Gakh and Ilisu: The Quiet Side of the Northwest

Between Sheki and Zagatala the western road passes a district that most travellers drive straight through. Gakh sits under the high Caucasus, in the valley below the range, with forest above it and orchards below.

It is quieter than Sheki and greener than almost anywhere on the same road.

The town and its trees

Gakh town is small and low, and it is known within the country for its plane trees. They line the main street and they are old enough to change the temperature under them.

That is the shape of an afternoon here. Sit under the trees, eat, and watch a working town do its own thing.

The road up to Ilisu

The reason to come is the side road that leaves town and climbs into the mountains. It follows a river up into the forest and finishes at Ilisu.

The village was the seat of a local sultanate, and a stone tower house still stands there as the clearest reminder. Above it the range keeps going towards the watershed.

Give the road half a day at least. It is short in kilometres and slow in practice.

The forest

The slopes above the valley are protected as a state reserve, and the tree cover is thick. Rivers come down out of the range in every season.

Walking here is the point. Trails are informal rather than signed, so go with someone local. Our page on walking in Azerbaijan explains what that means in practice.

The villages and who lives in them

The district is mixed in a way that repays attention. Alongside Azerbaijani villages there are settlements of the Ingiloy community, who speak Georgian and include both Muslim and Christian families.

Old churches stand in and around those villages, and one of them, at Kurmukh, draws people from across the region on its feast day. Our page on churches in Azerbaijan covers this side of the country more widely.

How it differs from Sheki and Zagatala

Sheki has the palace, the bazaar and the silk. It is the region’s set piece and it draws the crowds.

Zagatala is further west, deeper into nut country, and it feels like the last town before Georgia.

Gakh sits between them and does something different from both. There is no headline monument. There is a valley, a mountain road, and villages that have not arranged themselves around visitors.

Where to stay

Guest houses and small family places, in the town and up towards Ilisu. Conditions are simple and the food is generous.

Book ahead in high summer, when Baku families come up for the cool air. Our page on village guest houses explains what to expect from a night like that.

When to go

May to October. The forest needs leaves and the mountain road wants dry weather.

Autumn is the best of it. The light is low, the air is clear, and the orchards are working.

Winter shuts most of this down. Snow closes the high ground and the district becomes hard to reach rather than pretty.

How it fits a trip

Not from Baku, and not in a day. Gakh belongs to a western route that runs Baku, Gabala, Sheki, then out here.

Five days makes that work and six makes it comfortable. Our page on the west in three days shows the shorter version, and our page on moving between regions explains how to avoid driving the same road twice.

Practical notes

Carry cash. Card acceptance is thin outside the town centre, as it is across rural Azerbaijan.

English is rare. Russian goes further, and a driver who can translate changes the day.

The mountain road wants a driver who has done it before. It is not dangerous, but it is narrow and it rewards local knowledge.

Arranging it

Tell us whether Gakh is a stop on the way to Georgia or the far end of a loop back to Baku. That answer changes the route and the number of nights.