Being in Baku, Azerbaijan (2022)

A simple list of tips you may use before/during your stay in Baku.

Money

Currency

Azerbaijani manat is a legal tender here. No other currency is accepted. 1 manat is 100 qapik. Exchange rate:

• 1.7 AZN = 1 USD (pegged to USD)
• 1 AZN ≈ 0.5 EUR (1 EUR ≈ 2 AZN)
• 1 AZN ≈ 12.5 CZK (100 CZK ≈ 8 AZN); but during the war in Ukraine, it attacked almost 14 CZK per AZN (100 CZK ≈ 7 AZN)
• 1 AZN ≈ 1250 sats (80k AZN ≈ 1 BTC; 1000 sats ≈ 0.8 AZN)

Exchange offices might not be fair, use your credit/debit card whenever possible or withdraw money from ATM (especially if you are not charged for it).

Card & cash

Paying by card is not uncommon except in market stalls (where you buy kebabs). European cards can be used here without any problem as well as paying contactless.

If you need to withdraw, using Kapital or ASB is safe. Any other bank should be good as well. Kapital may ask you for a phone number (usually before your second withdrawal). Some ASB ATMs say that you will be charged an additional 1 AZN for a withdrawal, but I have not been charged once (Revolut). As always, choose the local currency (AZN in this case) for withdrawing. Contactless ATMs exist, but it is better to take a physical card just in case.

Prices

In general, things are cheaper compared to Europe (Prague specifically), for example, local fruits or food. Imported goods (such as fashion or electronics) are the same price or a bit more expensive. In general, if you are a tourist from Europe, everything will be cheaper except accommodation (and alcohol), which can be pricy.

Personal recommendation: Never buy anything without a price tag. Even in a supermarket. Ask for the price before you pay. No matter if there are cheap things around, this must be cheap as well then does not work here. Usually, there is a reason why there is no price tag. Trust me.

Price negotiation can be used at a market stall outside Baku (even though there is a price tag). Potato on a stick should cost a maximum of 3 AZN, any higher price is negotiable.

Heydar Mosque — a lot of things are named after former president Heydar Aliyev, so always double-check that your map shows the right sight

Places to visit

• Heydar Aliev Center (worth going inside)
• Flame Towers → Shahidlar Monument → Panoramic View → Funicular Baku → Carpet museum (probably only outside) → Baku Eye → Denis Mall (for a meal) → coast → Maiden Tower (on top of the tower there is a protective glass because one girl killed herself in 2010) but still a great view → other parts of Old town → you can take a subway from Icherisheher (İçәrişәhәr) station then
• Any mosque (the bigger ones are Heydar Mosque and Bibiheybat, but both are away from the city centre)

Outside, but near Baku:

• Yanardag — a place with a fire going from the rock, you can take a Bolt there
• Mud volcanos + Qabala (petroglyphs) = Close to each other, good for a one-day trip

I recommend using Free Walking Guide for example this one. They are free, but you should tip them at the end.

Yanardag — but this is everything there

Eating

There are 9 out of 11 climate zones so there can be almost everything local — from tea to oranges. Food outside Baku is tastier (greens, meat or even dough), try to eat them. In Azerbaijan, processed food is partially considered to be the better (more expensive one) so you have a great opportunity to buy cheap and good food if you think the opposite — but you must go outside Baku.

Typical food

Qutab. A starter, but even locals sometimes order more and have it like a main dish. Filled with meat or cheese mostly, but there are also pumpkin, offals or nuts fillings. Good with ajika sauce.

This list could be long, just google it:

• Khinkali
• Pakhlava (Baklava) — Shaki paklava is considered to be the best by locals
• Plov/pilaf. (Raisins)
• Pomegranate. Pomegranate everywhere. They put it on qutab, they make a juice and even a wine from it.
• Xalva
• Dolma
• Dovga
• Piti

Meat is mostly halal. Sometimes it tastes differently, especially beef. Don’t worry, this taste is just weird. If you do not like it, eat chicken, you cannot notice it is halal.

Kebab & doners

First things first — kebab is a grill, doner is what you might think kebab is. You can have a tomato kebab (grilled tomato), but not a doner tomato.

Doners are smaller than in Europe. If you are hungry, you should buy two.

You can order ayran to drink it with doner. Highly recommended.

The best (and the cheapest) way to buy a doner is in a market stall. You should not pay more than 2.5 AZN (even if this amount is slightly more expensive). The cheapest doner I saw was for 1.5 AZN.

Doner chains are a bit more expensive. Recommended options are Pesa doner (for 2.5 AZN you get chicken doner in bread with ayran) and Biriki (btw bir means one in Azerbaijani, iki is two) — those doners might be a bit different in taste (because of spices) than in Europe, but I personally like them more.

You can also try Şavarma (aka Şaurma). It is slightly different from doner (there is a pickle and a different sauce).

For vegetarians and vegans

Extremely challenging. For a short-term stay, you can handle it, but for a longer stay (more than a few days), you will need to use a supermarket and cook. Since almost everything is a kebab, meat is almost always included (there is a vegetarian kebab as well, but mostly only in some restaurants). You can eat qutab and khinkali but that’s it. Mainly foreign restaurants offer some vegetarian/vegan food, but there are few of them.

Stores

• Bravo (most common supermarket)
• Bazaar (similar, but it is mostly a separate building)
• Spar (smaller, slightly more expensive)
• Bolmart (least common, biggest, best prices)

Bolt Food (Wolt)

With up to 40 % discount it is sometimes cheaper and more convenient to use food delivery. You can also just order from Bolt and pick up your order at the restaurant (and still get a discount if you have it).

• Best pizza: Pizza Da Roma (I heard the owner is from Italy)
• Best sushi: Sushi shop
• Other recommendations: Georgian food, Dine burger

Drinking

Water

Don’t drink tap water. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend it. Buy it in stores. The price for water in a supermarket is circa 0.4–0.6 AZN per litre (depends on the amount you buy).

Tea

Locals drink mostly black tea. This tea usually comes from Azerbaijan. The biggest brand is Azerçay. You can order tea (çay) everywhere, price is good. Ask whether you get a glass of tea or a whole teapot. Prices differ, so you can sometimes buy for the same price a glass or a whole teapot (6 small glasses). 10 AZN is the maximum you want to pay for a teapot. This price is even in the “better” places (in the mountains or near Maiden Tower). Once I paid 15 AZN for a teapot (jasmine) which is complete nonsense. For a small traditional glass of tea, the price can be as low as 0.5 AZN.

You will always get sugar cuber (a Czech invention btw) and slices of lemon for free when ordering a teapot. Mostly, you put a lemon slice into a tea (some people squeeze it). You can put a sugar cube in your mouth and drink tea simultaneously (makes the tea colder).

Sometimes there is “varenye” included, which are small sweets and jam that you are supposed to put in tea or drink together. This varenye may cost a lot though (in the mountains it is more expensive than the tea itself), so if they ask you whether you want it, ask about the price.

Alcohol

Maybe because this is a post-soviet country, alcohol is available but is more expensive than in Europe (Prague) except vodka. Especially in the stores, restaurants are just a bit more expensive. You cannot drink on the streets. They also have their beers (Efes, NZS and others). Few pubs are here, the most famous one might be Paulaner Brauhaus (a pub that wants to look german, you can even order 1l glass of beer, waiters wear traditional german clothes).

It is said that older men living in villages (outside Baku) drink vodka with xaş (khash) in the morning. It is one of the things that can be omitted during your trip to Azerbaijan.

Kompot

Local speciality to drink (not to eat, as I know from Czechia). If you buy it from a supermarket, it is concentrated, you should mix it with water.

Ayran

Just drink it while eating doner. Nothing else to add.

People

Strong connection with Turkey — they consider themselves as two states, but one nation. Turkish flags can be found easily.

More Azeris (twice as much) are in Iran than in Azerbaijan. Especially in the north.

A lot of them believe in astrological signs.

They are generous, but sometimes not kind — on the one hand, people are Muslim hospitable (although you wouldn’t know this is a Muslim country at the first sight). On the other hand, maybe it’s also because they are a post-Soviet country — sometimes there is a lack of human decency like saying hello, thank you, letting someone out first or holding the door (for many locals such a small thing is a pleasant surprise, I recommend it to do it). A lot of people are nice. Most of them are nice unconditionally. However, not everyone can be (mostly security guys are this case).

Sports

Individual sports are preferred especially wrestling. They are successful in international championships (Olympics included). The local mentality is still more or less set that in individual sports you cannot hide behind someone else, it is completely up to you.

Nevertheless, football is becoming more and more popular. Their most successful team is Qarabağ FK.

Formula 1 note: Many people rent their apartments and go away from Baku. They say it is worth seeing it, but probably not every year. The best time to buy a ticket is at the last minute. It is prefered to buy standing (so that you can move to other places) with a group (it should be easier to enter places and activities which have capacity limits).

Islam

Even though almost everyone is Muslim, you cannot tell if you look at Baku. Yes, there are mosques, but not many people pray and their clothes are “normal” (European way normal). I’ve seen only a few women having their faces covered here (excluding face masks), when they are covered, they have a scarf around their head mostly.

Things not to say

Even though officially nothing is forbidden, you will have an easier life when you avoid some topics in your conversation, such as politics (in general) and religion. Talk rather about why you decided to visit Azerbaijan, the food, and ask about the things they appreciate here.

Flame Towers — they are on a top of a hill, I recommend starting here and then going down to see other sights in Baku.

Weather

Windy. Baku’s name comes from the Persian “wind-pounded city” (or a God’s town, it is unclear). Be prepared for dust everywhere.

Seasons change extremely quickly (from one day to another), but they are pretty stable then — from winter, there is almost summer — last week there were 3°C on Monday (28th March) and 23°C on Sunday (3th April) without wind.

Language

Azerbaijani

Azerbaijani is similar to Turkish. If you speak Russian, you can use it as well (some products are labelled in Russian), mostly older people can speak it. There is a generation transition in their first foreign language, so many young people start to speak English better.

Useful words in Azerbaijani

• Salam: Hello
• Çay: Tea
• Toyuq: Chicken
• ət: Beef
• Lavaş: Durum (kebab)
• Çörək: Bread/Doner (kebab)
• He: Yes
• Yox: No
• Bir: One
• Iki: Two
• (Çox) sağol: Thank you (very much)

The building you expect in Baku post

Transportation

Cars

This is a city where four lanes on the road in one direction are not unusual. At rush hour, however, Baku becomes one big traffic jam — having a car is a bit of social status here.

For driving, you need an international driving licence (see Vienna Convention). I cannot recommend driving in Baku. Fuel prices are everywhere the same:

• Benzin Premium (Natural 95): 1.6 AZN
• Diesel: 0.8 AZN

There is also Natural 92 for 1.2 AZN

Bolt (Uber)

One of the best transportation systems is Bolt (that you cannot say in Europe, because it is more expensive). One usual trip cost 1.4–1.8 AZN, the most expensive one we took was 3.85 AZN (15 minutes long at night). Try to avoid using Bolt during rush hours, then you will be fine.

Comparing Bolt and Uber, Bolt is cheaper and more frequent, even though you will see more cars with the Uber logo. I’ve never seen a local using Uber, always Bolt.

You can also use Bolt to go outside Baku for a good price.

Airport note: If you order Bolt to the airport from Baku and you will try to pay by card, you may be rejected multiple times. Maybe because it has no economic sense for drivers. I was even took a few kilometers once and then a driver wanted to cancel it and tried to make me pay by cash.

Public transport

Public transport is reliable and affordable. To be honest I have not used buses yet and the metro only a few times.

For public transport, you need a card — Baki Kart. You have to pay 2 AZN for the card (first-time purchase) at the vending machine. This machine can be found at any metro station. Just be aware — any machine here (not only public transport ones) does not change — you need an exact amount. You can top up there as well or you can use Milion machines that are everywhere. Baki Kart can be used by multiple people, no need to have more cards.

For using public transport, you pay 30 qapiks (0.30 AZN). You just put your card next to a tourniquet and go. If you have bags, you should put them under x-ray before.

In the metro station, photo shooting is not allowed. Try not to be caught by a policeman. I heard that they will ask you to delete those photos. This is because of the last terrorist attack — security.

In the subway itself, you need to know which line you’re in. At the same station, you can get on a train that is going elsewhere than the previous one (for example Ganjlik have one station for the green line and red line). You can get the info on which train is approaching based on the boards with the messages (in Azerbaijani) coloured with the line. If you see red text, the next train will follow the red line.

Mud vulcanos —it is possible to bath there, rather during summer

Other

Visa is $22. Can be paid for at the airport. You will receive something that looks like a receipt — it is a visa, do not lose it.

If you have an Armenian visa (stamp) in your passport I highly recommend to get a new passport. Many (European) countries allow to have multiple valid passport from the same country. In case you have such visa, most probably they will let you in, but be prepare for "fun" (investigation).

Baku itself is a safe place. I would even say safer than many European cities.

The real danger in the streets is the street itself — watch your steps. A step may appear out of sudden, sometimes even just on a part of a pavement.

Watch your steps

Facemasks are still required (April) in public places including underpasses — I heard a story that someone got a fine.

Cameras are everywhere. Get used to being traced by a CCTV, policeman or a security guy. VPN is recommended. Wi-Fi rejects access to a few sites sometimes. On the other hand, there are almost no thefts.

SIM card is registered on a passport. Some vendors can register it with a foreign passport, and some cannot (even from the same company — you should be lucky to catch a good one). After 30 days, your SIM card won’t work unless you pay a tax. This tax is calculated based on multiple factors — mainly based on the price of your phone. It can be somewhere between 40–120 AZN. It is better (and cheaper, don’t ask me why) to pay this tax at the post office rather than the telecommunication vendor.

Apps and services

• Bolt (Uber)
• Bolt Food (Wolt)
• App from your telecommunication provider (f.e. Azercell)
• iTicket.az — you can buy tickets for almost any event
• Milion — a machine is in almost every store where you can pay for everything — for example tickets, mobile or Baki Kart
• Tap.az, Lalafo, Trendyol — bazaars

Tripadvisor does not work here — there are not many reviews. Google Maps reviews are more helpful.

Enjoy Baku!

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