Lankaran Food Tour: Tea, Citrus, Honey and Lavangi
A day in a UNESCO City of Gastronomy: a tea plantation, a citrus farm, an apiary-museum, lunch with lavangi, tea with jam and the bazaar.
Photo: Moonsun1981 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0; Həlimə / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0; Emin Bashirov / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
In 2021 Lankaran became a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy — the third in Azerbaijan after Sheki and Baku. This day is about tasting the south: tea, citrus, honey and the local table.
Tea first: Lankaran's tea culture is the oldest in the country, and the first tea factory of Azerbaijan was built here in 1937. Then the Citrus Valley farm in Istisu — about 15 ha of feijoa, kiwi, lemons, mandarins and oranges, with tea and home-made jam (entry 5 AZN ≈ $3); in season you can pick fruit yourself.
Lunch is lavangi — chicken or fish stuffed with walnuts, onion and sour cherry-plum paste and baked in a tandoor — with pumpkin plov. After lunch: the apiary-museum “Balçı Siyavuş” in Shovu village with old hives and a tasting of Lankaran honeys, tea with jam in the garden of the Khan's house-museum, and the Big Bazaar for tea by weight, rice, feijoa and jam.
We call every farm and the apiary in advance; if one cannot host on your date, we replace it and tell you before the trip.
Itinerary
- 07:30Pick-up in Baku
- 10:05Samovar monument at the entrance to Lankaran — photo stop, 10 min
- 10:20Tea plantation and tea tasting — 1 h
- 11:40Citrus Valley farm in Istisu — 1 h 15 min (fruit picking in season)
- 13:15Lunch: lavangi and pumpkin plov — 1 h 30 min
- 15:00Apiary-museum “Balçı Siyavuş” in Shovu, honey tasting — 1 h
- 16:15Tea with jam in the garden of the Khan's house-museum — 45 min
- 17:00Lankaran Big Bazaar — 45 min
- 17:45Departure for Baku
- 20:30Drop-off at your hotel
Included
- Private car with driver for your group (up to 6 people)
- Fuel and parking
- Pick-up from your hotel or address in Baku and drop-off back
- We call the farms and the apiary in advance and confirm your visits
- Photo stops and a flexible order of stops
Not included
- Citrus Valley farm in Istisu: 5 AZN (≈ $3) with tea and jam; lunch on pre-order
- Apiary-museum “Balçı Siyavuş” in Shovu: honey tasting (price not published)
- Meals and personal expenses
- Tea, honey, jam and rice you decide to buy
- Licensed guide (on request, extra cost)
Season and warnings
- All year; what you taste changes with the season.
- Tea: picked from May, 3–4 harvests a year from spring to autumn.
- Citrus: October–November; feijoa from mid-October to November; the rare hallabong — from late December, for about a month.
- In autumn Lankaran holds the tea, rice and citrus festival — the 2026 dates are not announced yet; we can plan the day around it.
- Masalli cooks lavangi from September to the end of spring; in Lankaran restaurants it is on the menu as the main dish of the south.
What to bring
- An empty stomach and cash in manats for tastings and purchases
- A bag for tea, honey and jam
- Comfortable shoes for the gardens
- A light raincoat in autumn
What to taste and buy
- Lankaran has been a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy since 2021.
- Lavangi — chicken or fish (kutum, asp, carp) stuffed with walnuts, onion and sour cherry-plum paste, baked in a tandoor.
- Plovs: with pumpkin, with lentils, borani with smoked fish, fisinjan with duck, walnuts and pomegranate sauce.
- Lankaran tea: the country's first tea factory was built here in 1937. With tea — jam from feijoa, citrus, cherries.
- To buy (guide prices, check at the market): feijoa jam 6–18 AZN (≈ $4–11), honey 10–30 AZN (≈ $6–18), lavashana sour fruit leather 3–10 AZN (≈ $2–6), local rice 5–12 AZN (≈ $3–7) per kg.
Other tours
Baku City Tour
Old City and Maiden Tower, Highland Park, Flame Towers, the Boulevard and Heydar Aliyev Center.
Questions & answers
What will we taste?
Lankaran tea with jam, citrus and feijoa at the farm, several Lankaran honeys, and for lunch lavangi and pumpkin plov. Food and tastings are paid on site.
Why Lankaran for food?
In 2021 UNESCO named Lankaran a Creative City of Gastronomy — the third in Azerbaijan after Sheki and Baku. The first tea factory in the country was also built here, in 1937.
When is citrus season?
October–November for mandarins and lemons, mid-October to November for feijoa, and late December for the rare hallabong. In other months the farm still serves tea and jam.
What can we buy, and for how much?
Guide prices at the market (check on the spot): feijoa jam 6–18 AZN (≈ $4–11), honey 10–30 AZN (≈ $6–18), lavashana 3–10 AZN (≈ $2–6), local rice 5–12 AZN (≈ $3–7) per kg.
Are all stops guaranteed?
We confirm the farm, the apiary and lunch by phone before the trip. If someone cannot host on your date, we replace the stop and tell you in advance.