two of the Caucasus' loveliest mountain settlements.

Lahic - Copper beaters and carpet weavers workshops line the delightful cobbled main street of this unique Persian-speaking mountain village.

ARCHITECTURE

Thanks to the multitude of earthquakes and invasions, relatively little of Azerbaijan's truly ancient architecture remains. The most notable medieval exceptions are Baku's unique Maiden's Tower and the Momine Khatun mausoleum tower in Nakhchivan (12th century).

Surviving buildings from the 12th to 19th centuries are predominantly religious, though several caravanserais (Baku, Sheki, Sangachal, Agdash), brick bath-houses, and many castie ruins (best at Chirax, Gadabay/ Rustam Aliev, Pengala/Muxax) remain. There are khans' palaces in Baku and Sheki.