The 5 Best Things to Do In Baku City Within Walking Distance
Visiting Baku Old City, Baku Boulevard, Nizami Street, enjoying local lamb dishes and 7/24 restaurants are the best things you can do in Baku city center in a day within walking distance.
In this article, you will have information on things to do in the three main inter-walkable tourist areas in Baku City Center namely Old City, Baku Boulevard, and Nizami Street. On top, I will also provide you with two bonus things to do that are probably very underrated.
While Baku may not be on your top bucket list, it is one of the three countries in the Caucasus area. Most people would reserve one or two days for Baku in a wider vacation. During my last visit, I spent 3 days and 2 nights in Azerbaijan.
The city surprised me and made me regret staying there for only 2 days.
Other than the attractions in the suburban areas. The attractions in Baku City Center alone would fit very well into your one-day itinerary. It is worth visiting as a part of the greater Caucasus vacation.
Additionally, most attractions are walkable and the below are the top 5 to-dos in the city center.
Number 1: Visiting Baku Old City
Baku Old City (”İçərişəhər”) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and should be the first on your list. The whole city is featured with narrow winding streets, ancient stone buildings, and the city wall. There is no entrance fee for getting into the Old City.
You will also get free city maps from the locals there who also intend to sell you day trips. They are not aggressive and they usually would just give you the maps and let you decide later.
You will find several paid museums of architecture there including Maiden Tower, Shirvanshah’s Palace, “Khazina” Museum, and Tahir Salaho’s House. All four museums can be purchased with a combo ticket at the counter for 40.8 AZN (~ 24 USD). If you are in a hurry, I would recommend you either pick Maiden Tower or the Palace for a visit.
Other than the paid museum, there is one museum called the Miniature Book Museum with free entrance. Plus, there are different monuments in the area for your IG photo, the most famous one is called “Lovers & cats”.
Tourist Eco-system In Baku Old City
In the area, you will also find a lot of souvenir shops, local restaurants, and also some exchange shops there. So the whole ecosystem could occupy you for a morning or afternoon. (The exchange rate there is only acceptable, for the best rate you may check out our other article).
I would choose to visit the area in the morning where the photos would be good with sunshine. Having lunch near the Palace before heading to the next tourist area would be a great idea as well.
Number 2: Walking At The Baku Boulevard
Walking for around 15 minutes towards “Mini Venice”, you will reach Baku Boulevard. Also known as “Baku City Seaside National Park”, “Baku Promenade”, or “Danizkanari Milli Park”, this is a large park built along the Caspian Seaside in Baku.
On the Southern side (which you should be around that area), you will see the famous, Azerbaijan Carpet Museum, Waterfront Mall (Daniz Mall), and Baku Eye.
The Carpet Museum is a must-visit icon with an entrance fee of 10 AZN. There you will see lots of famous Azerbaijan carpets and also a professional making carpet on the second floor. At the waterfront mall, there is a large Bravo where you can buy lots of Azerbaijan snacks at a cheap price. Surprisingly, I also found traditional Caucasian freshly oven-baked bread there at ~ 1 AZN.
From the Carpet Museum, you can walk for another 20 minutes to the Flame Towers. Or I would just take a nice landscape photo with Flame Towers there.
Number 3: Exploring The Nizami Street
Around 23 minutes away from the Carpet Museum, Nizami Street is the center of Baku City. There you will find multiple shops, statues, and the famous Fountain Square. Nizami Museum of Azerbaijani Literature and the National Museum of History of Azerbaijan are just nearby if you are interested.
If you missed buying a souvenir in the Old Baku City, this is where you will find various souvenir shops on both sides of Nizami Street. Looking for a place to chill out for free? The two-story Baku Book Center opens until 10 pm each day where you can read books for free in a classic and large environment.
If you visit Baku during the holiday season like Christmas, you are likely to find an ad-hoc Christmas market located near Fountain Square.
In short, the three tourist areas Baku Old City, Baku Boulevard, and Nazimi Street are great for walking tours, especially for couples.
Number 4: Have Some Lambs
Do you know that Azerbaijani has a lot of national cuisines made of lamb? And most of them are very affordable as compared to other Countries in the world. For example, one of the most popular local cuisines – Shah Plov (King Pilaf), is a local fried rice with lamb, saffron, chestnuts, and other ingredients stuffed in a crispy crust. The usual price is around 30 AZN ( ~ 17 USD) for two persons.
I also had the best lamb soup (Piti) at a restaurant in Old Baku City where the chef would squeeze the lamb meat and chickpeas to extract the best essence of the soup for you. Other than Pilaf and Piti, there are also other lamb dishes including Kebab, Goyartma, and Dolmas (meat stuffed in leaf).
If you are a street food lover then you should try a lamb meat lavash (local bread) with Ayran (local salty yogurt drink) for 3 – 5 AZN ( ~ 2 – 3 USD).
If you are a lamb lover like me, this is a must-do in Baku City.
Number 5: The 24/7 Local Restaurants
Mostly in Nizami Street, there are a lot of 24/7 local restaurants. After an exhausting day of sightseeing, these restaurants provide the best places for some mid-nigh supper, desserts, cocktails, and shisha. One of the best places for mocktails and shisha is called Passage 145 at Nizami Street. It is a 2-floor restaurant with classic decoration but only at a mid-range price. For example, a mocktail called Aladdin (which comes with a lamp) is only 12 AZN ( ~ 7 USD).
Where To Stay In Baku
The best place to stay in Baku is near Nizami Street. There you can find both mid-range to budget hotels & hostels. We stayed in the Travel Inn Hostel during our last visit where it only cost 64 AZN ( ~ 38 USD) for a large private room for two nights for two persons. This is probably the cheapest hostel with the best quality throughout our Caucasus trip.
By staying in Nizami Street, you can also walk to both Old Baku City and Baku Boulevard within 20 minutes. This is also the place where you enjoy the most lamb cuisines and 7/24 local restaurants.
It is also around 20 20-minute walk from the airport bus station. Although our post is about the things to do within walking distance, Nizami Street is also close to Sahil Metro Station and other bus stations. You can also take a ride metro/bus to save time for 0.5 AZN per ride to Old Baku City or Baku Boulevard.
Price Level Baku
The price level of Baku is probably the lowest in the Caucasus three Countries (or at least similar to Armenia). Public transportation is absurdly cheap at 0.5 AZN per ride (1.6 AZN per ride for an Baku airport bus).
For food, it can be as cheap as a 2 AZN Doner + Ayran set on the street. Or even the most luxurious national dish – Pilaf would only cost you less than 10 USD per person. You can have a taste of all local dishes at very decent restaurants without breaking the bank.
Accommodation-wise, it is seasonal. But they do have high-quality budget hostels in the city center which are better than Tibilis and Yerevan. So it is not expensive for tourists like us.
Safety in Baku City Center
As a tourist, I found Baku as one of the safest cities in the world. This is the city where I see the most police patrolling in tourist areas such as Old City, Nizami Street, and Baku Boulevard.
Other than that, you can see CCTV everywhere in the city. I would feel very monitored as a local but safe as a tourist in a new Country.
Culture-wise, Azerbaijanis are very friendly as liberal Muslims. Although they may not speak good English, they would try their best to help tourists. The hospitality is a lot better than Tibilis where people are either not that welcoming or ask for your interest in paying for a day trip mainly.
Is Baku City Center Worth Visit?
I went to Baku with my wife during the last visit. While I would not say it is a good location for a honeymoon (the Maldives are way better), it is a must-visit place for a wider trip in the Caucasus. Even spending a day in the city alone, walking through the attractions I mentioned, would surprise you.
I wrote this article partly because I think first-time Caucasus visitors would skip Azerbaijan. Worse, I don’t think the Country promotes its tourism outside enough (maybe because 90% of its GDP is from oil).
For myself, I assigned 2 days for Baku, 1 day for the city center, and another day for a day trip to Heydar Aiyev Centre, Yanardag (fire mountain), Ateshgah Temple, and Gobustan. On the other hand, I assigned 4 days for Tibilis which I later regretted a bit.
Finally, I hope our things to do within Baku within walking distance could help you to navigate this great city. Feel free to leave me a comment.
