ARMENIA · THE CAUCASUS
Cliff monasteries, alpine lakes, the world’s oldest wine.
Monasteries cut into the rock, the Ararat plain, Lake Sevan and the Areni wine country. Almost all of it a day trip out of Yerevan, and back by dinner.
Found nowhere else
Three things you can only do in Armenia.
Old churches and mountain views turn up in plenty of countries. A cable car to a clifftop monastery, the view of biblical Ararat, and wine from the place it was invented do not. Build the trip around these three.
The deep south
Ride the Wings of Tatev.
The longest reversible cable car on earth runs 5.7 kilometres across the Vorotan Gorge to a 9th-century monastery on a basalt spur. Nowhere else do you arrive at a working medieval monastery by aerial tramway, a kilometre above the river.
- 1 Tatev & Shaki Waterfall Guided Group Tour with Wine Tasting
- 2 Group Tour: Hin Areni Winery, Tatev (wayback on Ropeway), Khndzoresk Caves
- 3 Group Tour: Shaki waterfall, Tatev monastery & ropeway, Hin Areni winery
On the Ararat plain
Stand in the shadow of Ararat.
From Khor Virap the snow-capped twin peaks of Mount Ararat fill the whole sky behind a lone hilltop monastery. An hour south, Noravank glows rust-red against its gorge. The mountain is the soul of Armenia, even now from across the border.
- 1 Group tour: Khor Virap, Noravank, Areni Winery and Cave
- 2 Group Tour: Khor Virap, Garni temple, Geghard, Lavash baking
- 3 Khor Virap, Noravank & Birds’ Cave Day Trip with Wine Tasting
In the Areni valley
Drink where wine was invented.
In a cave above Areni, archaeologists uncovered the oldest known winery on earth, roughly six thousand years old. The valley never stopped pressing grapes. Its cellars still pour Areni noir a short walk from where the first vintage was made.
- 1 Guided tour: Khor Virap, Noravank Monastery, Areni, Jermuk
- 2 Group Tour: Lake Sevan, Hayravank, Noratus, Jermuk, winery
- 3 Group Tour: Dilijan, Lake Parz, Makaravank Monastery, winery
The classic first day
Start with the day everyone books.
The single most-booked day in the country, and the one most travellers start with. Out of Yerevan after breakfast, back in the city for dinner.
Most popular
Armenia’s most-booked day trips
Garni and Geghard, Lake Sevan, the Khor Virap plain, the Tatev ropeway. The days travellers come to Armenia for.
Plan your trip
Everything starts in Yerevan.
Armenia is compact, and almost every trip runs as a day out from the capital. Pick a direction, leave after breakfast, and you’re back for coffee on Northern Avenue by evening.
By region
Pick a direction out of the city.
Each region is its own day. The Ararat plain for the monasteries and the mountain. Lake Sevan for the water and the forests. Garni and Geghard for the easy classic. Gyumri for the quiet north.
By kind of day
Or choose how you want to spend it.
Wine in the Areni cellars. A walking-and-tasting loop through Yerevan. A small guided group, or a private car and driver. However you like to travel.
Beyond the monasteries
The Armenian Sea.
Lake Sevan sits almost two kilometres up, big enough to throw real waves and blue enough to earn the name. Around it: the forests of Dilijan that locals call Armenian Switzerland, the spa town of Jermuk, and trout grilled fresh on the shore. The cool, green half of an Armenian summer.
See Lake Sevan & Dilijan trips →Just added