What to see in and around Baku

Something to watch over you
I'll miss the bus
Enter
On the beach
Peace
Olympic
Where did the internet go?
Housing
Fire
From below
The hills are alive
The eternal president
Through
Some days, I'm all smiles
Cats and kids
The three towers
Cuddles
The pink does it
Fiery
Yummy mummy
Shake it, baby
Contemplation
Love
On the spot
Onwards, my steed
I want to wear my Pizza Hat today
On the side
Girls, mostly
Not them again
The loneliest church in Azerbaijan
Three
Girls on film
Time for an #icecream
#red and #white
Enjoying the #sights of #baku
Every place is playing #eurovision. I'm cottoning on to #germany's entry.
Counting down
All talk and no play...
#eurovision #beer in #sumqayit
Making #art in #Sumqayit, #azerbaijan
Ready to #rock at #eurovision
Hello #Baku!
The hills are alive...
Going up!
Bring me the #head of Aliaga #Vahid
#sparkly
Canoodling #couples
Architecture

There are plenty of touristy sites around Baku. Sadly, they’re not well served by public transport, and with our limited time inbetween going to the Eurovision shows, we only saw the sights of Baku and went up to a former major Soviet industrial town, Sumgayit, some 30 kilometers north of Baku.

The old town of Baku is centered around the impenetrable Maiden Tower, and this is one of the few remaining oldskool attractions in Baku. Baku is primarily impressive for it being something of a mix of Tehran, Dubai and Kuala Lumpur, with the city’s gorgeous boulevard, hypermodern architecture and beautifully refurbished facades. 
The flame towers, lording over town from one of its hills light up in gorgeous polychromatic displays.

Haider Aliyev’s grave is relatively understated.

Benno and I went of a fact finding mission to Sumgayit to see whether Azerbaijan’s superficial changes were specifically done to impress visitors coming in for Eurovision. No one really visits Sumgayit as a tourist, but here, too, we found a lot of recent and in progress refurbishings. We even walked along the shore, Sumgayit is on the Caspian, to discover the towns decaying industries, but only found recently refurbished factories. 
Apparently, decaying Soviet monstrosities still exist, but it seems they are slowly being replaced.

Related:  To Yerevan