Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani is the official language, written in the Latin alphabet since the 1990s. Russian is still widely understood, especially among older generations. English is spoken in Baku's hotels, restaurants, and major sights, but less so once you leave the capital.

Prepaid SIM cards from Azercell, Bakcell, and Nar are sold at airport kiosks and phone shops; bring your passport, since registration is required. Coverage is strong in cities and along main roads, and patchier in remote mountain areas such as the high villages near Guba.

Tap water is treated, but many residents and visitors prefer bottled water, especially outside Baku. Bottled water is cheap and sold everywhere.

Pharmacies (aptek) are common in cities and marked with a green cross; many stock familiar Western brands. No special vaccinations are required for entry, but travelers should be up to date on routine vaccines, and a hepatitis A shot is commonly recommended.

Citizens of many countries, including most of the EU, the UK, and the US, can apply online for an e-Visa through the official ASAN Visa portal, usually valid for a single 30-day stay. Citizens of some neighboring and regional countries can enter visa-free or obtain a visa on arrival.

Visa and entry requirements change frequently. Verify current requirements with the official immigration authority or your country's embassy before travel.

• Dress modestly when visiting mosques and mausoleums: cover shoulders and knees, and women should carry a headscarf.
• Remove your shoes before entering a mosque.
• Azerbaijanis are known for hospitality. Declining an offer of tea or food can seem impolite, though a polite refusal is understood.
• Bargaining is normal in bazaars and craft markets, but not in shops with marked prices.
• Ask before photographing people, especially in rural villages.

Public holidays can close shops, banks, and government offices. The biggest is Novruz Bayram, the spring new year, when much of the country takes a week off in March.

Most shops in Baku open daily, including Sundays. Smaller-town shops and rural bazaars may close on Sundays or keep shorter hours.

• By train: rail links Baku with Ganja, Sheki, and other regional cities, though journeys are slow. Book through Azerbaijan Railways (ADY).
• By air: domestic flights from Baku are the only practical way to reach Nakhchivan, since the land route crosses Armenia. The national carrier also flies to a few regional cities.
• By bus: intercity minibuses and coaches connect Baku with almost every regional town, and are cheap and frequent.

Azerbaijani meals build around bread, herbs, and grilled or slow-cooked meat. Breakfast is often flatbread, white cheese, honey, and black tea, served in small pear-shaped glasses called armudu. Lunch and dinner center on kebabs, plov (rice pilaf layered with meat, dried fruit, or herbs), and dolma (grape or cabbage leaves stuffed with rice and meat).

Street food includes qutab, a thin flatbread folded over greens, pumpkin, or minced meat and cooked on a griddle, and fresh pomegranate juice sold by the glass in markets. For something sweet, try pakhlava, a layered nut pastry soaked in syrup, or shekerbura, a sealed pastry filled with ground walnuts, both traditionally served at Novruz.

Strong black tea is the everyday drink and a sign of hospitality; declining a glass from a host is unusual. Despite the country's Muslim-majority population, local wine and vodka are also common, since Azerbaijan has grown grapes for centuries.

Azerbaijan's biggest draw is its capital, Baku, with its walled Old City, oil-boom mansions, and modern skyline.

In the Caucasus foothills, Sheki keeps its 18th-century khan's palace and Silk Road caravanserais, while Gabala and the mountain district around Guba offer forests, waterfalls, and mountain villages. Nearby, the historic district of Shamakhi was once the capital of the medieval Shirvan kingdom.

Ganja, Azerbaijan's second-largest city, has a compact old center and makes a good base for the western regions.

In the subtropical south, Lankaran sits between tea plantations and the Caspian shore, at the foot of the Talysh Mountains.

Separated from the rest of the country by Armenia, the Nakhchivan exclave has its own ancient mausoleums and mountain scenery, reachable by air or via Turkey or Iran.