Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, is one of the newest favourites for Indian travellers, and it is easy to see why. Baku is a striking mix of old and new, where a walled medieval city sits at the foot of the glass Flame Towers and a futuristic boulevard runs along the sea. An e-visa takes only a few days and non-stop flights from Delhi and Mumbai make it reachable in a single day from Hyderabad.

Our five-night package begins in Baku. Walk the lanes of Icherisheher, the UNESCO-listed old city, past the Maiden Tower and the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, then see Zaha Hadid's flowing Heydar Aliyev Center. Excursions take you to Gobustan's prehistoric rock carvings and mud volcanoes, to Yanar Dag, the hillside where natural gas has burned for centuries, and to the Ateshgah Fire Temple, where Indian traders once worshipped and inscriptions in Devanagari and Gurmukhi still survive.

The trip then heads north into the Greater Caucasus. Shahdag is the country's main mountain resort, with skiing and snow play in winter and cable cars and hiking in summer, while Gabala, with its forests, lakes and Tufandag cable car, is a favourite family escape. Azerbaijan suits couples, families and friends' groups who want a new, good-value destination with a mix of city, history and mountains. Distances are manageable, the roads are good and the mountain drives pass through apple orchards, forests and traditional villages. Baku also has a growing number of Indian restaurants and hotels used to Indian guests, which makes the first visit easy.