• Tour Program
• Map of the tour
• Notes and suggestions
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Day 1. Arrival at the airport - Transfer to hotel

Arrival in Yerevan at night, transfer to the hotel and overnight.

Day 2. Yerevan city tour - Garni - Geghard - Yerevan

After breakfast, the visit of Yerevan begins with Victory Park, where the huge statue of Mayr Hayastan (Mother Armenia) is located and from which you can admire the best view of the city. Stop at Cascade Complex, a monumental staircase in Art Nouveau style that houses the modern art collection of Gerard Cafesjian. Continue to Matenadaran, the library-museum, unique in the world, which houses thousands of illuminated manuscripts. Short walk in the city center through the Opera Square and then along Northern Avenue, the pedestrian street of Yerevan, to Republic Square, the heart of Armenia and Yerevan, surrounded by the most beautiful buildings of the city, where the Stalinist style meets the Armenian architecture and where the show of the dancing fountains takes place every evening in summer. Departure towards the Kotayk region. Lunch in a local restaurant in Garni where we will witness the preparation of Lavash, the traditional Armenian bread nominated as Cultural Intangible Heritage by UNESCO. Visit of the temple of Garni, a Hellenistic Roman temple from the first century AD and the only one to survive after the Christianization of Armenia in the 4th century AD. Short descent into the Gorge of Garni, a deep canyon with walls covered by basaltic rock formations in the shape of organ pipes that have given the name to this place of "Symphony of Stones" and continuation to the rock monastery Geghard (UNESCO World Heritage Site), located in a narrow gorge and partially carved into the rock. The name of the Monastery, Geghard, in Armenian language means "spear", as the spear that pierced the Christ on the Cross was kept here for centuries. Overnight in Yerevan.

Day 3. Yerevan - Khor Virap - Areni - Noravank - Qarahunj - Goris

After breakfast, departure towards south-east to the monastery of Khor Virap, dominated by the snowy profile of Mount Ararat, in a suggestive position near the border with Turkey. The fortified monastic complex houses inside the well (Khor Virap means "deep well") in which in the fourth century St. Gregory illuminator, the evangelizer of Armenia, was imprisoned for thirteen years. Continuation to the wine region of Vayots Zor, whose landscape is characterized by jagged gorges and wild peaks, and arrival at the village of Areni, where we will make a stop for a tasting of local wines. Continue to Noravank monastery, the masterpiece of architect Momik, surrounded by rugged gray and red rocky mountains, with the two-storey church of Surp Astvatsatsin, richly decorated with bas-reliefs. After crossing the Vorotan Pass, the view opens onto the prairies surrounded by the high mountains of the Syunik Region, the southernmost of Armenia. Before arriving in Goris, stop for the visit of Qarahunj, the "Stonehenge of Armenia", a megalithic site formed by 204 menhirs built on a hill surrounded by mountains, scattered with tombs dating back to to a period ranging from the Middle Bronze Age to the Iron Age. Arrival in Goris and overnight.

Day 4. Goris - Tatev - Selim - Noratus - Sevan - Dilijan

After breakfast, visit of Tatev monastery, which will be reached from Halidzor with “The Wings of Tatev”, the longest cable car in the world. The monastery is of fundamental importance for the knowledge of Armenian medieval art and stands on a natural fortification on the edge of the steep gorge of the Vorotan river. Continuation, through unforgettable landscapes of mountains, lush valleys and green meadows, up to Selim pass with a stop for a visit to the ancient Orbelian Caravanserai, an important station along the Silk Road, which testifies to the importance of Armenia as an important commercial hub between East and West. Arrival at Lake Sevan, the "Emerald of Armenia", located at 1900 meters above sea level and one of the highest freshwater alpine lakes in the world. Stop at the village of Noratus, whose cemetery is famous for the numerous khatchkars, the cross-shaped stones typical of Armenian artistic production. Continue to the Sevan Peninsula, on which stands the Sevanavank monastery, from where you will admire the spectacular views of the lake and the surrounding mountains. Arrival in Dilijan, a town nicknamed the "Switzerland of Armenia" because of the dense forests that surround it. Overnight in Dilijan.

Day 5. Dilijan - Vill. Molokan - Akhtala - Haghpat

After breakfast, departure for the villages of the Molokans, an ethnic minority of Russian origin who practice a unique form of Christian Orthodox Religion which was declared heresy at the end of the nineteenth century and because of which the Molokans were sent into exile on the borders of the Russian Empire. Many of them settled in Armenia and today they still live their lives in the same way they lived over a century ago. Meeting with one of the families to taste the tea made from Samovar and homemade desserts. Continue to the fortified church of Akhtala, built on a rocky outcrop surrounded by high and deep canyons, famous for being one of the few churches in Armenia with internal walls covered with frescoes that were painted between 1205 and 1216 and which are now counted among the best examples of Byzantine art outside the Byzantine Empire. Arrival in Haghpat and visit of the Haghpat Monastery (built in the 10th century and now a UNESCO heritage site), which was the most important spiritual center of Medieval Armenia in the 12th century. Its university was very famous throughout the Armenian medieval world and its school of copyists and miniaturists was among the most renowned in Armenia. The famous Armenian poet, composer and storyteller Sayat-Nova spent twenty years of his life here. Overnight in Haghpat.

Day 6. Haghpat - Rya Taza - Amberd - Saghmosavank - Yerevan

After breakfast, departure for the armenian central plateau dominated by the imposing Mount Aragats, the highest in Armenia. Stop at the village of Rya Taza to visit the Yazidi cemetery, an ethnic minority of Kurdish origin which practice a unique and ancient religion derived from Zoroastrianism mixed with Islamic and Christian beliefs. Ascent to Amberd, the "Fortress in the clouds", built in the 10th century on the slopes of Mount Aragats at 2300 m above sea level as a defensive outpost of the Ararat Valley. Continue to Saghmosavank, a monastic complex famous for its location near the Kasagh river canyon. Arrival in Yerevan and overnight.

Day 7. Yerevan - Echmiadzin - Zvartnots - Yerevan

​After breakfast, departure for Echmiadzin, a UNESCO World Heritage city nicknamed "the Armenian Vatican" because it is the seat of the "Catholicos", the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Visit of the Mayr Ator Cathedral, the first cathedral in the Christian world, and the church of Saint Hripsime, which houses the tomb of the holy martyr in the crypt. Return to Yerevan and, along the way, visit the ruins of Zvartnots Cathedral (UNESCO World Heritage Site), built in the 7th century and destroyed in the 10th century by an earthquake, famous for the fine bas-reliefs that combined Christian symbols with pre-Christian symbols and built on a previous site of the urartic era. Visit of the Memorial of the Armenian Genocide on the hill of Tzitzenakaberd (the Fortress of the Swallows), a complex dedicated to the 1.5 million Armenians who died at the hands of the Ottoman Turks in 1915. Free time to visit the Vernissage Market, where it will be possible to buy Armenian handicrafts, Soviet period memorabilia and souvenirs. Overnight in Yerevan.

Day 8. Yerevan - Transfer to airoport

Transfer to airport.
​End of services.

• The interior of the Echmiadzin Cathedral is currently closed for restoration work. For this reason, until the end of the works, the visit in the program will be made only from outside.
• The road that passes along the Debed Valley is undergoing renovation works which will last until end of 2022. A spirit of adaptation is required due to the rough conditions of the road surface and the inevitable slowdowns that these entail. However, the visits scheduled in the program will be carried out normally.
• The trip is suitable for everyone and does not present specific difficulties even if in some days the program is full of visits. Short walks are planned to reach the places of visits from the point where the means of transport must stop.
• People with reduced mobility must be aware that, unfortunately, in the Country there are no devices that allow them to overcome stairways and unevenness and moreover, within the sites, the pavements are often uneven and the paths are unpaved.
• It is advisable to bring comfortable shoes and clothing that takes into account the temperature variations especially in the regions outside Yerevan, even in summer.
• Amberd may not be accessible due to snow in the period from November to April.
• The Vernissage market is open every day but can be visited at its maximum extent only on Saturdays and Sundays.