Baku mud volcanoes & fire sites tour: 9 hours from pickup
Four ancient fire sites in one day: petroglyphs, a temple, and a burning mountain
A nine-hour guided tour from Baku visits four sites across the Absheron Peninsula: the Gobustan rock art museum and open-air petroglyphs dating back 5,000–20,000 years; the Ateshgah Fire Temple, a seventh-century Hindu and Zoroastrian shrine; and Yanar Dag, a hillside where natural gas has burned continuously since ancient times. Hotel pickup and an accredited guide in English or Russian are included. Entry fees to the sites are paid on-site.
Options for this experience
3 optionsStep-by-step itinerary
Explore Gobustan and Fire landmarks
- Pick up from Baku location
- Visit Gobustan interactive museum
- Explore Gobustan rock art outdoors
- Tour Ateshgah Fire Temple
- See Yanardag burning mountain
- Drop off at Fountain Square
- Bibi-Heybat Mosque 15m
- Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape 1h
- Ateshgah Fire Temple 30m
- Yanar Dag 30m
What’s included
- Accredited tour guide in English or Russian.
- air-conditioned vehicle for the full nine hours.
- hotel pickup within Baku.
Times
- Every day 09:00 09:30
Before you book
Operated by Bag Baku Tour
Prices and times updated 2 days ago
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The experience
The tour starts with pickup from your Baku hotel at 9:30 AM and heads to Gobustan, where an interactive museum walks you through how people lived thousands of years ago using touch screens and 3D panoramas. Exhibits span from the fourth to second millennium BC, and the museum's displays include cookware, stone tools and other finds from archaeological digs. After the museum, your guide takes you outside to the rock formations themselves, where you'll see more than 6,000 petroglyphs carved into the stone and caves that dot the landscape: each one a record of ancient customs and beliefs.
The route then moves to the Ateshgah Fire Temple, built in the seventh century and used by Hindu and Zoroastrian worshippers. The temple's cells still hold historical artifacts from excavations: inscribed stone slabs, ceremonial cookware and fragments of clothing that belonged to fire worshippers. From there you travel to Yanar Dag on the Absheron Peninsula, where a natural gas flame burns on a hillside. A sight that has drawn pilgrims from Iran and India for centuries. The name means "Burning Mountain," and the flame has never gone out. The tour ends with a drop-off at Fountain Square in central Baku.
You'll travel in an air-conditioned vehicle throughout the day. Entry tickets to Gobustan, the Fire Temple and Yanar Dag are purchased separately at each site. The museum at Gobustan also charges admission on arrival. The pace suits all fitness levels, though the open-air sections at Gobustan involve walking across uneven terrain to view the rock art.
Is this one for you?Choose the private tour option if you want flexibility to linger at any of the four sites. The group tour keeps a fixed schedule that fits all stops into a single afternoon. Both include the off-road vehicle needed to reach the mud volcanoes and the remote sections of Gobustan.
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Top questions
What languages is the tour guided in?
Live guide in English and Russian.
Can children come?
Yes. Ticket types: Youth (12 to 17 years); Child (3 to 11 years); Infant (under 3): free.
What happens if it rains?
It may be canceled due to bad weather. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund. Free cancellation up to 24 h before the start.
How many rock drawings are actually at Gobustan?
Gobustan holds more than 6,000 petroglyphs carved into the rocks, discovered by scientists in the 1930s and dating back thousands of years. You see them both in the interactive museum and outdoors on the rock faces themselves.
What is Yanar Dag and why does the flame keep burning?
Yanar Dag is a natural gas flame that burns on a hillside on the Absheron Peninsula near Baku and has been alight continuously since ancient times. The name means "Burning Mountain," and the flame is fed by natural gas seeping from the ground. A phenomenon that has made it a pilgrimage site for centuries.
When does the tour pick me up and where does it end?
The tour starts at 9:30 AM with pickup from your location within Baku and runs for nine hours. You're dropped off at Fountain Square in the city center at the end of the day.
Do I need to pay for entry to the sites, or is it included?
Entry fees to Gobustan Rock Art, the Ateshgah Fire Temple and Yanar Dag are paid on-site. They are not included in the tour price. The museum at Gobustan also charges admission when you arrive.
Baku mud volcanoes & fire sites tour: 9 hours from pickup
9h · EN +1
from US$ 33.15 per person
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