Baku to Quba: How to Get There and What to See

Quba is a town on the north-eastern slopes of the Greater Caucasus, at about 600 m above sea level. It is known for carpets and apples: the region grows at least 200 apple varieties. Across the Gudiyalchay river lies the Red Settlement (Qırmızı Qəsəbə), home to the largest Mountain Jewish community in the country and the Museum of Mountain Jews. From Quba a mountain road leads to Khinalug, a village at 2,180 m with its own language; its cultural landscape has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2023.

How to get there from Baku

• By car: 167–177 km, about 2 h 10 min – 2 h 45 min depending on the source. The route follows the M1 highway; the last ≈35 km are not motorway. The Candy Cane Mountains at Khizi are right on this road, ≈100 km from Baku.
• By train: there is no train to Quba itself. The nearest station is Khachmaz, ≈20 km away; check the timetable on ticket.ady.az.
• By bus: buses leave from the Baku International Bus Terminal (Avtovağzal). Rome2rio lists hourly departures, a fare of about $4 and 3 h 25 min – 4 h 32 min on the road; Wikivoyage (2025) gives 4 AZN and about 3 hours by minibus.
• Quba to Khinalug: 50–60 km. No buses run to Khinalug.

What to see

• Red Settlement (Qırmızı Qəsəbə) — the Mountain Jewish village across the Gudiyalchay, ≈3,500 residents (2025), with the Six-Dome Synagogue (1888) and the Gilaki Synagogue (1896). 1–1.5 h; walking the streets is free.
• Museum of Mountain Jews — in the former Karchog Synagogue (19th century); exhibits include the “Chopped Book”, a Torah that, according to legend, stopped a sword blow. 1 h. Tickets: 10 AZN for tourists, 5 AZN for citizens of Azerbaijan, 3 AZN for children aged 12–16, free under 12 (date not given). Open Sun–Thu 10:00–18:00, Fri 10:00–14:00; Saturday is not listed.
• Guba Genocide Memorial Complex — opened on 18 September 2013 on the site of a 1918 mass grave, 3.5 ha, with a museum, a symbolic cemetery in an apple orchard, an information centre and guides in 4 languages. 1 h; free; open 6 days a week, 10:00–17:00 (as of February 2021).
• Juma Mosque and Sakina-Khanum Mosque — the octagonal red-brick Juma Mosque (1802) with a 16 m dome stands in the centre by the park (20–30 min); the Sakina-Khanum Mosque was built in 1854 by the widow of Abbasgulu Bakikhanov (15–20 min).
• Khinalug (Xınalıq) — a village at 2,180 m with its own language and ≈2,000 residents (UNESCO, 2023). 1.5–2 h. Its history and ethnography museum opened in 2001: 2 halls and ≈2,000 exhibits, including utensils, carpets and 13th–18th-century manuscripts (30 min); according to Wikivoyage, the key is kept by a caretaker, so ask locals.
• Tangaalti Gorge — a reserve of ≈4,200 ha about 20 km from Quba. Asphalt gives way to dirt and gravel, and a 4×4 is needed. 1–2 h.
• Afurja Waterfall — about 30 km from the centre of Quba, 70–75 m high depending on the source; by August there is noticeably less water. 2–3 h including the drive.
• Nearby: Shahdag (Qusar) — a mountain resort 212 km from Baku; the cable car costs 22 AZN and runs by season. Half a day.

One-day route

• 09:00 — leave Baku.
• 10:30 — Candy Cane Mountains at Khizi: photo stop, 30 min (≈100–104 km, ≈1 h 30 min from Baku); then ≈75 km (≈45 min) on to Quba.
• 11:45 — Guba Genocide Memorial Complex, 1 h (as of 2021 it is open until 17:00).
• 13:00 — lunch in Quba.
• 14:00 — Red Settlement and the Museum of Mountain Jews. On Fridays the museum closes at 14:00 and Saturday is not in its schedule, so on those days visit it in the morning or check the hours in advance.
• 15:30 — centre of Quba: Juma Mosque and Sakina-Khanum Mosque.
• 16:30 — drive back to Baku, 168–177 km, ≈2 h 15 min – 2 h 45 min; back in Baku around 19:00.

This route leaves out Khinalug. With it the day gets very long: from Quba alone it is 50–60 km of mountain road, so it is easier with an overnight stay in Quba.

What to eat

• Quba apples: the region grows at least 200 varieties. In autumn you can join the harvest in an orchard and try local tea.
• Quba pakhlava and bukma: Quba pakhlava is thin layers of pastry with syrup, honey and walnuts; bukma is similar but shaped differently and softer. Cooking master classes for tourists are held in the town centre.
• Mountain Jewish dishes: shomokufta yerpegi, gaylo, khoyegushd and dugovo.
• On the road to Khinalug, in Gachrash (Qəçrəş), shashlik is grilled right under the trees. In Khinalug itself: cheese, yoghurt, akhta butter (nehra), ayran, meat cooked on branches and between stones, tandir bread in winter and saj bread in summer, kherek flatbread and the sweet govut.
• Restaurants: Olimp Guba, Shah Guba by Lake Nohurgol, Ruslan by the bridge on the Red Settlement side, and Mahir.

Where to stay

Hotels in Quba on our site: Quba Palace Hotel & Golf Resort (5★, 212 rooms), Macara Lake Park (4★, 74 rooms), Arena Grand Hotel (78 rooms), Macara Village Resort (3★, 95 rooms) and Shane Hotel (24 rooms, Heydar Aliyev Avenue), all ≈186–201 km from GYD airport. Nearby, in Qusar and at Shahdag: Lakeside Hotel Shahdag, Park Chalet Shahdag, Pik Palace Shahdag, Shahdag Hotel & Spa and Zirve Hotel Shahdag.

When to go

• Spring to early summer and early autumn: usually +20…+25 °C.
• December–March: snow season in Khinalug. The Quba–Khinalug road is closed in heavy snowfall: on 30–31 December 2015 the section at km 53–57 was closed, already the 4th time that year. Snow can come in early October: on 1 October 2021 there were 2 cm in Khinalug.
• July–August: permits may be needed for mountain hikes; Afurja Waterfall gets noticeably lower by August.
• Apple Festival: held every year during the harvest, first in 2012; in 2019 it opened on 12 October.
• Ski season at Shahdag: roughly December to mid-April.

Frequently asked questions

Updated 30 October 2026. Prices and timetables of other companies can change — please check before you travel.