"Baku is the city of winds" a Baku Travel Page by Minashka

I am crazy about my hometown... I am helplessly in love with it! No matter where I am in the world, Baku is where my heart is!!! I have given an overview of Baku on my Homepage, so I am not gonna repeat myself. But for anyone interested, let me tell you Baku is going to surprise you in many ways. It used to be a small town within the walls of the Old City, a.k.a. Inner City. Then they found oil and the number of people moving to the capital increased, so the city grew out of its walls. The new city wasn't too bad either - built in European way but now the architecture of the city has been spoiled by the countless new buildings that look like "musrooms after rain"...

There is a lot to do in Baku. You can start from touring the Old City. There you'll get to visit the Shirvanshah's palace that ruled over Azerbaijan in 15th-14th centuries. There is a museum of miniature books right next to the palace. Definitely worth a visit! And what is Baku without its pride - the Maiden Tower? Someone will definitely tell you one of the many legends of the Maiden Tower and if you go on top, you'll be mesmerized by the breath-taking view!
Once you've seen everything there is to see in the Old Town, step out and compare the old with the new... The area around the Old City is very beautiful and offers a visitor tour of historical buildings and architecture. Make your way to Mountanious Park and see if that view of the city from top of the hill knocks you off your feet or not ;-)
Baku wouldn't be Baku without its famous boulevard! It runs 3km along the shore of Caspian Sea and is a favourite past-time place for Bakuvians...

I grew up in Baku so I love it the way it is... People here are nice and friendly although a mixture of different nationalities. The city is dynamic, you can especially feel it if you are walking through the Fountain Square. Azeri men are lucky because Azeri women are so beautiful! It is almost like a fashion show, after work, when you're sitting in one of the outdoor cafes of the Fountain Square and watching girls pass by... one is prettier than the other and the way they're dressed makes you feel like you're in Italy and not in some Muslim country. Almost everyone in the city speaks Russian and now there is a tendency towards English language so a tourist can get all the help necessary without too much hassle. The city is generally safe and I can not think of a part of the city where a tourist would feel unsafe or uncomfortable walking by himself.
I must also add that Baku has become much more expensive in the last few years due to a number of reasons. So don't be surprised if you walk into a nice cafe somewhere downtown and end up paying 5 euros for a cup of espresso. There is a big expat community living in Baku and if you are a foreigner planning to move to here for business, go for it! Salaries paid to expats greatly outweight the cost of living.