Outdoor Activities

Golf may not be the first thing travellers associate with Azerbaijan but Baku’s Dreamland Golf Club is an 18-hole course offering golf enthusiasts plenty of thrills, challenges and impressive landscapes. The course is scenic yet challenging and suited to golfers of all abilities. It spreads across 330 hectares of Baku’s lush green suburbs, offering a unique Caucasian golfing experience with a Mediterranean feel. Baku’s famous winds present an added challenge!

Golf may not be the first thing travellers associate with Azerbaijan but two 18-hole courses offer plenty of thrills, challenges and impressive landscapes. Dreamland Gold Club has a scenic yet challenging course suited to golfers of all abilities that spreads across 330 hectares of Baku’s lush green suburbs, but golfers with more time to spare should travel north to Guba’s National Golf Club course in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains. This was the first course to open in Azerbaijan and played host to the Azerbaijan Challenge Open in 2014, the country’s first professional tournament. It has a purpose-built clubhouse with luxurious locker rooms, a shop to suit every golfer’s needs and some truly unique dining options. But it’s the idyllic Caucasian countryside and mountain views that really make playing here an unforgettable experience.

This shooting centre in the village of Bum offers world-class facilities – it hosted stages of the Shooting World Cup between 2014 and 2016 – and unparalleled target shooting experiences to the backdrop of the Caucasus Mountains. With cottages and an excellent onsite restaurant, the centre is also well placed to cater to tourists wishing to simply relax in fabulous natural surroundings.

The shooting club is part of the Gabala Sport Club, a broader, state-of-the-art training facility for Azerbaijan’s national teams in shooting, boxing, karate, taekwondo, soccer and judo.

For skiing enthusiasts tired of the traditional slopes, Azerbaijan’s two ski resorts in the Caucasus Mountains are a spectacular change of scenery. The luxury resorts at Shahdag have world-class amenities, 14 well-prepared slopes, friendly instructors and diligent staff. Piste quality is ensured by state-of-the-art snow guns and accessed by a brand new network of world-class cable cars and ski lifts. For more advanced skiers, black runs await at the Tufandag Mountain Resort in Gabala. But even for non-skiers there’s plenty to do: besides rental and repair shops, both resorts are well equipped with cafes, bars and restaurants; and both are open in summer, allowing visitors to soak in the fabulous scenery all year round and enjoy outdoor activities such as hiking, cycling and paragliding.

For skiing enthusiasts tired of the traditional slopes, Azerbaijan’s two ski resorts in the Caucasus Mountains are a spectacular change of scenery. The one at Tufandag, just 4 kilometres from Gabala city centre, offers 12 kilometres of slopes, with a mix of challenging reds and blacks for experts and easy options for beginners. The slopes are kitted out with state-of-the-art snow guns and accessed by a network of cable cars, which offer gorgeous views of the Caucasus Mountains. There's also an a ski school and a range of accommodation options including several luxury and upper-mid level hotels. In summer visitors can enjoy plenty of outdoor adventures, from hiking and cycling to paragliding and jeep tours.

Just 260 kilometres away from Baku, Gabala, located at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains, is Azerbaijan’s prime outdoor activities hub. The city offers great skiing in winter at the Tufandag Mountain Resort and adrenaline-fueled adventures in spring and summer. Paragliding is also available at Tufandag Mountain Resort, as are jeep safaris that whisk you off into the spectacular Caucasus Mountains with stops for traditional Azerbaijani breakfasts, or lunch and dinner in authentic country villages. Rafting can be enjoyed in the village of Savalan on the banks of the Turyanchay River where local company Gabala Rafting operates between May and September, offering rides along a scenic 11-kilometre stretch of the Turyanchay river.

The shores of the Caspian Sea have plenty of excellent beach clubs to enjoy, from the Absheron Peninsula resorts easily reached from Baku to the water sports centre at Shuraabad. There, you will find the perfect conditions for learning to kitesurf on the scenic lagoon and once you’ve mastered the basics you can take your board out into the open Caspian. Both professionals and amateurs can take windsurfing sessions at some Baku beaches. However, if it’s tranquillity and romance you are seeking, make your way to less crowded beaches such as Bilgah, Mardakan, Pirshagi, Nardaran and Zagulba.

If water sports are your thing and you’re no stranger to kitesurfing or simply eager to learn, the Blueplanet resort in the Khizi region’s village of Shuraabad, near Baku, is not to be missed. This is Azerbaijan's first kitesurfing centre where you'll truly be able to appreciate the strength of Baku's infamous winds. The centre offers lessons and courses, plus kites and boards to buy or rent together with all the necessary accessories. And even if you don’t want to surf, the contemporary beach club and restaurant, which serves up delicious international dishes, make this a prime place to relax beside the Caspian.

Lankaran is situated on the coast of the Caspian Sea and thus has several beaches both north and south of the city. And these beaches are quite unusual: locals claim the black volcanic sand to be therapeutic and the water the clearest anywhere along Azerbaijan’s Caspian coastline. Here you can enjoy bathing in the calm waters of the Caspian Sea or sipping a cold beer as the sun goes down, casting glorious golden rays all across Lankaran. Note that the beaches are segregated in Lankaran with different sections for men, women and families. As of 2019, entrance costs just 2 manats.

Just over an hour’s drive north-west of Baku along the Guba highway is a 382-metre high mountain whose bizarre shape long ago led to it being called Mt. Beshbarmag, which is Azerbaijani for ‘Five-finger Mountain’. Legend has it that sometime in the ancient past a prophet called Khidr ventured here in search of a ‘potion of life’ and having drunk from a spring at the summit achieved immortality. Today the mountain is shrouded in mystery with locals coming here to pray for strength and good fortune. As a tourist attraction, it’s well worth climbing to witness a number of age-old spiritual rituals as well as for the fantastic views of the Caspian Sea from the summit. What's more, the general area is also one of Azerbaijan’s best birdwatching sites, with the corridor between the mountains and the sea acting as a bottleneck for hundreds of migrating bird species.