Baku Retreat
Hotel or lodge, twin sharing
11 days, planned by Meridian Overland
Three countries in eleven days, and the order matters — Azerbaijan and Armenia have no open border between them, so the route goes through Georgia.
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| Maiden Tower |
| Flame Towers |
| Icherisheher |
Forty thousand years of rock carving in the morning and a hillside alight since antiquity in the afternoon.
| LANDMARKS |
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| Gobustan petroglyphs |
| Mud volcanoes |
| Yanar Dag |
| Ateshgah |
The palace windows are thousands of pieces of coloured glass in a wooden lattice, held without glue or nails.
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| Sheki Khan's Palace |
| Caravanserai |
| Shebeke windows |
The Azerbaijan-Georgia crossing at Lagodekhi is straightforward and takes about an hour on a normal day.
| LANDMARKS |
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| Lagodekhi border |
| Kakheti |
| Tbilisi old town |
Tbilisi means warm — the city grew round the hot springs and the domed bathhouses are still working.
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| Abanotubani |
| Narikala |
| Chronicle of Georgia |
The Military Highway crosses the Jvari Pass at 2,395 m and closes for snow several times each winter.
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| Gergeti Trinity |
| Mount Kazbek |
| Jvari Pass |
| Ananuri |
The Georgia-Armenia crossing is the busier of the two and can take longer. The Debed canyon on the Armenian side has two UNESCO monasteries in it.
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| Sadakhlo border |
| Debed canyon |
| Yerevan |
Geghard is partly hewn straight out of the cliff — chambers, columns and all — and the acoustics inside are extraordinary.
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| The Cascade |
| Garni Temple |
| Geghard |
| Symphony of Stones |
Sevan holds about ninety per cent of Armenia's fresh water and sits at 1,900 m.
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| Sevanavank |
| Lake Sevan |
| Dilijan |
| Haghartsin |
Ararat is the Armenian national symbol and it stands in Turkey, across a border closed since 1993. From Khor Virap it fills the sky.
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| Khor Virap |
| Mount Ararat |
| Areni |
| Noravank |
Zvartnots flies to Moscow, the Gulf and much of Europe; there is no flight to Baku, for the same reason there is no border.
Day 1 · Fri, 18 Sept, 2026
Most of these can be added to your booking later — the operator confirms within a day.
Published by the operator. Nights on the ground can move with weather and permissions.
Hotel or lodge, twin sharing
Hotel or lodge, twin sharing
Hotel or lodge, twin sharing
Hotel or lodge, twin sharing
Hotel or lodge, twin sharing
10 breakfasts and 3 dinners across 11 days, at the lodges you sleep in. It opens with dinner on day 1 and closes with breakfast on day 11.
13 meal services named in the itinerary. Vegetarian and vegan covered everywhere; Jain and gluten-free on notice at booking
“Europe and the far north on a fixed calendar”
Everything was arranged properly — transfers, entries, all of it. Accommodation was a notch better than the price suggested. Never went hungry, and the tea appeared exactly when it was needed. Recommended.
Hotels were a step below what I expected for the price. Guides answered every question, including the daft ones.
Thanks for writing this up. We've passed your note to the team.
Well paced over 11 days with enough free time to not feel herded. Whoever planned the days knew what they were doing.
Everything was arranged properly — transfers, entries, all of it. Rooms were comfortable and the locations meant we could walk most evenings. No hesitation recommending them.
Azerbaijan done well. The itinerary had room to breathe. Hotels were clean and central, which saved a lot of time. The lead was calm and knew when to slow the group down. No hesitation recommending them.
Too much time on the coach and not enough at the places we'd come for.
Thanks for writing this up. We've passed your note to the team.
Everything was arranged properly — transfers, entries, all of it. Would send friends their way.
Hotels were a step below what I expected for the price. Whoever planned the days knew what they were doing.
Thank you. We've taken the point about the transfer and are reviewing it.
Because there is no border between Azerbaijan and Armenia — it has been closed since the early 1990s and there are no flights between them either. Georgia is the only land route, so any three-country itinerary has to be shaped this way.
One other operator runs this trip. See all 2 side by side →