Armenia itinerary 7 days: Yerevan, Garni, Sevan and Tatev

An hour and a quarter, 2,000 drams, open Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 to 17:50; closed Sunday and Monday. Arriving in the afternoon, this is the museum that fits Day 1: the institute holds more than 20,000 Armenian manuscripts, with medieval illuminations, and tells the story of the alphabet created by Mesrop Mashtots in the 5th century, whose statue stands on the steps.

If Day 1 falls on a Sunday or Monday, swap the Matenadaran for the morning of Day 7.

Ten minutes on foot west of the Matenadaran is the Cascade, a monumental white limestone staircase with sculpture gardens at its base, Fernando Botero’s cat among them. Inside, the Cafesjian Center for the Arts has escalators that take you almost to the top without effort.

Go up late in the afternoon and allow an hour and a half: on a clear day Mount Ararat rises behind the city, pink at sunset. In summer the heat haze often hides it.

On the way down, ten minutes south of the Cascade, the Opera and Ballet Theatre by Alexander Tamanyan, the architect who designed modern Yerevan, ends the day. Freedom Square and the Swan Lake park next to it fill up at night; check the week’s opera and ballet programme.

Start at 9:30 at the covered market on Movses Khorenatsi Street, before the heat. Spend 45 minutes among piles of nut stuffed dried fruit, sujukh (walnuts dipped in grape syrup), folded lavash and herbs for tea. Vendors will offer you tastes.

Twenty minutes north on foot, the 18th century Blue Mosque is the only working mosque in Yerevan and was restored with Iranian support. Free entry, 10:00 to 13:00 and 15:00 to 18:00; women cover their hair in the prayer hall, with scarves lent at the door. Half an hour is enough for the leafy courtyard and the dome.

Ten minutes away on foot, across Victory Bridge, the Ararat brandy factory has been producing since 1887 and runs guided tours of about an hour and a half through the cellars, ending with a tasting. Book a slot on the official website; the price depends on the tasting, and the top packages pour brandies aged 10 to 20 years.

The story most often told on the tour is that Stalin sent cases of Armenian brandy to Churchill.

A five minute taxi ride goes up the hill. The 1967 memorial has twelve basalt slabs in a circle around the eternal flame and a 44 metre spire, and remembers the 1.5 million Armenians killed from 1915. The museum next door is free, closed on Mondays, with last entry around 16:30.

Allow an hour and a half and keep the rest of the afternoon free: it is a heavy visit.

On the way to Garni, half an hour out of Yerevan, your driver stops at this roadside basalt arch dedicated to the poet Yeghishe Charents. It frames Mount Ararat over the plain; go early, before the haze, and allow 15 minutes.

One hour, 1,500 drams. Dating from the 1st century, it is the only standing colonnaded Greco-Roman temple in the former Soviet Union, rebuilt in the 1970s with its original stones on the edge of the Azat River gorge. Behind it are the ruins of a Roman bathhouse with a mosaic.

Drive down, or walk for 40 minutes, to the bottom of the gorge, where walls of hexagonal basalt columns look like organ pipes. Allow 45 minutes; the best angle is from the path by the river.

Fifteen minutes’ drive above Garni, Geghard is a UNESCO World Heritage Site: some of its 13th century churches were carved straight into the rock. Free entry, an hour and a quarter. Step into the dark chapels with their strong acoustics, where a choir sometimes sings for groups.

On the way out, stalls sell gata, the Armenian sweet bread, and warm lavash. Back in Yerevan in 45 minutes.

An hour from Yerevan, the Sevan peninsula holds two 9th century churches above the lake, at about 1,900 metres. It is 15 minutes of steps to the top; arrive before 10:00, ahead of the tour buses, and allow an hour. The water is cold even in summer.

Another 40 minutes on the road through the tunnel and down into the forests of Tavush brings you to Dilijan, the green mountain town Armenians call their Switzerland. Sharambeyan Street was restored with 19th century houses, craft workshops and places for lunch.

Twenty minutes northeast, on a road through the forest, Haghartsin gathers three churches from the 10th to 13th centuries and a medieval stone refectory. Free entry, an hour and a quarter. The drive back to Yerevan takes about two hours.

Leave at 8:00. Khor Virap is 45 minutes south of Yerevan, right by the Turkish border, and early in the morning Ararat is usually clear behind the monastery. Free entry, one hour.

A vertical ladder takes you down into the pit where Saint Gregory the Illuminator was held for 13 years before converting the king, which made Armenia the first Christian nation, in 301.

An hour and a half further south, in the village of Areni, the Hin Areni winery makes reds from the areni grape, the local variety, and has a tasting room; allow an hour. Just over 1 km away is the Areni-1 cave, where archaeologists found the oldest known winery, about 6,100 years old, and a 5,500 year old leather shoe.

On the first weekend of October the village holds its wine festival.

Eight kilometres up the canyon, Noravank has the two storey church of Surb Astvatsatsin, from the 14th century, with a narrow stone staircase on the facade leading to the upper floor. Free, one hour. Then it is about two hours of mountain road to Goris.

Late in the afternoon, head 10 km east of Goris to Khndzoresk. The old village of homes carved into the gorge walls was lived in until the 1950s, and a 160 metre suspension bridge crosses the valley to the caves. An hour and a half, walking down and back up; wear trainers.

Leave Goris at 9:30 for Halidzor, half an hour away. The Wings of Tatev ropeway crosses 5.7 km over the Vorotan gorge in about 12 minutes and entered Guinness as the longest non stop reversible ropeway. It runs Tuesday to Sunday; a return ticket costs 9,000 drams from March to November.

It stops in strong wind. If that happens, your driver can take the road up to the monastery in 40 minutes.

The 9th century monastery on the tip of the cliff was home to one of the great medieval Armenian universities. Look for the swinging Gavazan column, which rocks when pushed. Allow an hour and a half including the ropeway back; after lunch in Halidzor, it is about five hours by road to Yerevan.

From a central hotel, the oval square designed by Tamanyan is the city’s postcard, with pink tuff buildings, the Government House and the History Museum. Twenty minutes is enough in the morning.

Five minutes east, the Vernissage is the open air market for rugs, ceramics, carved backgammon boards, miniature khachkars and Soviet objects. It is busiest on Saturdays and Sundays. Allow an hour, bring cash and haggle; Zvartnots airport is then 25 minutes by taxi.