VIVANT Azerbaijan Grand Tour: 10 Days, All Eight Filming Regions

Your 10-day route

1. Day

   01

   Tokyo Haneda to Istanbul

   Departure: overnight flight to Istanbul

   An evening departure from Haneda on Turkish Airlines, connecting through Istanbul the following morning. Shown here because it is how the Japanese market reaches Baku; the price on this page covers ground services in Azerbaijan and not the air ticket.

   • No airline flies Japan to Azerbaijan direct
   • Turkish Airlines via Istanbul is the standard routing
   • Overnight on the aircraft

   • 21:45 departure from Tokyo Haneda for Istanbul, arriving 05:05 the next morning
   • Dinner and breakfast served on board
   • International flights are shown for planning only and are not part of the package price

   Overnight

   In flight

2. Day

   02

   Baku to Gobustan and back, about 160 km

   Baku: Gobustan rock art, mud volcanoes and Highland Park

   Your guide meets the flight and the programme starts the same morning, so the first day is not lost to a transfer. Gobustan in the afternoon, the mud volcano field after it, and the Highland Park panorama as the city lights come on.

   • Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape (UNESCO, 2007)
   • The Gaval Dash, a stone that rings like a tambourine
   • The easternmost Latin inscription in the world
   • Mud volcanoes
   • Highland Park panorama over Baku Bay

   • 10:30 arrival at Heydar Aliyev International Airport, met in the arrivals hall by your Japanese-speaking guide
   • Drive south along the Caspian shoreline past the oil fields that made Baku the world's first industrial petroleum capital
   • Lunch at a restaurant on the Caspian coast
   • Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape: over 6,000 engravings covering some 40,000 years, including reed boats, yalli dancers, hunters and gazelles
   • The Latin inscription cut under Emperor Domitian by Lucius Julius Maximus, centurion of Legio XII Fulminata, found in 1948
   • Mud volcanoes: roughly 300 of the world's estimated 700 are in Azerbaijan and the Caspian basin
   • Highland Park at dusk for the Old City, the bay and the Flame Towers
   • Dinner in the city, then hotel check-in

   Meals included

   B

   Overnight

   Baku (hotel by package tier)

3. Day

   03

   Baku to Guba and Khinalig, about 235 km

   Sumgayit, Guba and the mountain village of Khinalig

   North along the strip between the Caspian and the wall of the Greater Caucasus. Sumgayit is a working textbook of Soviet planning, Guba is carpets and apple orchards, and Khinalig sits at 2,200 metres with a language spoken nowhere else on earth.

   • Sumgayit, planned from 1949 as a Soviet industrial city
   • Guba carpets and Krasnaya Sloboda
   • Khinalig (UNESCO, 2023)
   • The Koch Yolu transhumance route
   • Flat-roofed houses stacked so the roof of one is the yard of the next

   • Sumgayit: wide avenues, neoclassical blocks and monumental squares, a very different Azerbaijan from central Baku
   • Drive north to Guba, about 135 km, along the narrow plain below the mountains
   • Lunch in Guba, known for its apple orchards and for the Guba school of carpet weaving
   • Krasnaya Sloboda across the Gudyalchay river, one of the last all-Jewish settlements outside Israel
   • The mountain road to Khinalig, about 50 km, climbing above a canyon with viewpoints over the whole valley
   • Khinalig: inscribed by UNESCO in 2023 as the Cultural Landscape of Khinalig People and the Koch Yolu Transhumance Route
   • Free time in the lanes, the small ethnographic museum, and time with shepherd families
   • Return to Guba for dinner

   Meals included

   B

   Overnight

   Guba (hotel by package tier)

4. Day

   04

   Guba to Baku and Absheron, about 190 km, plus a domestic flight

   The Absheron fire sites, then the flight to Nakhchivan

   Back to Baku for the two fires that gave the country its name, then the afternoon flight to Nakhchivan. This is the leg almost no packaged tour includes, and it is one of the eight regions where the season was filmed.

   • Yanar Dag, the Burning Mountain
   • Ateshgah Fire Temple, Surakhani
   • Domestic flight Baku to Nakhchivan
   • An exclave bordered by Turkiye, Iran and Armenia

   • Yanar Dag: a natural gas seep that keeps a curtain of flame alive at the base of the hillside, in rain and in snow
   • Ateshgah Fire Temple: a 17th and 18th century pentagonal complex built around a gas vent, used by Hindu, Sikh and Zoroastrian pilgrims and merchants from India
   • The cells around the courtyard still carry inscriptions in Sanskrit, Punjabi and Persian
   • Lunch, then transfer to Heydar Aliyev International Airport
   • Domestic flight to Nakhchivan, about 1 hour 15 minutes
   • Arrival in Nakhchivan, an autonomous republic cut off from the mainland with its own architecture, dialect and cuisine
   • Dinner at the hotel

   Meals included

   BD

   Overnight

   Nakhchivan (hotel by package tier)

5. Day

   05

   Nakhchivan city and surroundings

   Nakhchivan: Momine Khatun, the Khan's Palace and the salt cave

   A full day in the exclave few foreign visitors reach. The Momine Khatun mausoleum is the finest thing the Nakhchivan school of architecture left standing, and the Duzdag salt mine has been worked since the second millennium BC.

   • Momine Khatun Mausoleum, completed 1186
   • Nakhchivan Khan's Palace
   • Nakhchivan Gala citadel over the Aras valley
   • Duzdag Salt Cave and its underground clinic

   • Momine Khatun Mausoleum: a ten-sided brick tower built in 1186 by Ajami Nakhchivani, covered base to cornice in interlacing geometry picked out in turquoise glaze
   • Its Kufic inscription reads that we pass away and only our work remains behind us. Original height 34 metres, about 25 metres standing today
   • Nakhchivan Khan's Palace: the 18th-century residence of the ruling khans, now a museum of the khanate period
   • Nakhchivan Gala (Kohna Gala): the restored citadel, with a wide view over the Aras valley to the mountains beyond the Iranian border
   • Lunch in the city
   • Duzdag Salt Cave at 1,173 metres: one of the oldest salt mines in the world, worked since the second millennium BC
   • The disused galleries have housed a physiotherapy centre since 1979, where patients stay for weeks to treat asthma and other respiratory conditions
   • Free time, then dinner in the city

   Meals included

   B

   Overnight

   Nakhchivan (hotel by package tier)

6. Day

   06

   Nakhchivan to Baku by air, then on to Gabala, about 230 km

   Back to Baku, then Shamakhi, Nohur Lake and Nij

   The morning flight back, then west into the Shirvan foothills. The Juma Mosque of Shamakhi was founded in 743 and is the oldest in the country. Nij, at the end of the day, is home to the largest Udi community anywhere.

   • Juma (Friday) Mosque of Shamakhi, founded 743
   • Diri Baba Mausoleum wedged into a cliff
   • Nohur Lake
   • Nij and the Chotari Albanian church

   • Morning domestic flight Nakhchivan to Baku
   • Drive across the semi-desert to Shamakhi, about 120 km, as the road climbs into the vineyards
   • Lunch in the Shamakhi area
   • The Juma Mosque of Shamakhi: built in 743, the oldest mosque in Azerbaijan and, after the Juma Mosque of Derbent, the second oldest in the Caucasus
   • Shamakhi was the capital of the Shirvanshah state and a major Silk Road city. The mosque was rebuilt many times, most severely after the earthquakes of 1859 and 1918, with the present restoration completed in 2013
   • Diri Baba Mausoleum at Maraza: built in 1402 into a cleft in a limestone cliff, so it appears to grow out of the rock
   • Nohur Lake: a short walk along the shore and tea at a lakeside pavilion
   • Nij: the Udi people are direct descendants of the Caucasian Albanians and their language is the closest living relative of ancient Albanian. The restored 17th-century Chotari church stands under great plane trees
   • Dinner at the hotel in Gabala

   Meals included

   BD

   Overnight

   Gabala (hotel by package tier)

7. Day

   07

   Gabala to Kish and Sheki, about 85 km

   Kish and Sheki: the Khan's Palace and the caravanserais

   Sheki is where the shebeke windows are, thousands of pieces of hand-cut wood and coloured glass fitted without a nail or a drop of glue. Kish, above the town, is often called the mother church of the Caucasus.

   • Albanian Church of Kish and the Thor Heyerdahl excavations
   • Sheki Khan's Palace (UNESCO, 2019)
   • Shebeke lattice windows
   • The Upper and Lower Caravanserais
   • Piti, and Sheki halva

   • The Albanian Church of Kish: local tradition traces its foundation to St Elisaeus in the 1st century, while archaeologists date the standing building to the 11th and 12th centuries
   • The excavations were begun with the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, whose bust stands beside the church. Glass-covered vaults inside reveal graves of unusually tall men
   • Sheki Khan's Palace: built in 1797 as the khans' summer residence, inscribed by UNESCO in 2019 as part of the Historic Centre of Sheki with the Khan's Palace
   • Every wall and ceiling inside is painted with hunting scenes, battles, flowers and birds
   • Lunch with piti, the lamb and chickpea stew baked in individual clay pots that is Sheki's signature dish
   • The Caravanserais: Sheki has two, Upper and Lower, built in the 18th century around great courtyards where Silk Road merchants stored goods below and slept above. The Lower Caravanserai and its 242 rooms have been in use as a hotel since 1988
   • The old town on foot: craft workshops, silk and hat makers, and the shops selling Sheki halva layered from rice-flour threads, nuts and saffron syrup

   Meals included

   BL

   Overnight

   Sheki (hotel by package tier)

8. Day

   08

   Sheki to Ganja, about 150 km

   Ganja: the Blue Imam, the Khan's Garden and the Bottle House

   Across the Kura valley to Azerbaijan's second city, the birthplace of Nizami Ganjavi. The Imamzadeh complex north of town is one of the most striking religious sites in the country, and the Bottle House is one of the strangest buildings anywhere.

   • Imamzadeh complex, the Blue Imam
   • Nizami Ganjavi's home city
   • Khan's Garden, laid out in the 18th century
   • The Bottle House, built from about 48,000 bottles

   • Drive across the Kura valley and the agricultural plain of western Azerbaijan
   • The Imamzadeh complex, 7 km north of Ganja: grown up around the tomb of Imamzadeh Ibrahim, son of the fifth Shia Imam. The earliest structure is 8th century, the domed mausoleum 14th, restored between 2010 and 2016
   • Lunch in Ganja, second city of Azerbaijan, birthplace of the 12th-century poet Nizami Ganjavi and seat of Javad Khan
   • The Khan's Garden: laid out in the 18th century, still the city's favourite promenade, shaded by old plane trees and lined with tea houses
   • The Bottle House: built in 1966 and 1967 by Ibrahim Jafarov from some 48,000 glass bottles and coloured stones brought from Sochi, as a memorial to his brother Yusif, missing in the Second World War. In sunlight the walls refract like a prism
   • Free time, then dinner in the city

   Meals included

   B

   Overnight

   Ganja (hotel by package tier)

9. Day

   09

   Ganja to Baku via Shamakhi, about 360 km

   Ganja to Baku, and the walled Old City on foot

   A long scenic drive with the snow line of the Greater Caucasus on the left and the Kura lowlands on the right, then the afternoon inside Icherisheher.

   • The Ganja to Shamakhi road
   • Icherisheher, the Walled City of Baku (UNESCO, 2000)
   • The Maiden Tower
   • Silk Road caravanserais inside the walls

   • Departure along the Ganja to Shamakhi road, about 240 km, with the Greater Caucasus to the left and the Kura lowlands to the right
   • Lunch in the Shamakhi area, then on to Baku
   • Walking tour of Icherisheher, inscribed by UNESCO in 2000 as the Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower
   • The Maiden Tower, the Multani and Bukhara caravanserais, hammams, small mosques and carved merchant facades
   • The corners where the Soviet film comedies every Azerbaijani knows were shot, pointed out by your guide
   • Dinner at the hotel

   Meals included

   BD

   Overnight

   Baku (hotel by package tier)

10. Day

    10

    Baku city, then the airport transfer

    Baku: Heydar Aliyev Center, Shirvanshahs' Palace and departure

    The Zaha Hadid building that redefined the image of the city, the 15th-century royal seat that is the finest monument inside the walls, and the Green Market for what the country actually grows.

    • Heydar Aliyev Center by Zaha Hadid
    • Palace of the Shirvanshahs
    • Yashil Bazaar (Green Market)
    • Baku Boulevard and the Flame Towers

    • The Heydar Aliyev Center, opened 2012: a white shell that rises and folds without a single straight line, the roof flowing down into the plaza. Named Design of the Year in 2014 by London's Design Museum, the first work of architecture to win it and the first won by a woman
    • The Palace of the Shirvanshahs: the 15th-century seat of the dynasty, taking in the royal residence, the Divankhana pavilion, the shah's mosque and minaret, the dynastic mausoleum and the tomb of the court astronomer Sayyid Yahya Bakuvi
    • Lunch, then the Yashil Bazaar for mountain herbs, pomegranate syrup, dried fruit and nuts, saffron, black tea, spices and caviar
    • Photo stop on Baku Boulevard, first laid out in 1909, with the Flame Towers behind and the Caspian in front
    • Deniz Mall on the waterfront for a last coffee
    • Transfer to Heydar Aliyev International Airport and check-in assistance

    Meals included

    B

Choose your comfort level

All packages cover the same itinerary, guide, transport, and entries — only the hotels change. Prices are per person in USD.

• Rates are per person in US Dollars, for ground services in Azerbaijan. International airfare is not included.
• Every tier buys exactly the same programme. The guide, the vehicle, the domestic flights, the entrance fees and the day-by-day itinerary are identical. Only the hotels change.
• SNG is single occupancy, DBL is double, TRP is triple. A triple room takes an extra bed or a sofa bed and is smaller than a double.
• Prices fall steeply with group size. At 36 to 40 people the Econom triple rate is 1,078 USD per person for ten days, against 2,846 USD for the same room at 1 to 3 people.
• Departures run all year round on your dates. There is no fixed departure calendar to fit into.
• The rates are not valid for blackout dates such as the Formula 1 weekend, Eid, and Novruz.

Questions travelers ask

Which Azerbaijani regions was VIVANT season two filmed in?

Eight. Baku Media Center, the production company that partnered on the shoot and handled permits, logistics and coordination, named them when filming wrapped: Baku, Sumgayit, Ganja, Nakhchivan, Shamakhi, Gabala, Sheki and Guba. Filming ran from August 2025 to the end of October 2025. That list is the only one issued by anyone who was actually on the production, and this tour visits all eight of them. Lists circulating on Japanese travel sites that name individual landmarks are the travel companies' own designations rather than production statements, so we do not present them as confirmed filming sites.

How much does the VIVANT Azerbaijan Grand Tour cost?

From 1,078 USD per person for ten days of ground services, at 36 to 40 travellers sharing triple rooms in the Econom tier. For a couple sharing a double room the Econom rate is 3,728 USD per person at 1 to 3 travellers and 2,423 USD at 4 to 6. Small groups of 7 to 10 pay 1,736 USD per person in a double. The full grid for all three hotel tiers, nine group-size bands and three room types is published on this page. Prices cover the guide, the vehicle, eight nights with breakfast, both domestic flights and all listed entrance fees. International airfare is separate.

How is this different from the six-day packaged tour sold in Japan?

Four things. Coverage: this itinerary reaches all eight regions Baku Media Center named, where a six-day Baku and Sheki loop reaches three of them and leaves out Sumgayit, Guba, Nakhchivan, Gabala and Ganja. Dates: we run all year round on your dates rather than on a fixed departure list. Structure: you pick the hotel tier and the room type, and the price moves with your group size instead of arriving as one blended figure. Booking: you buy the ground arrangement directly from the company that operates it in Azerbaijan, and you keep your own airline, routing and dates.

Do I need a visa for Azerbaijan?

Japanese passport holders do not, for tourism, between 1 July 2026 and 1 July 2027. The State Migration Service allows up to three entries of 30 days each in that year. Business, work and study still require a visa. Many pages online still describe the old e-visa requirement for Japanese travellers and have not been updated. For most other nationalities the ASAN e-visa applies: 20 USD state fee plus a 9 USD service fee, single entry, 30 days, issued in three working days. Passports need 6 months of validity beyond your departure date.

Is there a direct flight from Japan to Azerbaijan?

No. No airline flies the route direct. The usual one-stop options are Turkish Airlines via Istanbul, Qatar Airways via Doha, and Etihad via Abu Dhabi, at roughly 15 hours in the air plus the connection. Day 1 of this itinerary shows a Haneda evening departure on Turkish Airlines because that is the standard Japanese-market routing, but the ground programme starts when you land in Baku and works with any airline or arrival time you choose. Tell us your flight and we build the first day around it.

Can Japanese travel agencies book this on net rates?

Yes. We are the operating DMC in Baku, not a reseller, and we work with agencies and wholesalers on net rates for ground services: transfers, guides, hotels, domestic flights, entrance fees and permits. The client relationship and the margin stay with you. The grid on this page is per person by group size, which is the format you need to price a departure rather than accept one. Send the intended departure window and expected party size and we quote against them.

Can you run a shorter version, or add days?

Yes. Ten days is the shape that reaches all eight regions, and Nakhchivan is the part that needs the two domestic flights. Drop Nakhchivan and the tour becomes an eight-day mainland loop. Add days and Naftalan, Lankaran or the Talysh mountains fit on the end. Any change to the programme is re-priced rather than surcharged, and we tell you what each change costs before you commit.