6 Gems of Armenia (7 days / 6 nights )

After breakfast at the hotel, we will have an early morning walk in the pink city of Yerevan. This ancient city is 29 years older than Rome. The city has witnessed four settlement phases from the end of the 4th millennium BC to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. Lying on the main trade routes between East and West, Yerevan was constantly fought back and forth during the course of the time. You will enjoy your time in the fascinating fall weather of sunny Yerevan while walking around Cascade Monument. If you walk up the “huge staircase” of 500 meters in height and 50 meters in width, you can enjoy the wonderful panorama of the city with the spectacular Opera House, Mount Ararat as well as the view of the whole city. Pay a visit to Tsitsernakaberd Monument, situated on a hill. The monument is devoted to the victims of the Armenian Genocide in 1915 by the Ottoman Empire. More than 1.5 million Armenians were killed during those massacres and many more spread around the world, forming a huge Diaspora. (Optional* Dinner at a local restaurant or a tavern tasting traditional dishes in a traditional atmosphere with an opportunity to enjoy a nice folk show.)

After breakfast at the hotel (10:00), we will explore the top tourist attractions of Armenia: Garni Temple (a pagan temple built in the 1st century, the only survival of the Hellenic epoch in the whole territory of the Caucasus) and the Monastery of Geghard (UNESCO). The monastery was first recorded in a document of 1250. Geghard is famous due to the relics, among which the most important one is the spear which had wounded Christ on the Cross presumably brought there by the Apostle Thaddeus. Here in Geghard, you can also watch the process of “lavash” making in the traditional underground oven “tonir”. We will drive back to Yerevan with a stop at the Miracle Cave, a miraculous subterranean cave of 21 meters in depth. After descending 80 stairs you find yourself in a round hall, in a pavilion decorated with candles. Each person should enter here individually and make a wish they should light a candle. As the master used to say, a candle lit here, by all means, serves its purpose and the wish comes true. It took more than two decades to the Master to build this cave-shrine. This cave is often compared with the Noah’s Ark and considered to be the second ark which is to save the humanity not from flood but from fire. Overnight at a hotel in Yerevan.

After breakfast at the hotel, we will have a short drive to the pearl of Armenia, Lake Sevan. Lake Sevan has a unique combination of great size, high mountain location,and comparatively “soft water”. Lake Sevan is one of the reatest freshwater high-mountain lakes of Eurasia. It is located at about 2000 meters above sea level. (Optional* lunch tasting barbeque from Sevan trout). We will then explore the summer residence of the Favorite Armenian King Ashot the Iron (Ashot Erekat) Sevanavank Monastery (9th century). Drive to Dilijan. Have an evening walk in the wonderfully forested region of Dilijan to enjoy the 19th-century appearance of the town. This wonderfully forested region is rich in mineral waters. Some of them are compared with Wichi in France and Davos in Switzerland. Dilijan is “the Switzerland of Armenia.” Visit Haghartsin Monastery (10-13th c.c.) proudly located in the luxurious nature. This monastery has a special place in the culture and architecture of Armenia. Drive back to Yerevan. Overnight at a hotel in Yerevan.

After breakfast at the hotel drive to the whole year-round resort town of Tsaghkadzor. Here you can enjoy riding Quadracycles, then use the ropeway to get to the mountain and enjoy the magnificent panorama all around. Drive back to Yerevan. Overnight in Yerevan.

Breakfast at the hotel. Leisure day for more shopping in the city center and the molls of Yerevan. Optional* balloon flight or paragliding. Overnight at a hotel in Yerevan.

Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to the airport. Departure.