What is it?

Sheki is Azerbaijan's most beguiling provincial town — a cascade of red-tiled roofs, cobbled lanes and plane trees spilling down the forested slopes of the Greater Caucasus. Its crown jewel is the 18th-century Palace of the Sheki Khans, a small summer residence whose facade blazes with painted flowers, hunting scenes and dragons, and whose windows are filled with shebeke: intricate lattices of hand-cut coloured glass and wood assembled without a single nail or drop of glue, so that morning light scatters across the walls in kaleidoscopic confetti. Below the palace sprawl caravanserais with cool stone courtyards, where camel caravans once unloaded silk bound for Persia and Russia — one now operates as a hotel, letting you sleep in a merchant's chamber. The town's flavours are just as distinctive: Sheki halva, a layered pastry of rice flour threads, nuts and saffron syrup, cut in diamonds and eaten with strong black tea; and piti, mutton, chickpeas and tail fat slow-cooked in individual clay pots and eaten in two ceremonial courses. UNESCO inscribed the Historic Centre of Sheki in 2019, recognising a town where Silk Road trade, Caucasian craftsmanship and Persian-influenced art still visibly coexist.

Where is it?

Sheki lies in northwestern Azerbaijan, around 300 km from Baku in the Shaki-Zagatala region, tucked at roughly 700 m elevation in the southern foothills of the Greater Caucasus near the Georgian border. Beyond the old town, don't miss the mountain village of Kish with its ancient round-apsed Caucasian Albanian church, and the wooded valleys and waterfalls just above the city. Late spring (May–June) and early autumn (September–October) are ideal, with green hillsides or golden foliage; summer is pleasantly cooler than sweltering Baku, while winter brings snow-dusted roofs and a hushed, atmospheric charm.

What makes it worth it?

Sheki is the place where travellers to Azerbaijan stop rushing. After Baku's glass towers and oil money, this is the country's soul: artisans still cutting shebeke glass in workshops the size of a garage, elderly men playing nard under mulberry trees, the smell of woodsmoke and simmering piti drifting through evening air. Visitors consistently describe the moment they step into the palace's upper chamber — sunlight pouring through thousands of coloured shards — as the single most beautiful thing they saw in the Caucasus. "I came for a day and stayed for three," is close to a cliché among backpackers here, and there's a warmth in Sheki's hospitality that lingers longer than any monument. Years later you'll remember not just the palace, but the taste of syrup-soaked halva on a plastic stool in the bazaar, and the improbable fact that a town this lovely still feels like a discovery.

How accessible is it?

Very accessible and remarkably affordable. Buses and minibuses run several times daily from Baku's international bus terminal (roughly 5–6 hours, around 10–15 AZN), and there's an overnight train to nearby Shaki station plus easy road connections from Georgia via Lagodekhi. Private drivers or organised day trips from Baku cost roughly 100–250 AZN, though the town deserves at least one overnight. Guesthouses start around 25–40 AZN a night, the historic Caravanserai hotel a little more, and palace entry with a mandatory guide costs only a few manat; a hearty piti lunch is under 15 AZN. Physically it's easy, though the old town's steep cobbled lanes require decent shoes, and Kish or the surrounding waterfalls involve short uphill walks. Most nationalities can obtain Azerbaijan's ASAN e-visa online in about three working days; Azerbaijani and Russian dominate, so a translation app helps, and cash (manat) is king outside the main hotels.