How Much Usable Daylight You Actually Get

Most travellers plan a trip around distance, although here it is considerably more useful to plan around light.

The drive to Sheki requires the same time in December as in June, and what changes is how much daylight remains once you arrive.

The short winter day

Between late autumn and early spring the usable day shrinks considerably. A long drive can leave you with a couple of hours of light at the far end.

That is not a reason to remain in the city, but a reason to choose nearer places and to depart earlier.

What works when the light is short

Gobustan, the Absheron peninsula and Shamakhi are all close enough that a short day still contains a real visit. Our page on day trips from Baku sets out what each direction costs in hours.

A single overnight also solves the problem entirely. Two half days in Sheki beat one rushed day in almost every month of the year.

The long summer day

Summer gives you far more light than you can comfortably use. The middle hours are hot, and outdoor walking in the middle of the day is unpleasant rather than impossible.

So the shape of a summer day inverts, because early morning and late afternoon become the working hours while the middle becomes lunch, tea or a museum.

Spring and autumn are the balanced seasons

Enough light for a full regional day, and temperatures that let you use all of it. This is the practical reason both seasons are recommended so often.

Our page on spring here and on autumn cover what else those months give you.

Why we push winter departures earlier

An eight o’clock departure in December produces a different day from a ten o’clock one, because those two hours separate seeing a place from driving past it.

We will say so when we quote a winter day. It is not an upsell, it is the reason the day works.

Coming down in the dark

Mountain roads in darkness are avoidable, so we avoid them, and whenever a route involves a descent we plan the return with light to spare.

This is why a Khinalug or a high Guba day is a different proposition in January from in May. Ask about the specific road for your specific week rather than assuming.

The photography version of this

In winter the good light arrives at a reasonable hour, which suits people who dislike early alarms. In summer it is early or late, with a long empty middle.

Our page on photographing Baku covers where to be during those hours.

How many days you need

Light forms part of the answer to that question, because a five day trip in June contains considerably more usable time than the same trip in December.

Our page on how long to spend works through that in more detail.

What we will not do

We will not print sunrise and sunset figures for a future date on this page. They are easy for you to check for your own dates, and a table here would go stale without anybody noticing.

What we will certainly do is tell you which of your chosen places genuinely fit into a single day in your month.

Tell us the month

Send your dates, the number of travellers and the places you most want to see. We will tell you what fits in a day at that time of year and what is better as an overnight.