All of Azerbaijan
🛁
Azerbaijan / Ganja & the West / Naftalan

Naftalan

Sanatoriums and Baths in Medicinal Oil

Plan this trip
3 daysIdeal stay₹6,720From / night₹560Food / dayFreeEntry

A small spa town 50 km east of Ganja, known since Soviet times for baths in naftalan, a thick, non-flammable crude oil the sanatoriums say eases skin, joint and nerve conditions. Its hotels are sanatoriums that sell stays of several days to two weeks with full board, a doctor's check and a daily oil bath of about ten minutes. Treatment is not for everyone (pregnancy, heart conditions and some others rule it out), so check with your own doctor first. There is little else to do in town; it suits a rest at the end of a western loop.

Highlights

  • Oil baths under medical supervision
  • Sanatorium full board and treatments
  • The museum of left-behind crutches
  • A quiet rest after the road

Things to do

  • Naftalan oil bath & treatment programmeMorning · 2h
  • Naftalan museumAfternoon · 1h

Tours & tickets

Tours & tickets in Naftalanvia GetYourGuideTours & tickets in Naftalanvia Klook

Tourisma may earn a small commission if you book — it never changes your price.

When to go

Best time: April – June, September – November

Heads up

Stay Out of the Border Zones and Karabakh

Stay away from the Armenian and Iranian border areas, and do not go to Karabakh and the districts around it without an organised, permitted trip: there are landmines. The places in this plan are far from both.

Heads up

Novruz Holidays (around 20–21 March)

Novruz, the spring New Year, brings about five days of public holiday: bonfires, sweets and concerts, but offices and some museums close, and buses and hotels out of Baku fill with families heading to the regions. Book transport and hotels early for that week.

Heads up

Ramadan (expected 8 Feb – 9 Mar 2027)

Azerbaijan is secular and restaurants stay open by day; Ramadan changes little for visitors. Dress modestly and keep your voice down at mosques, and expect busy roads around the two-day Ramazan Bayrami holiday at its end.

Heads up

Summer Heat in the Lowlands

July and August are hot in Baku (about 30-35 °C, windy and dusty) and hotter inland in Ganja. Sightsee in the morning and evening, and spend the middle of the day indoors or head for the mountains: Gabala, Quba and Shahdag are much cooler.

  • Novruz — The spring New Year and the country's biggest holiday, around the equinox, with about five days off. Bonfires that people jump over, painted eggs, samani (sprouted wheat) on every table, shekerbura and pakhlava pastries, and concerts in Baku's Old City and on the Boulevard. Offices and some museums close, and Azerbaijani families head to Gabala, Quba and Shahdag, so book hotels and buses out of Baku early.
  • Ramadan — Expected from about 8 February to 9 March 2027. Azerbaijan is secular: restaurants, cafés and bars stay open and most people do not fast, so a visitor notices little beyond iftar menus. Be discreet near mosques.
  • Ramazan Bayrami (Eid al-Fitr) — Two days of public holiday at the end of Ramadan (expected about 9-10 March 2027), close to Novruz: some years the holidays run together into a long break, and the roads and resorts out of Baku are busy.
  • Qurban Bayrami (Eid al-Adha) — Two days of public holiday (expected about 16 May 2027); families travel to the regions.