2 min summary Best time to visit Armenia, Georgia & Azerbaijan

Best time to visit Azerbaijan

The best time to visit Azerbaijan is April to June and September to October, which will let you avoid the 40°C summers and sub zero winters - particularly in the mountains. You can also participate in the Novruz Bayrami celebrations each March, which mark the Persian New Year. You won't want to miss out on the craft shopping in Azerbaijan - save space in your suitcase for silk, silver and maybe a carpet.

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Best time to visit Azerbaijan

On the springtime Novruz vacation, people come out in their droves to dance in traditional costume.

For hiking and culture, the best time to visit Azerbaijan is April-June and September-October. The mountains turn into a wildflower frenzy when snows melt and, at the same time, spring brings the biggest vacation: Novruz Bayrami, around the third week of March. It also celebrates the Persian New Year. The Caucasus Mountains get snow in winter, with temperatures as low as -20°C, but they also protect the rest of the country from full-on Arctic conditions. Similarly, the Caspian Sea keeps summer manageable, but it can hit 40°C.

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A month by month guide on when to go to Azerbaijan

January in Azerbaijan

Coldest month

Baku hammams

Winter mountain sports

Azerbaijan in January is in the depths of winter. This is the low season – the coldest month of the year and far from a popular time to travel. In Azerbaijan’s mountainous north the mercury can drop below freezing even in the daytime. During summer the khazri winds bring relief to Baku, but in winter they whip through painfully. Our advice: retreat to the capital’s hammams for a soak and a steam.

February in Azerbaijan

Snow in the mountains

Low season deals

Gabala hot springs

Freezing temperatures continue in mountainous regions such as Gabala, so if you’re in Azerbaijan in February, consider one of the city’s superb wellness resorts, where treatments and soaks in thermal springs are a highlight of winter travel. As is tucking into Azerbaijan’s hearty plovs and stews: true winter warmers. February is the coldest month in Baku, but heavy snow is unlikely. It continues to blanket the mountains, though, where winter sports continue.

March in Azerbaijan

Spring

Novruz Festival

Windy in Baku

Azerbaijan in March sees the Novruz Festival marking the spring equinox and the Persian New Year. Celebrations take place across the country, so March can be a good time to travel to Azerbaijan. Many local people do take vacations themselves though, so a lot of shops and restaurants are closed during the third week of March. This is the windiest month in Baku, which is known as the City of Winds, giving you a rough indication of just how windy it can, in fact, get.

April in Azerbaijan

Snows melting

Small group tours begin

Spring wildflowers

April can be the best time of year to visit Azerbaijan. Later in the month you can walk at lower elevations in the Caucasus foothills, the snow melting away to reveal expanses of wildflowers. Rainfall is low and temperatures are mild in Baku and along the Absheron Peninsula, though it’s still chilly after dark. Most of our small group tours begin running in Azerbaijan in April.

May in Azerbaijan

Hiking

Sunny, warm weather

Baku Flower Festival

If you’re wondering when to visit Azerbaijan, May would be one of the best months to consider. This is the start of peak season, due to lovely weather that’s ideal for sightseeing and outdoor activities like hiking in places such as Sheki. Visitor attractions become much busier in Azerbaijan in May, and prices begin to rise in line with that. May also sees the vibrant, fragrant Baku Flower Festival take place.

June in Azerbaijan

Start of summer

Excellent walking

Caspian Sea coast

Visit Azerbaijan in June and you’ll find warm, sunny days across the country – though cooler in the mountains, where you’ll still want a jacket for the evenings. June is a good month to travel to Azerbaijan if you want reliable weather while avoiding the crowds of peak summer. There’s a lot going on in the cities, while the walking in areas such as Gabala and Shahdag National Park is idyllic.

Pack some warm clothes. Even in the summer it can feel cold up in the mountains and the wind in Baku can be very chilly.

– Aled Evans from our partner Undiscovered Destinations

July in Azerbaijan

Warmest month

Beach breaks

Gabala International Music Festival

July is the warmest month of the year and visitor numbers peak along with the temperatures. The arid capital, Baku, can be intensely hot but a dip in the Caspian Sea will help keep things cool. The heat is less intense in the mountains, but still the mercury can easily top 30°C. Hark – is that the sound of strings? Azerbaijan in July plays host to the Gabala International Music Festival, a prestigious event on the classical calendar.

August in Azerbaijan

Dry, hot and sunny

Walking in the Caucasus

Busy cities

Azerbaijan in August is hot, particularly on the arid central plains. It gets hotter still in the autonomous republic of Nakhchivan, where daytime temperatures of 40°C are not unheard of. The Caucasus Mountains are generally a few degrees cooler, so northern Azerbaijan is very pleasant for walking in August. Landmarks like Yanar Dagh, the continuously blazing natural gas fire, are busy in August – a very popular month for travel.

September in Azerbaijan

Caucasus hiking

Harvest festivals

Shoulder month

September is one of the best months to go to Azerbaijan – as autumn begins, the weather is still warm but the heat is less intense. This is a quieter month for travel, with the crowds of summer just starting to tail off a little. Come to Azerbaijan in September and you can enjoy a wealth of harvest festivals celebrating everything from persimmons to hazelnuts and apples.

September is great for our Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan overland tour

October in Azerbaijan

Autumnal foliage

Fewer small group tours

Pomegranate festival

The autumn weather in October is gorgeous around the Caucasus foothills. This is a great month to explore northern Azerbaijan, bedecked as it is with beautiful autumnal foliage. Travel to Azerbaijan in October for wine tasting around places like Gabala and Goygol, and for the Nar Bayrami harvest festival celebrating all things pomegranate. October is usually the last month for our small group tour departures, with winter approaching.

November in Azerbaijan

Start of winter

Cold with some snow

Off-peak travel

November brings with it the start of winter. Temperatures begin to drop across the country, though not precipitously. The northern mountain ranges shelter the country from the worst of the Arctic winds coming down from Russia. Azerbaijan in November tends to be very quiet. It’s not a good month to travel, but you will find off-peak deals and much quieter visitor attractions.

December in Azerbaijan

Snowy weather

Winter mountain sports

Chovgan tournament in Shaki

In Azerbaijan in December, the mountains are filling up with snow – and winter sports fans. The Caspian Sea coast sometimes get frosts and light snowfall, as well. Chovgan is a historic national sport similar to polo that has seen a renaissance since the fall of the Soviet Union; December sees a popular tournament takes place in Shaki. Azerbaijan is a Muslim-majority country but Baku has a substantial Christian population, so Christmas lights and a market go up in the capital.

Azerbaijan Weather Chart

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Best times to visit Azerbaijan for festivals & events

Novruz Bayrami (usually 19-22 March)

Novruz Bayrami is a country-wide celebration marking the spring equinox and Persian New Year. Families and friends come together over four Tuesdays from February, with each of them celebrating a different element: earth, wind, fire and water. Visit in March and you might see wrestling matches and tightrope-walking in town squares. People clean their relatives’ graves, take in performances of folk music and dancing, and enjoy some feasting. Do note that many people take a vacation over 19-22 March, so smaller shops and restaurants will often be closed over this period.

Baku Flower Festival (10 May)

The Baku Flower Festival is an aromatic and colourful few days in the capital, with blooms shipped in from around the world. You can watch flower arranging demonstrations, and see some quite amazing bouquets depicting landmarks from around the world. The story behind the festival is not as pretty, however; the festival originated as a tribute to the former president, Heydar Aliyev, widely considered to have been a repressive, dictatorial leader who ruled the country with an iron fist.

Chovgan Tournament (June)

With its roots in aristocratic Persia, the sport of chovgan evolved into polo. It’s been played in the region for centuries, making it the Azerbaijan national sport, but chovgan almost died out during the repressive years of the Soviet Union. It has rebounded, though, like a ball off a goalpost, and you can often watch a game while traveling here. More professional competitors ride Karabakh stallions, often bareback, while in rural areas you might see local teams using horses that have been deputised from their farm work.

Gabala International Music Festival (July to August)

Every summer, the city of Gabala in northern Azerbaijan hosts an international music festival that attracts performers and audiences from around the world. You’ll hear classical, chamber, jazz and vocal performances here, as well as mugham, an Azerbaijani style of music that draws inspiration from folklore and often takes an improvisational form. Azerbaijan’s balmy summer weather makes for some very enticing outdoor concerts.

Apple Festival (September or October)

Quba, in northern Azerbaijan, is apple central. The city is surrounded with orchards, and every autumn one of the country’s most well-known harvest festivals celebrates the many varieties of apple grown here. Events include competitions for the biggest and sweetest apples, traditional music performances, and the chance to sample many different apple-y treats, from jams to pies to juices. It’s a fab atmosphere, and a great way to support local producers.

Nar Bayrami (October or November)

Azerbaijan’s Nay Bayrami pomegranate festival is on UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, giving you an idea of this annual harvest festival’s significance. The pomegranate is not just any old fruit. It has a long history in art, poetry, storytelling and music, and carries meanings of love, energy and eternity. The pomegranate festival in the Goychay region is an opportunity to learn more about the pomegranate’s important to Azerbaijani culture while also tasting a wide range of pomegranate-infused cuisine.

Baku Jazz Festival (October)

One of the Azerbaijani capital’s biggest events of the year, the Baku Jazz Festival is a gathering of both traditional and contemporary jazz artists. The Soviet Union outlawed jazz as ‘bourgeois’ during the 1950s but an underground movement survived, then flourished, and Baku became a sanctuary for musicians who couldn’t play elsewhere. As well as performances from local and international musicians, the festival features talks, workshops and jam sessions, and has grown to become one of the biggest jazz festivals in the world.

Our travelers also ask…

Which is the best month to visit Azerbaijan?

The best month to visit Azerbaijan is probably May or September. May is the start of peak season, with beautiful spring weather and wildflowers in the countryside, making it an ideal month for walking, especially in mountainous areas. September enjoys similarly good weather – warm and sunny – and finds autumnal shades in the foliage. You’ll also see lots of tantalising harvest festivals going on across the country throughout September, and it’s a popular month for wine tasting.

What are the rainy months in Azerbaijan?

September to March are typically the wettest months in Azerbaijan, with October and November usually seeing the highest precipitation. Azerbaijan is quite a dry country, but it is mountainous, so cities in the foothills, such as Lankaran, do tend to see more rain than the central plains and coast. You will get the occasional thunderstorm in summer, too.

What is the hottest month in Azerbaijan?

July is the hottest month in Azerbaijan, with average daytime temperatures around 27°C. Naturally, the higher you go the cooler it gets, so during the hot summer months many people prefer to head to the Caucasus Mountains in the north of the country. You’ll also find it’s a bit milder around the Caspian Sea coast, though the capital city of Baku can be uncomfortably hot in July and August.

What is the coldest month in Azerbaijan?

January is the coldest month in Azerbaijan. Temperatures can fall as low as 5°C on the coast but in mountainous areas such as the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic it’s not unknown for them to get as low as -20°C in the depths of winter. Mountain sports like skiing are popular during winter, but a more environmentally friendly way to warm up is in one of Azerbaijan’s many thermal resorts. Baku also has a number of hammams where you can get the chill out of your bones.

Best time to visit Azerbaijan

Best time to visit Azerbaijan