Nestled in a bowl of mountains, Stepanakert is the capital of Nagorno Karabakh. Karabakh has a population of well under 200,000 people, which means the capital of Stepanakert, with an estimated 40,000 residents is more a large town than a city. There is not too much to see in Stepanakert, but it is centrally located in the republic and makes the perfect base for day trips to any site. You can stay in other cities to cut down the daily drives, but only if you are camping or willing to stay in backpacker style Soviet hotels.

For day trips out of Stepanakert, I highly recommend you use the main highways which go through occupied lands (via Mardakert or Martuni) rather than the horrible internal dirt roads. Even if the distance is doubled, you will get to your destination twice as fast. The main tourist site in Stepanakert is in the outskirts near the approach to town from Shushi. It is the monument called popularly "Mamik and Babik", an old Armenian man and woman hewn from rock. They represent the mountain people of Karabakh. Aside from this there is also a small museum (tankaran) near the main open market (shuka).

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