Azerbaijan

Georgia's discovery by Indian travellers was so thorough that its quieter neighbour still flies below the radar — which is precisely the opportunity. Baku pairs a UNESCO-listed medieval old city with a skyline of flame-shaped towers, the e-visa arrives in three working days through the official ASAN portal, and direct flights from Delhi put the Caucasus five hours away.

The shape of the trip

Baku and beyond (6 nights): three nights in the capital for the old city, the Heydar Aliyev Centre's impossible curves, the Caspian boulevard and the caravanserai restaurants; a day trip to Gobustan's petroglyphs and the gurgling mud volcanoes; another to the Absheron Peninsula's fire temple and burning hillside at Yanar Dag. Then two nights in Gabala or Sheki — the latter's Khan's Palace is the Caucasus in miniature — for mountains, cable cars and silence.

The money

One manat is roughly ₹52. Baku's old-city boutique hotels cost ₹4,000–7,000; a full kebab-and-plov dinner, ₹500–900; the gleaming metro, ₹25 a ride. Day tours to Gobustan run ₹2,500–3,500 with transport. Outside the capital, prices drop by a third. Wine drinkers should not skip the local bottles — the industry predates most of Europe's.

The fine print

Apply only through the official evisa.gov.az — lookalike agent sites charge triple. The 15-day registration rule catches long-stayers, not tourists, but note it if you're stretching the visa. Note also that entry is refused to travellers with evidence of visits to certain disputed territories via third countries; standard tourism is unaffected.