How to Visit Baku, Azerbaijan?
The Republic of Azerbaijan is located in the South Caucasus and what’s interesting, the capital is located on the border between Europe and Asia. Baku is one of the most significant travel destinations in the area, and millions of tourists choose to come here because of various attractions and activities.
Visiting the city is not so difficult. You just need to organize yourself properly and make sure that you bring all your necessary documents. In this article, we will talk about how to come to Baku and what kind of documents you need for the trip.
Steps to Visit Baku
- Choose your dates
- Learn about visa requirements
- Prepare your passport
- Book flight tickets and accommodation
- Get tourist visas if necessary
- Pack all travel necessities
- Arrive at the Baku International Airport
- Submit a Travel Declaration Form at immigration
- Explore beautiful attractions and monuments
Choose Your Dates
The first step you need to do before planning your visit to Baku is to choose the dates of your trip. This will help you book tickets, hotel rooms, and arrange for a visa. Also, consider choosing an appropriate season for your trip as Azerbaijan has four distinct seasons – winter, spring, summer, and autumn. Consider how the weather and tourist activity are in different months.
Learn About Visa Requirements
Next, you should learn about visa requirements for traveling to Azerbaijan. For example, citizens of certain countries may not require a visa for staying in Baku for 90 days or less within a 180-day period. If you’re one of these lucky people, then you only need to remember that you must have a passport that is valid for a minimum of three months upon entering the country.
For citizens of other countries, a tourist visa is required. You can apply for an e-visa, but keep in mind that you will have to wait up to three days, and e-visa options may be limited depending on your travel situation. As an alternative, you can apply for a standard visa at an Azeri embassy or consulate located in your country, or in a third-country embassy.
Statistics from the State Migration Service show that in 2019 there were over two million foreign visitors to Azerbaijan. This is one indicator that indicates how safe and inviting the country is for travelers from all over the world.
Prepare Your Passport
Regardless of your situation and the country where you are from, make sure you have a valid passport with at least three months of validity left from the intended date of arrival in Azerbaijan. Also, make sure that you have enough blank pages in it – usually Azeri immigration requires at least two blank pages in full visa passports.
Having a valid passport is especially important when it comes to submitting documents at immigration when crossing the border. In case you don’t have enough blank pages left in your existing passport – think about applying for a new one before leaving for Baku.
Book Flight Tickets and Accommodation
We would recommend booking flight tickets and accommodation in advance to avoid any delays or problems during the trip. Fortunately, there are many options when it comes to finding flights to Baku from all around the world, including direct flights from some countries.
When booking tickets online from abroad, make sure you use proper websites or reliable travel agents. In case you don’t know much about Baku and local spots for accommodation – consider using hotel booking websites like Booking.com and HotelsCombined where you can compare prices and read reviews from fellow travelers who already stayed in different spots around Baku.
When booking flights online from abroad, make sure to save confirmation emails with booking numbers safely so that you can present them when boarding flights or entering Azeri immigration line.
Get Tourist Visas If Necessary
Depending on where do you come from and what is your bidirectional itinerary – you may require to arrange a tourist visa before entering Azerbaijan. Again, fall back to reliable sources of information and double-check what type of visa you need, where do you need to apply, how much time it takes to process your application, etc.
Fortunately these days are quite easy to get quotes and apply for visas directly online on websites like ivisaonline.com/. Research your travel situation properly so that all documents are arranged properly before you enter Azeri borders.
Pack All Travel Necessities
Before embarking on your trip – think about packing all necessary items so that everything can fit into one suitcase that is allowed by airlines as checked-in luggage with no additional cost, depending on what type of tickets you have purchased. For instance, these usually include clothes, toiletries, documents like insurance policy if necessary, copies of your passport, copies of visa documents if necessary, snacks if necessary, etc.
Plus, make sure that such items as liquids fit all airline requirements – otherwise you may need to put them into a plastic bag so that security officers can check everything quickly upon boarding for all conventional safety reasons. Make sure your items fit all airline requirements before you arrive at the airport.
Arrive at Baku International Airport
Baku Heydar Aliyev International Airport (GYD) is one of the two international airports in Azerbaijan located in the Khatai district outside of Baku’s city limits on the west side of Absheron Peninsula and serves domestic as well as international flights arriving in Azerbaijan from all over the world. GYD is about 19 km away from Baku city center and has plenty of links connecting it with other major transportation hubs like railway stations CSH (Icheri Sheher) and Alyat located closer to the center of the city, bus stations located around main attractions like Icheri Sheher Fortress or Maiden Tower and intercity bus stations like Mashtagha Station located further away outside of Baku in other regions of Azerbaijan.
Submit A Travel Declaration Form at Immigration
As part of visa processing procedure – every arriving international traveler should submit a Travel Declaration Form (TDF) at immigration upon arriving in Azerbaijan as part of migration control process (you can find this form here) which includes passport information (number, expiry date etc.) flight number used for arriving in Baku, flight ticket number information about receiving address in Azerbaijan hotel or hostel address etc.). It is rather straightforward process and should be done before opening baggage area for pickup. Make sure these documents are filled out correctly before submitting them at immigration as any mistakes may delay boarding permission process or add additional cost to any custom processing fees etc.
Explore Beautiful Attractions and Monuments
Finally when everything is done – time has come to explore beautiful attractions and monuments around Baku! Avoid going around by yourself unless you are very familiar with local culture and customs – remember there might be various safety concerns when wandering around certain places late during the nighttimes 😉 Consider using local tours operated by tour agencies licensed by Azeri Ministry of Culture such as Lavsetourtravel LLC, they offer also transfer services from airport to city center and vice versa as well as more complex transfers between regions like Baku-Ganja-Shaki which are very safe and comfortable when traveling out of Baku city limits considering local transportation system which is not fully developed yet outside highly populated areas like Sumgayit or Lankaran regions etc.
Overall – it’s quite easy process especially if traveling from major European countries – just make sure that all documents are in order before arriving at airport border control area. In case there are any troubles – never hesitate to contact customer service lines such as “Global Airport Concierge Service LLC” who offer special services for arriving travelers including customer support regarding visa processing procedures as well as airport VIP services like fast track registration etc.
In conclusion – visiting Baku is an unforgettable experience! There are hundreds of attractions and monuments worth taking pictures – whether you are looking for exploring inner city gems like Icheri Sheher fortress or Maiden Tower or looking forward to participating into highest rated events like Formula 1 as well surfing season at Caspian Sea beach stops – there are always plenty options even during quarantine times where everything has been relocating into virtual realm but planning a trip to such destination like beautiful Baku should be part of everybody’s bucket list 😉
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