Want to try somewhere new for your next break? Think Azerbaijan

Travellers are once again beginning to look a little further afield for a holiday, knowing that it will give them an altogether different experience when they finally decide on somewhere new. While Europe continues to get better for those outside it - as well as British travellers - due to the weakening euro, it’s still worth flying a little further to get an even cheaper and more eye-opening break.

One country that should be added to anyone’s list is Azerbaijan, and specifically its capital Baku. Once untouched by tourism due to communist rule until the 90s, the city has risen from its former shackles to become one of the most exciting and architecturally-stunning cities in the world, with dozens of hotel chains to choose from - some you may have heard of.

The most obvious asset of Baku is the Old City: the historical core of the destination. In 2000, it became the first place in Azerbaijan to win World Heritage status from UNESCO. It includes three particularly important facets: the city walls, the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and Maiden Tower.

Built to a Khalwati Sufi saint, the palace complex contains the main building, Divanhane, burial vaults, Seyid Yahya Bakuvi’s mausoleum, the shah’s mosque with a minaret, Murad’s gate, a reservoir and the remains of a bath-house - a truly mind-blowing and unique building. Meanwhile, the Maiden Tower is a fantastic display of early multiculturalism; it corroborates the presence of Zoroastrians, Persians, Shirvanis, Sassanians, Arabs, Ottomans and Russians.

In terms of the more modern things being created in Baku, two things currently dominate the skyline: the Baku TV Tower and the Flame Towers complex. For unrivalled views of Baku and beyond, visitors to the city can go to the rotating restaurant on the 62nd floor of the TV Tower, 175m in the sky. Meanwhile, the Flame Towers are something altogether more stunning.

Flame Towers offers citizens of the city a residential complex with a roof height of 190m. Completed in 2012, the building was featured in Extreme Engineering on the Discovery Channel addressing Baku’s dramatic transformation. The most impressive thing about the creation is that the facades of the three towers are turned into gigantic display screens with over 10,000 high-power LEDs supplied by Osram; then can change colour and design depending on the occasion.

Perhaps the most ambitious architectural undertaking in the country’s history is taking place right now with the creation of the SOCAR Tower, which will be the tallest building in the entire Caucasus. As discussed with detailed pictures on Skyscraper City, this beautiful glass monolith is based on the concept of “wind and fire” and will be completed in 2013.

And all this is just the stunning visual aspect of the city. If you want to discover more about Baku and its many assets, be sure to do a little more looking - it’s truly a city of hidden treasures!