Armenia fits in a week. Most of it is a day trip from Yerevan.
Which Garni group leaves early enough to bake lavash before lunch. What the Tatev ropeway day really costs. Whether Khor Virap gives you Ararat or a cloud. Reviews of every tour you can book in Armenia.
The three days most people take
01
The temple day
Group Tour: Garni, Symphony of Stones, Geghard, Lavash Baking
★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · from $28
02
The canyon day
Khor Virap, Noravank and Birds’ Cave Trip with Wine Tasting
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · from $32
03
The lake day
Group Tour: Lake Sevan (Sevanavank), Dilijan (Goshavank, Haghartsin)
★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · from $32
Ararat from Khor Virap, dough on a tonir wall, the ropeway over the Vorotan.
The four days a first week in Armenia gets built around. What each one costs, and what travellers say once they are back down the mountain.
- 01The first day outGroup Tour: Khor Virap, Garni temple, Geghard, Lavash bakingKhor Virap under Ararat, then Garni and Geghard before the light goes. The day that explains the country.
02The hands-on dayGarni & Geghard Small-Group Day Trip with Lavash BakingLavash stretched over a cushion and slapped onto the wall of a clay pit, eaten five minutes later with cheese and herbs.
03The long day southTatev & Shaki Waterfall Guided Group Tour with Wine TastingThe Vorotan road to Tatev, the ropeway across the gorge, Shaki waterfall on the way back.
04The high dayGroup Tour: Amberd, Aragats, Lake Kari, Saghmosavank, AlphabetAmberd fortress on the Aragats slopes and Lake Kari at 3,200 metres. Only open once the snow clears.
Armenia keeps its churches in gorges, on cliffs and under Ararat. Pick your valley.
Every group minibus out of Yerevan is really a choice of valley. Four kinds of monastery day, what it costs to board each one, and how far it takes you from the city.
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · Khor Virap, Noravank and Birds’ Cave Trip with Wine Tasting
The Ararat runKhor Virap on its mound, then the red cliffs at Noravank.
The gorge runA Roman temple over the Azat, a church carved into the rock behind it.
The long run southFive hours down the Vorotan road, then the ropeway across the gorge.
The half-day runThe mother cathedral and Zvartnots, back in Yerevan by lunch.
All 309 Armenian days out →
Yerevan first, then whichever valley the minibus is heading for.
A pink tuff capital you can cross on foot, a pagan temple in a river gorge, a lake at 1,900 metres and a canyon the colour of rust. Six starting points, and the best day out from each.
Armenia’s most popular days out.
Every Armenian tour we have reviewed →The tours more travellers take than anything else in the country, and what earns each one the slot.
1
Day Trip to Armenia Including Homemade Lunch
Cross from Tbilisi into northern Armenia for Akhtala, Haghpat, Alaverdi, the Mikoyan Brothers Museum, and Sanahin. An English-speaking guide such as Maria, Luka, or Tota leads the day, with transport, entrance fees, and a generous family lunch included.
From · $59
Read our review →
2
Group Tour: Garni, Symphony of Stones, Geghard, Lavash Baking
from $28
3
Group Tour: Lake Sevan (Sevanavank), Dilijan (Goshavank, Haghartsin)
from $32
4
Garni & Geghard Small-Group Day Trip with Lavash Baking
from $27
5
Khor Virap, Noravank and Birds’ Cave Trip with Wine Tasting
from $32
6
Garni, Geghard, Symphony of Stones & Lavash Baking
from $19
7
Group tour: Khor Virap, Noravank, Areni Winery and Cave
from $37
8
Garni, Geghard, Symphony of Stones & Lavash Baking
from $23
Areni has been making wine for six thousand years. Somebody should taste it.
The oldest winery on earth is a cave in Vayots Dzor, an hour past Khor Virap. Book the cellar visit that ends in lunch, the lavash morning at Garni, and the Yerevan walk that stops at every food hall on Mashtots.
What a day out in Armenia actually costs.
Every tour on the site, grouped by price. Armenia is cheap in a way that surprises people, and most of the good days come in under the price of dinner for two in Yerevan.
Group minibuses to Garni, Geghard, Sevan and Khor Virap, lavash mornings and city walks.
Full days to Tatev and the south, wine country with lunch, a car and driver for two.
Private guides, the long runs to Lori and Syunik, and the once-a-trip splurges.
- 1Paragliding in Armeniafrom $180
- 2Balloon ride Skyballfrom $255
- 3Best of Armenia: private 2-3 days tour to Yerevan w/ family lunchfrom $329
Almost everything in Armenia is a day trip from one square in Yerevan.
Minibuses leave before eight and are back before dark. In a single day you can stand under Ararat at Khor Virap, eat bread off a clay wall at Garni and swim from the Sevan peninsula. The country is the size of Belgium and the roads behave like it.
Three things that only happen in Armenia.
Gorges and old churches run right across the Caucasus. A cliff of basalt organ pipes, bread baked on the wall of a pit, and a cable car crossing two miles of canyon do not.
The Symphony of Stones
Below the temple at Garni the Azat river cut down through an old lava flow, and the basalt cooled into hexagonal columns that hang off the gorge wall like pipes on an organ. The path in from the road takes twenty minutes on a rough track, which is why most groups look down at it from the temple and drive on.
- 1Group Tour: Garni, Symphony of Stones, Geghard, Lavash Baking★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,042 reviews
- 2Garni & Geghard Small-Group Day Trip with Lavash Baking★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 881 reviews
- 3Garni, Geghard, Symphony of Stones & Lavash Baking★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 758 reviews
Lavash in the Tonir
Lavash is rolled out thin as a page, stretched over a cushion and slapped onto the inside wall of a clay pit sunk into the kitchen floor. It comes off blistered and soft in under a minute. UNESCO lists the making of it, and village houses across the Ararat valley still keep the pit.
- 1Group Tour: Garni, Symphony of Stones, Geghard, Lavash Baking★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,042 reviews
- 2Garni & Geghard Small-Group Day Trip with Lavash Baking★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 881 reviews
- 3Garni, Geghard, Symphony of Stones & Lavash Baking★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 758 reviews
The Wings of Tatev
Five and a half kilometres of cable strung across the Vorotan gorge, the longest reversible ropeway anywhere, built so a ninth-century monastery could be reached in twelve minutes instead of an hour of hairpins. It stops for wind, and the queue builds by midday, which is the whole argument for the early group.
- 1Tatev & Shaki Waterfall Guided Group Tour with Wine Tasting★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 266 reviews
- 2Tatev Day Trip with Shaki Waterfall & Wine Tasting★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 193 reviews
- 3Group Tour: Hin Areni Winery, Tatev (wayback on Ropeway), Khndzoresk Caves★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 192 reviews
Four Armenian bookings that will not wait.
Most of this country can be arranged over breakfast for the same morning. These four run on ropeway weather, mountain snow and small groups that leave whether or not you are on them.
- 01Group Tour: Khor Virap, Noravank, Tatev monasteries (wayback on Ropeway)The ropeway stops for high wind and the early cabins go first. A midday arrival can mean an hour of hairpins instead.
- 02Group Tour: Amberd, Aragats, Lake Kari, Saghmosavank, AlphabetThe Lake Kari road stays under snow into June. Outside the short summer window the high slopes are simply shut.
- 03Group Tour: Garni, Symphony of Stones, Geghard, Lavash BakingBaking runs to a household schedule rather than a timetable, and the small groups go days ahead.
- 04Group Tour: Lake Sevan (Sevanavank), Dilijan (Goshavank, Haghartsin)Sevan sits at 1,900 metres and behaves like it. The trout barbecue days and the boat runs stop when the season does.
Yerevan is pink tuff, a stone staircase and more cafe tables than pavement.
The whole centre is a twenty-minute walk. Climb the Cascade for the Ararat view at dusk, work through the Vernissage on a Saturday, and eat where the queue is Armenian rather than photographed.
- 1Group Tour: Garni, Symphony of Stones, Geghard, Lavash Bakingfrom $28
- 2Group Tour: Lake Sevan (Sevanavank), Dilijan (Goshavank, Haghartsin)from $32
- 3Garni & Geghard Small-Group Day Trip with Lavash Bakingfrom $27
Half of Armenia is above 1,500 metres, and half the year the passes are shut.
Snow closes the Aragats road and the Selim pass from November, the Tatev ropeway stops for wind, and Sevan stays a cold lake until June. Winter keeps its own list instead: the Tsaghkadzor ropeway runs on snow, the Yerevan food halls are warm, and the cellars at Areni do not care what the weather is doing.
By place, valley by valley
By kind of day, gorge, cellar or lake
Yerevan, Garni, Khor Virap, Sevan, Tatev: the week almost everybody does first.
The newest Armenian tour reviews.
The rest of the new ones →
Day Tour to Amberd Fortress, Aragats and Kari Lake
Read our review →
Winter Special – Tsaghkadzor, Kecharis, Abovyan & Lake Sevan
Read our review →
Private Day Trip to Symphony of Stones, Garni & Khor Virap
Read our review →
Private Day Trip: Garni, Geghard, Symphony of Stones & Sevan
Read our review →
Tsaghkadzor & Lake Sevan։ Winter Day Tour from Yerevan
Read our review →
Group Tour: Sightseeing and walking tour in Yerevan
Read our review →