We'll be renting a car in Baku and are thinking about driving to Khinalig. The scenery in the photos looks incredible, but it's quite a long way for a single day. Would you recommend it as a day trip, or is it one of those places that's better left for another visit?
For us, the drive was part of the attraction. Every twenty or thirty minutes the landscape seemed to change completely. Wide valleys gradually gave way to steep mountain slopes, and the higher we climbed, the more spectacular the views became. By the time we reached Khinalig, we'd already stopped half a dozen times just to admire the scenery.
So if you're expecting some touristy place packed with attractions, you'll probably be disappointed. Khinalig isn't about museums or famous monuments. It's just a village, but one of the oldest continuously inhabited mountain villages in the Caucasus that kept its atmosphere, and a landscape that feels wonderfully remote. We spent hours simply walking through the village and looking out over the surrounding mountains.
How difficult is the road these days? I've read older travel reports describing it as one of the toughest drives in Azerbaijan.
Those reports are mostly outdated. The road has improved enormously in recent years. You still need to drive carefully because of the mountain bends, changing weather and occasional livestock on the road, but we reached Khinalig comfortably in a normal passenger car. The challenge now is the winding mountain road rather than poor road conditions.
Don't forget that mountain weather changes quickly. We visited in early autumn, leaving Quba in sunshine and arriving in Khinalig under thick cloud with a chilly wind. A light jacket was enough, but we were glad we'd packed one. Even in summer it's worth bringing an extra layer.
One piece of advice I'd give is not to keep checking the clock. We originally planned to spend only an hour in the village, but we ended up staying almost three. Every viewpoint seemed to reveal another valley, another ridge or another group of stone houses. It isn't the sort of place where you rush from one attraction to the next.
We stayed overnight in a family guesthouse, and I honestly think that made the experience. Once most day visitors had left, the village became incredibly peaceful. After dinner our hosts invited us to sit outside with tea while the mountains slowly disappeared into the evening mist. It was one of the most memorable evenings of our trip.