Moving On Instead of Going Back

A great many itineraries here are built as a star. Out from Baku, back to Baku, out again the next morning.

Sometimes that is correct, although frequently it represents an hour or two of repeated driving that a slightly different route would remove entirely.

When going back makes sense

Short trips, because with three nights available, a single hotel and a series of day trips is almost always the better arrangement.

It also makes sense when your chosen places are in different directions. Two arms of a star do not become a line just because you want them to.

Our page on day trips from Baku is the map of that version.

The northwest chain

This is the route that genuinely rewards moving onward, because Shamakhi, Ismayilli, Gabala, Sheki and Zagatala sit roughly in a line along the southern Caucasus.

Travelling along it means each drive is short and each morning starts somewhere new. Doing the same places from a Baku base means the same long road twice a day.

Our page on western Azerbaijan in three days covers a version of this.

The northern arm

Guba, Gusar, Khinalug and the Caspian coast around Khachmaz form their own group. Our page on the northern coast covers the seaward half of it.

You can travel between the coast and the mountains here without touching the capital, which represents a genuine saving of a couple of hours in each direction.

What does not join up neatly

The far north and the northwest are two separate arms of the same star. Connecting them directly is possible but it is a long day in the car with little to show for it.

For most trips, a night in Baku between the two is the honest answer. We will say so rather than sell you a connecting drive that eats a day.

The luggage question

A linear route requires a different hotel most nights, which some travellers find energising and others find genuinely exhausting.

If you are travelling with small children or with anybody who finds packing tiring, a base with day trips is often kinder. It is a real trade rather than an obvious upgrade.

Cost

Moving onward is not automatically more expensive, because it usually removes driving rather than adding it, and driving is what you are paying for.

What it does add is a little complexity. Each night has to be booked in the right town, in the right order.

Ending somewhere other than the capital

The flight home decides this. Tell us the departure airport and time and we will build the last two days backwards from it.

That single detail changes which direction a route should run in. It is worth putting in the first message.

How to ask

Send the places you want to see, the number of nights, the number of travellers and your flights at both ends.

We will tell you whether the route joins up, where a night back in Baku is the sensible answer, and what each version involves.