Nature and culture of Armenia
2024
Highlights of the trip
During your stay you can enjoy the following highlights: Culture / Heritage, Faune and flora, Discovery.
Best times to go
The best time(s) to go is/are : Printemps, Eté, Automne.
Petit Futé
Where to stay - Garni ?
The map of your stay "Nature and culture of Armenia"
Detail of the stay : Nature and culture of Armenia
How to get there - Garni
Arrival
Arrival in Yerevan and installation in the capital, starting point for a long hike in the country, combining trekking in the mountains, seaside recreation on Lake Sevan and the discovery of monasteries.
Yerevan visit and first hike
Steps: Garni
Visit of Yerevan and its museums. In the afternoon, excursions to the temple of Garni and visit of the monastery of Geghard.
Departure for Achtarak
Steps: Achtarak
Departure for Achtarak, at the foot of Mount Arakadz, crossed by the river Kazakh, which crosses a beautiful medieval bridge, in the same stone of ochre tufa as the ancient churches scattered throughout the city. Accommodation possible before expedition at the top of the Arakadz.
Trek on Mount Achtarak
Steps: Saghmosavan
By car, leave the Mount Arakadz, from the Kazakh gorge bordered by monasteries (Saghmosavan, Ohanavan, Mughni, etc.) to the medieval fortress of Amberd; meetings with yezidis nomads that will offer you tan (yogurt) under the tents in which they reside during the transhumance of their herds of sheep. The road is carrossed to Kari Litch Lake (3,400 m), surrounded by neuroties. Possibility to stay in a refuge, bivoufling or stopping to taste skewers.
On the way to the summit
Steps: Gyumri
Ascension accessible to non-mountaineers, accompanied of course by a guide, towards snow-covered summits (maximum altitude: 4,090 m) dominating the plain of the Ararat. Descent from the north slope, further down to the plain of Chiraq and Gyumri. Housing.
Green landscapes and monasteries
Steps: Haghpat
From Gyumri to Kapan, Northern Armenia Gate. Visit of Lori Bank fortress. Climb the river Debed to Alaverdi and the monasteries of Haghpat and Sanahin.
Places of interest : FORTERESSE DE LORI-BERD
Towards Dilijan
Steps: Idjevan
Join the bed of the Aghtsev, which is penstock south, via Idjevan, to Dilijan, where you live in a chalet.
Around Dilijan
Steps: Haghartsin
Visit of monasteries in the Dilijan, Gochavank and Haghartsin region.
Relaxing in Lake Sevan
Resuming the road towards Lake Sevan. Accommodation in a hotel on the shores of the lake.
Water activities
Relaxation, water sports, sailing aboard sailing boats or fishing boats.
On the shores of Lake Sevan
Steps: Martouni
From north to south of lake (70 km), by boat or by road, via the Monastère and Gavar monastery (west coast), to Martouni.
Departure to the South
Steps: Eghegnadzor
To win southern Armenia through the Col de Selim and its beautiful caravanserai. Eghegnadzor, the rural municipalities of the Zanguezour, the spa resort of Djermouk, the waterfall of Chaki, near Sisian, Goris...
Visit of Stepanakert
Steps: Stepanakert
Visit of Stepanakert, the capital, and approach to the region.
Between past and present
And Nagorny Karabakh, one of the fracture points of the former USSR, where history, revealed by its monasteries in their midst of green mountains, is reaching the most topical news.
Majestic nature, between mountains and forests
Steps: Meghri
Return to Armenia, continue south, via the Tatev monastery, towards Kapan, in a beautiful forest natural park at the foot of Mount Kapoudjouk (2 nd summit of Armenia, 3,904 m), and to Méghri, border town with Iran, crushed and surrounded by mountains shredded (forecast 2 days more), or go straight back to Erevan, via Amaghou-Noravank monastery.
Places of interest : MONASTERE DE TATEV
Relaxation day in Everan
Steps: Etchmiadzine
Rest in Yerevan, with a visit to the Holy See of Etchmiadzin.
Places of interest : SAINT-SIÈGE
