Gobustan and Absheron Excursion: Explore Stone Age History and Mud Volcanoes

Embark on an 8-hour excursion to Gobustan and Absheron, where you’ll explore Stone Age history, witness mud volcano eruptions, and visit cultural landmarks like the Fire Temple and Bibi Heybet Mosque.

Duration: 8 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Gosha Gala Tower - You’ll get picked up.
  • Mud Volcanoes - Depends on the weather. Azerbaijan is known in the first place for mud volcanoes in the world. These volcanoes spread through Azerbaijan and local people call them “Yanardagh” (burning mountain), “gaynacha” (boiling water) and “bozdag” (grey mountain) alongside its geographical name - mud volcanoes. 350 out of the 800 mud volcanoes known in the World are located in Azerbaijan. Most of them are situated in the Gobustan region. Some of the volcanoes are considered natural monuments and natural national resources of Azerbaijan.We are going there with special taxi because of road conditions which fee is included to the tour. During this trip, you will get a great chance to see these amazing active volcanoes from a very close distance.We will provide the extra another car to Soviet SUV Lada to go to volcanoes.
  • Gobustan Rock Art - During the tour you will have a chance to visit the Gobustan local indoor and open-air museum and see the unique exhibits that have reached us through the millennium of history. Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape covers an outstanding collection of more than 6,000 rock engravings bearing testimony to 40,000 years of rock art. The site also features the remains of inhabited caves, settlements and burials, all reflecting an intensive human use by the inhabitants of the area during the wet period that followed the last Ice Age, from the Upper Paleolithic to the Middle Ages. Gobustan has outstanding universal value for the quality and density of its rock art engravings, for the substantial evidence the collection of rock art images presents for hunting, fauna, flora and lifestyles in pre-historic times and for the cultural continuity between prehistoric and mediaeval times that the site reflects.
  • Gobustan Rock Art - A visit to the magnificent interactive museum, which guests can stroll through the territory of the reserve.The museum of Gobustan State Historical-Artistic Reserve opened in 2011 after a thorough reconstruction. Today it is a modern interactive museum complex, in which more than 100 thousand archaeological materials are collected. Petroglyphs resembling the Azerbaijani Yalli round dance meet visitors at the entrance. In the information center of the museum, visitors can use the touchscreen display to get detailed information in various languages about the reserve and the museum structure, which is divided into thematic sections. Many unique artifacts, tools relating to the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic, animated presentations, video materials allow tourists to see the extent of the natural changes that took place in Gobustan, the geography of human settlements, to get acquainted with the culture and views of ancient people.
  • Absheron Region - You will have lunch at the traditional restaurant. Lunch is extra !
  • Ateshgah - Fire Temple - The lunch will be followed by our visit to Ateshgah which is also called the “Fire Temple of Baku” is a castle-like religious temple in Surakhani, a suburb in Baku. Based on Persian and Indian inscriptions, temple was used as a Hindu and Zoroastrian place of worship. “Atash” is the Persian word for fire.Historical roots of the temple go to the ancient centuries when Zoroastrianism was a ruling religion. Built in the 17th–18th centuries around naturally burning flames which were previously worshipped by Zoroastrians, the site was then an important place of pilgrimage for fire-worshipping Hindus until the 1880s. In the beginnings of the XIX century the temple received the form which is represented today without any changes. The temple’s plan is five corner complex with an entrance portal surrounded with battlement type walls with an open courtyard in the middle of which is a temple altar that served as a place of pilgrimage for Indian fire-worshippers.
  • Yanardag State Historical, Cultural and Natural Reserve - Azerbaijan’s iconic “Burning mountain”-Yanardag is located north of Baku city, around 23km from the Old Town. The main attraction of Yanardag is a spectacular hill with a constantly burning wall of flames. Thanks to tectonic shifts and volcanic material below the earth’s surface, natural gas leaks from the rocks. The Italian trader and traveler Marco Polo even mentioned the flames during his travels to Baku and its surroundings, but most probably the fire has been burning for over more years at Yanardag. The fire line surrounding the foot of the summit will give you an impression of the Land of Lights and leave an unforgettable memory of the tour.To protect Yanardagh and attract tourists here, this area was declared a historical, cultural and natural reserve in 2007.
  • World’s First Oil Well - The world’s first-ever mechanically drilled oil well, located in the Bibi-Heybat settlement 10 kilometers west of Baku, has been restored.The well produced the first gush of oil in 1846 and was just 21 meters deep at that time.
  • Bibi-Heybat Mosque - Bibi - Heybat Mosque. The mosque was built in 1267-1300. It was a rare construction, both with its beauty and history of creation.The Bibi-Heybat Mosque includes the tomb of Ukeyma Khanum (a descendant of Muhammad), and today is the spiritual center for the Muslims of the region and one of the major monuments of Islamic architecture in Azerbaijan.It is locally known as “the mosque of Fatima”.The current structure of the mosque was built in 1990s which is a recreation of the mosque with the same name.
  • Gosha Gala Tower - You’ll return to the starting point
What's Included
  • Hotel pick-up and drop-off
  • On-board WiFi
  • Air-conditioned vehicle
  • All entrance tickets to museums
  • Landing and/or facility fees
  • Professional tour guide service (English, Russian, Japanese-speaking)
  • Parking fees
What's Not Included
  • Any other expenses
  • Alcoholic Beverages
  • Lunch
Additional Information

The journey to Gobustan and Absheron commences with fetching our guests from their place of stay. The unique Gobustan and Absheron excursion package covers all museum and entrance expenditures and also includes a meal at a restaurant. This 8-hour voyage to Gobustan is a custom-made experience for those who have a fascination for the Stone Age epoch of humankind, and UNESCO’s World Traditions and history. The visitors also get the prospect to observe a cluster of Mud Volcanoes and see mud volcanoes erupt. Subsequent to this, our guests will have a meal that comprises a variety of dishes native to Azerbaijani cuisine. Post lunch, the tour proceeds to the Absheron Peninsula, including Burning Mountain, Fire Temple State historical and cultural Natural Reservation - a symbol of Azerbaijan (Land of Fire). An exploration of the world’s inaugural industrialized oil well in Baku is also in the itinerary. Enroute, tourists can glimpse one of Baku’s ancient mosques - Bibi Heybet Mosque.

Location
Qoşa Qala AzParking
Əziz Əliyev küçəsi
We are also picking up the guests from the Hotel or accommodation in Baku. We'll send You the pickup (meeting) time one day before the tour date via WhatsApp or email. Usually, the pickup from your accommodation is around 30 minutes before the departure.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.8
(77 Ratings)
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Shubhreetkauri
Sep 1, 2024
My experience - Leyla is a really amazing guide, she is very friendly and caring. The view was amazing, i would really recommend visiting them and having a few trips with her. It was a memorable trip. The lunch provided was traditional and really delicious. Its a good idea to go with your family on a vacation.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Veereshg2018
Aug 19, 2024
Awesome guide - Leyla is amazing guide . She made the day memorable . I would like to recommend this trip to anyone visiting baku. Food was great too
Review provided by Tripadvisor
220vipulg
Jul 19, 2024
Amazing experience in Quba and Gobustan - We had a wonderful time on Quba and Gobustan tours. Toghrul and Leyla are amazing guides who kept us captivated throughout the journey and told us lots of interesting information about the places that we visited and Azerbaijan in general. Thank you for the unforgettable experience to both of you.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Gabriel_z
Jun 16, 2024
Amazing experience - Ley, our guide, was amazing! Very king, knowledgeable and friendly. A real pleasure that trip that was our first experience outside Baku.
Review provided by Viator
Seanhm8880bp
Apr 17, 2024
Educational, exciting. Good tour organization - We would like to express our gratitude to AZP Travel for organizing our excursion to Gobustan and Absheron. Special thanks to our guide Nazif, who proved himself to be an erudite person and a deep professional who knows the subject. We recommend it to everyone! He told a lot about the customs of Azerbaijan, its history, and the current state of affairs. We visited many locations during the day, we liked everything, a lot of positive emotions!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Freedom27837886280
Apr 17, 2024
Wonderful experience of Gobustan and Absheron - We had a wonderful trip to Gobustan and Absheron, the travel guide "Toghrul" was simply amazing - he was very patiently explaining each and every small details about the trip from Azerbaijan history, Rock carvings,oil wells, mud volcano to Fire temple story. If anyone wants to understand about the culture and overall have a better experience then "Toghrul" is the GO TO guide.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
555berka
Apr 14, 2024
Toghrul, an incredible guide - Toghrul accompanied the tour as a guide.His narration, excitement and knowledge were incredible.His energy did not drop for a moment.He explained all the information completely and in detail.He answered every question we asked and it was a tour that I will never forget.Thank you very much Toghrul
Review provided by Tripadvisor
251gaurangj
May 29, 2024
Had wonderful time at Gobustan - We had a wonderful day out at Gobustan , especially the mud volcanoes & the drive to it in Lada cars , Toto was very helpful & a wonderful guide.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Pnmehta
Apr 15, 2024
Trip back in time - Gobestan is the site for archeological finds of paintings and carvings from thousands of years ago. It is now a UNESCO Heritage Site and a truly astounding insight of life as it existed thousands of years ago. Petroglyphs or rock carvings have been painstakingly preserved and maintained all over the mountain walls and a pathway built for viewing, carefully cordoning off the precious finds from visitors. Before this visit one must visit the Museum and understand the whole process of civilisation as it evolved over millennia to contemporary life. A truly magical experience. After that we were taken by local taxi drivers in old run down Communist era vehicles to the Mud Volcanoes. These rides are not for the faint hearted. The cars go over extremely rough terrain meant for 4 wheel drive vehicles. The door opened on my side whilst traveling at break neck speed! The mud volcanoes are frankly a bit of an anti climax. There are small mounds and large ones rising as high as 15 to 20 feet with natural gases bubbling but there is no heat as these are not lava volcanoes. The general area is covered with grey muddy surface and fortunately it wasn't raining or else the muck would have been very unpleasant to walk through. Whilst it cannot be avoided on a tourist trip I did not find the visit that interesting.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jabella78
Aug 17, 2024
Disappointment - The tour started on time with the hotel pickup at the time communicated the day before. We drove up to the mud volcanoes to find that the road was impassable by minibus and returned to Baku without seeing the main Attraction we had chosen this tour for. I understand that the road conditions are not under the control of your operator, but this could have been foreseen without us making 2 hours of van unnecessarily. The rest of the day was ok.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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up to 15 guests
1 Adult
September 2024
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