Description
Baku is awash with dazzling designer boutiques, international brands, and flashy shopping malls. But this tour concentrates instead on quality shopping opportunities that have a distinctive local flavor and a made-in-Azerbaijan cache – places that you won’t find anywhere else. Even if you have no interest in purchasing anything, our charming guide provides fascinating insights into the ways in which culture, folklore, and traditions intersect with modern commercial realities.
We start at a workshop that specializes in premium silk products created by an Azerbaijani designer who learned her trade in top international studios including Lanvin, Michael Kors, and Zac Posen. Here you’ll get a unique opportunity learn about quality textile techniques and to witness the colors taking shape in a unique silk design.
Next stop is within the Old City where we sneak into a fabulous local boutique full of dried fruit, traditional sweets, teas and other curiosities. Then, down the street, we look inside a shop that works in conjunction with the School of Traditional Arts, an international network set up by Prince Charles (UK) as a way to inspire young crafts-folk around the world to rediscover their own traditions. Here you’ll find ceramics and crafts that are based on ornaments originally created for the Shirvanshahs, Baku’s medieval rulers.
We then drive into Baku’s commercial heart stopping at a dazzling jewelry gallery famous for its unique creations, cleverly incorporating subtle Azerbaijani motifs and elements from local carpet designs and using them within highly contemporary new work.
Next stop is a superb home décor store which takes a similarly imaginative approach, using a range of old-Azerbaijani images and design ideas and applying them to everything from cups to cabinets to furnishings.
Hidden away in an unlikely inner suburban area, our final destination is a truly remarkable carpet workshop with a grand showroom that feels more like a museum and a fascinating opportunity to see a range of the processes including dying and weaving that go into the production of some of Azerbaijan’s most exclusive rugs.
What's included
Tour price includes:
Professional Guide Services
Discounts up to 15% in most of the shops and boutiques
Silk Shop
Visit to Old City
Visit to a dazzling jewellery gallery
Design and Decor Shopping
Remarkable Carpet Workshop