1 AZERBAIJAN
Azerbaijan is a destination with a low visiting cost when you consider the quality of accommodation, food and experiences on offer. Baku, with its Caspian Sea waterfront, is home to ambitious architecture, fascinating museums and a cosmopolitan atmosphere. You are still in Europe but, once outside Baku’s Unesco-listed heart, you’re in a mysterious landscape of mud volcanoes and burning earth. Visitors can travel into a hinterland with a mixture of rapidly developing towns and lost-in-time villages. The north and west of the country have the ever-present Caucasus as a backdrop, far from any crowds of visitors but always close to some of the most hospitable welcomes on offer anywhere.
TOP TIP: Flights and accommodation in Baku are going to be the biggest outlays for a visit to Azerbaijan. Have a look at flight links through Budapest (Wizz Air) and Istanbul (Buta Airways) to cut down the cost.