Gobustan Rock Art and Mud Volcanoes

About an hour’s drive south of Baku, the Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape preserves thousands of carvings of hunters, dancers, boats and animals, cut into the boulders over many thousands of years. A modern museum at the entrance explains what you are about to see.

From the reserve, local drivers take you up a rough track to the mud volcanoes: small grey cones that gurgle and burp cold mud, an oddly fascinating sight that children love. Azerbaijan is known for having a large share of the world’s mud volcanoes.

Wear closed shoes you do not mind getting muddy, and carry water and a hat, as there is little shade. Most itineraries add the Ateshgah fire temple, whose walls carry inscriptions left by Indian traders, and Yanar Dag, the burning hillside, to make a full day.