Baku

The “old city”, as they call it, is unique and worth visiting. Try finding your way out of there! And some of the architecture is interesting. I would go back if only for the memories, but to an average tourist, the sites would be far and few in between. Yet it’s an interesting place and from what I remember the people are warm. And the food is good!

Was born in Baku and my opinion is certainly biased. All foreigners that I know who visited Baku admired it (or at least they didn’t tell anything esle in my face :) The best part is the old “inner” city (Ichari Sheher, part of the UNESCO world heritage, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/958) and also the “European” part of the city built mostly during first oil boom. You will apreciate the food, music, architecture and everything that has history in its name. Ask locals to show you around, as the city has many hidden treasures.

I live in Baku. It makes a nice base to explore the caspian and the caucasus. But would I encourage anyone to come solely for Baku? I can think of better places to go. But if it’s just a 2-3 day stop-over, then definitely worth visiting.

Baku, Azerbaijan is not a place to go and “relax”... I lived there for a year and it was tough. The history and culture are fascinating, but it is definitely not for everyone.

Baku is not the most architectually fascinating place, but it is definately an interesting place to visit.

There is a strange contrast of Middle-Eastern, Russian & Texas cultures. Texas you ask? Yes, there are lots of Americans there working on oil projects. There were cowboys with pickup trucks (even saw one with a gun rack) all over the city.

The ‘old city’ is very attractive- full of expensive houses built during the oil boom in the early 1900’s. There is a large pedestrian mall in the centre of the city, where you can observe families relaxing during the cooler hours.

Nice place.