Every road out of Yerevan ends at a monastery.

A pagan temple and a cave church before lunch. Ararat framed behind Khor Virap. The blue of Lake Sevan, the cellars at Areni, the ropeway into Tatev, the mother church at Etchmiadzin. Six days, and the tour that does each one properly.

★★★★★★★★★★5.0· 1,042 travellers on the most-booked monastery day

Geghard is cut into the rock of the Azat gorge, a UNESCO site with a spring running through the floor. Garni stands on the cliff above it, the only Greco-Roman colonnade left in the country. Most days out pair the two with lavash baked in a clay tonir.

• 1Garni, Symphony of Stones, Geghard, Lavash Bakingfrom $28
• 2Garni, Geghard, Symphony of Stones & Lavash Bakingfrom $19
• 3Garni, Geghard, & Symphony of Stones Day Tripfrom $32

The half day

Garni, Geghard and lavash

Half day· from $19· group or private

The pagan temple on its cliff, the cave church below, and bread pulled off the wall of a clay oven while it is still too hot to hold.

The Ararat day

Khor Virap, Noravank and Areni

Full day· from $32· wine tasting

Ararat over the vineyards at the first stop, the red cliffs of Noravank at the second, a cellar in Areni before the drive back.

The long one

Tatev by ropeway

Long day· from $46· ropeway included

Cable car across the Vorotan gorge, a fortified monastery on the far cliff, and the Syunik mountains behind it the whole way.

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The days out that fill their minibuses every morning of the season, and what each one gets right.

1

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 1,084 reviews

Day Trip to Armenia Including Homemade Lunch

Visit Armenia from Tbilisi for UNESCO monasteries, Soviet sights, mountain views, and a generous homemade Armenian lunch.

From · $59

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2 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,042 reviews Garni, Symphony of Stones, Geghard, Lavash Baking from $28 3 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,036 reviews Lake Sevan (Sevanavank), Dilijan (Goshavank, Haghartsin) from $32 4 ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 845 reviews Khor Virap, Noravank and Birds’ Cave Trip with Wine Tasting from $32 5 ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 758 reviews Garni, Geghard, Symphony of Stones & Lavash Baking from $19 6 ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 687 reviews Garni, Geghard, & Symphony of Stones Day Trip from $32 7 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 651 reviews Khor Virap, Noravank, Areni Winery and Cave from $37 8 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 589 reviews Garni, Geghard, Symphony of Stones & Lavash Baking from $23

What Armenia charges for a day out, from the shared minibus up to a car of your own. It stays cheap by European standards.

Under $40

66 tours

Shared minibuses to Garni, Sevan and Etchmiadzin. A seat, a guide, back in Yerevan by evening.

• 1Garni, Symphony of Stones, Geghard, Lavash Bakingfrom $28
• 2Lake Sevan (Sevanavank), Dilijan (Goshavank, Haghartsin)from $32
• 3Khor Virap, Noravank and Birds’ Cave Trip with Wine Tastingfrom $32

$40 to $100

126 tours

The long group days: Tatev with the ropeway, Khor Virap with wine, the Lori monasteries in the north.

• 1Day Trip to Armenia Including Homemade Lunchfrom $59
• 2Khor Virap, Noravank, Tatev monasteries (wayback on Ropeway)from $73
• 3Garni pagan temple, Geghard monastery, Lake Sevan, Sevanavankfrom $41

$100 and up

152 tours

A car and driver for the day, multi-day loops through Syunik, and the runs across the border to Tbilisi.

• 1Paragliding in Armeniafrom $180
• 2Private 7-8-hour Khor Virap, Garni temple & Geghard monastery trip from Yerevanfrom $120
• 3Khor Virap, Garni, Geghard, Echmiadzin, & Zvartnotsfrom $135

Monasteries and mountain lakes turn up all over the Caucasus. The basalt organ pipes under Garni, the cable car into Tatev and the cave that invented wine belong to this country alone.

Below Garni

The Symphony of Stones

Under the temple at Garni the Azat river cut through an old basalt flow and left a wall of hexagonal columns hanging over the water like organ pipes. It is a short walk down from the road, nearly every Garni tour includes it, and the light is best in the morning before the gorge falls into shade.

1. 1Garni, Symphony of Stones, Geghard, Lavash Baking★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,042 reviews
2. 2Garni, Geghard, Symphony of Stones & Lavash Baking★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 758 reviews
3. 3Garni, Geghard, & Symphony of Stones Day Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 687 reviews

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Into Syunik

The Wings of Tatev

The longest reversible cable car in the world runs close to six kilometres across the Vorotan gorge to a ninth-century monastery on the far cliff. The crossing takes about twelve minutes each way, and it is the reason Tatev is a full day out of Yerevan rather than a stop on somebody else’s itinerary.

1. 1Khor Virap, Noravank, Tatev monasteries (wayback on Ropeway)★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 506 reviews
2. 2Tatev & Shaki Waterfall Guided Group Tour with Wine Tasting★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 266 reviews
3. 3Tatev Day Trip with Shaki Waterfall & Wine Tasting★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 193 reviews

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Areni-1

The oldest winery on earth

In a cave above Areni archaeologists found a clay vat, a press and grape seeds dated to around four thousand BC: the earliest winemaking site anyone has dug up. The village still grows the Areni grape, and the cellars a few minutes down the road pour it.

1. 1Khor Virap, Noravank and Birds’ Cave Trip with Wine Tasting★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 845 reviews
2. 2Khor Virap, Noravank, Areni Winery and Cave★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 651 reviews
3. 3Khor Virap, Noravank & Birds’ Cave Day Trip with Wine Tasting★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 320 reviews

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