Armenia Highlights

This morning, your private guide and driver will pick you up from your hotel and then drive for an hour to the picturesque Lake Sevan. Wear your bright white or red clothing for taking beautiful photos, and admire the surrounding snow-capped Caucasus Mountains reflected in the azure lake.

On a small peninsula overlooking Lake Sevan, you can find Sevanavank Monastery, built in the 9th century AD and also known as the “Black Monastery.” Inside one of its churches, you could find a unique stone tablet with a relief of Jesus Christ. Interestingly, he has distinct Mongol features such as a broad face and high cheekbones! In fact, this was a local strategy in the 13th century AD to prevent the monastery from being destroyed by the Mongol cavalry. Afterward, we’ll continue our journey to Dilijan.

★ Immersive Experience to Create Your Own Gata

Enjoy lunch in a local restaurant, and take a special Gata-making class! Gata is Armenia’s iconic flaky sweet bread, carrying the shared memories of generations of Armenians. A professional baker will guide you step-by-step, from kneading the dough to making the filling, and help you create a unique Gata. Many Armenian foods, such as the local cheese Chechil, are quite salty. This is the wisdom of nomadic people to preserve food for long periods, and also a living history of the nation through countless invasions, sieges, and exiles. Gata, on the other hand, represents the sweet side of Armenian life. While enjoying the alluring smell of baking, you may chat with the baker about more stories related to local food.

In the afternoon, your guide will accompany you to explore Dilijan, a town with dense forests and scenery comparable to the Alps. We’ll visit Haghartsin Monastery complex, which has a history of over a thousand years. It consists of three churches, of which St. Gregory the Illuminator’s Church was the site of Armenia’s first music university. Following this, we’ll go to Goshavank Monastery, named after its builder, a great Armenian thinker and educator. 

Then, make a brief stop at the tranquil Lake Parz. After the tour, your guide and driver will accompany you back to your hotel in about two hours.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Ani Grand Hotel Yerevan (4 stars) or similar

Today will be the highlight of this tour! We’ll visit Khor Virap Monastery, one of Armenia’s most iconic monasteries. In the morning, your guide and driver will meet you at your hotel, and escort you to the monastery in about an hour.

“Khor Virap” means “deep dungeon,” referring to the 6-meter-deep (20 ft.) dungeon within the monastery. It’s cramped, damp, and shrouded in darkness - just one sight may send chills down your spine. However, 1,700 years ago, someone survived in such conditions for 14 years! He was St. Gregory the Illuminator (240-332 AD), the first bishop of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He was forced to renounce Christianity, but he persevered through sheer willpower, and led Armenia to become the first nation to adopt Christianity as its state religion. Notably, here you can also get a close-up view of Mount Ararat. According to the Bible, Noah’s Ark landed on the summit of this mountain after the Flood, so it was seen as a symbol of culture and faith for Armenians. Unfortunately, the sacred mountain is now in Turkey, and Armenians can only view it from afar.
► Tip: The dungeon is open to the public, and can be accessed via an almost vertical spiral staircase. But it’s quite physically demanding, so we recommend you decide whether to go down based on your physical condition.

Next, let’s continue to drive southeast for about 1.5 hours to Noravank Monastery, perched atop a brick-red cliff. Then, on our way back to Yerevan, we’ll stop at Hin Areni Winery. Legend has it that Noah planted the world’s first grapevine at the foot of Mount Ararat. And to this day, Armenia’s wines and brandies have become world-renowned. You can find almost every local man carrying a small wine bottle so that they can take a sip anytime, anywhere. During the visit, you’ll have chance to taste various wines. We suggest skipping the homemade Oghi, which typically has an alcohol content above 50%. 

After the tour, your guide and driver will escort you back to your hotel in Yerevan.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Ani Grand Hotel Yerevan (4 stars) or similar

After breakfast, with your guide and driver, you’ll first enjoy a 40-minute private ride to Garni Temple. It is a Hellenistic temple dedicated to the sun god Mir, and is the only surviving pagan temple in Armenia. 24 towering Ionic columns support the temple, symbolizing the 24 hours of a day. You may notice that the temple’s stones are of varying shades. This is because it collapsed in the great earthquake of 1679 AD, and remained in ruins for three centuries until it was restored with the original stones in the 20th century. The engineers deliberately chose lighter-colored new stone to distinguish. 

Then, let’s proceed to Geghard Monastery. Built in the 13th century AD, it is one of Armenia’s holiest pilgrimage sites for housing the Holy Spear used in the crucifixion of Jesus. Inside the monastery, you can see a lot of medieval cross stones called khachkar, carved with incredibly intricate lines resembling lace. The unique techniques have been listed as an UNESCO intangible cultural heritage. 

Then, we’ll head to the nearby Garni Gorge to admire the “Symphony of Stones”. The entire cliff face is covered with honeycomb-like black basalt columns, which were formed approximately 40 million years ago due to rapid lava crystallization. It is also nicknamed as “Devil’s Hive” by the locals. 

After the tour, we’ll return to Yerevan. Your driver will accompany you to the airport for your departure flight. Hope you have had a great time with us!

Meals: Breakfast