Three Caucasus Capitals: Baku, Tbilisi and Yerevan with Shahdag, Kakheti and Lake Sevan, 11 Nights

You are met at Heydar Aliyev International Airport and driven into Baku, a city that spreads along a wide bay of the Caspian Sea. After checking in, the rest of the day is free. An evening walk on the seafront boulevard, with the Flame Towers lit up on the hill behind, is an easy way to begin.

A guided day in Baku that begins inside the walls of Icherisheher, the Old City, with its caravanserais, the Maiden Tower and the Shirvanshahs’ palace. You stroll the shops and cafés of Nizami Street, ride the funicular up to Highland Park for the view over the bay, and stop at Zaha Hadid’s flowing white Heydar Aliyev Centre, with entry included if time allows.

Out onto the Absheron peninsula north-east of the city. The Ateshgah at Surakhani is a fortified temple built around natural gas vents, once used by fire worshippers and by traders from India. At Yanar Dag a hillside has burned for decades on seeping gas. Back in town, the afternoon ends on Baku Boulevard. The Gobustan rock carvings lie in the other direction and can be added.

An early start for the long drive north to Shahdag, a resort high in the Greater Caucasus near the Russian border, about three to three and a half hours each way. A cable car ride is included, and you have time for a walk or lunch in the mountain air. Out of season the lifts can pause for maintenance. You return to Baku in the evening.

A relaxed morning in Baku before your driver takes you to the airport for the short flight to Tbilisi, which is not part of the land package and is booked with your trip. You are met on arrival in Georgia and driven to your hotel. Evening is free for a first walk through the old town.

A guided day in the heart of Tbilisi. The cable car lifts you to the Narikala fortress above the Mtkvari river, and you walk down through the brick domes of the sulphur-bath district. The tour continues through the cafés of Shardeni Street to the sixth-century Anchiskhati Basilica and the leaning clock tower of the Gabriadze puppet theatre.

A day east in Kakheti, the heartland of Georgian wine. Sighnaghi sits on a ridge ringed by old defensive walls, with views across the Alazani valley to the Caucasus. Nearby Bodbe Monastery holds the grave of Saint Nino. You continue to Telavi and to the Tsinandali estate of the poet-prince Alexander Chavchavadze, with its gardens and historic cellars.

A day without a programme. You might soak in one of the sulphur baths, browse the flea market at the Dry Bridge, walk across the Bridge of Peace to Rike Park or spend the afternoon in the galleries of the National Museum. Your team can suggest restaurants for Georgian supra dishes in the evening.

A road journey south from Tbilisi into Armenia, crossing at the Sadakhlo–Bagratashen border. With formalities on both sides the drive takes about five to six hours, through the green Debed valley before the land opens out towards Yerevan. The transfer is confirmed with your quote. The rest of the day is yours to settle in.

East of the city, the colonnaded temple of Garni stands on a cliff above a gorge where basalt columns form the Symphony of Stones. Further up the valley, the monastery of Geghard is partly carved from the rock. Back in Yerevan you see Republic Square, the Cascade steps, the Genocide Memorial on its hill and, at weekends, the Vernissage market.

A long day north. Lake Sevan, one of the largest high-altitude lakes in the world, is overlooked by the small churches of Sevanavank on its peninsula. Over the pass lies Dilijan, a leafy spa town with a restored old quarter, then the forest lake of Parz and the monastery of Haghartsin hidden in the woods. Back to Yerevan in the evening.

Breakfast at the hotel and, depending on your flight, a little time for a last coffee or a walk to the top of the Cascade for the view towards Mount Ararat on a clear day. Your driver then takes you to Zvartnots International Airport for your flight home.