Things to do in Armenia

You can’t visit Armenia without touring at least a few of the country’s 4,000 or so monasteries and churches. The most prominent of these ancient buildings continue to be maintained by devout communities and income from tourists. Many have been conscientiously restored, while others are little more than ruins. Top trumps would have to include the Tatev Monastery, reached by cable car; Sevanavank with its limestone green cross on the shore of Lake Sevan; and of course the Echimiadzin Church, considered to be the oldest cathedral in the world. Then there is Khor Virap, framed against majestic Mount Ararat, and the pink walled Odzun Church in northern Armenia. While exploring the monasteries themselves might lose its fascination after a handful, they are almost always accompanied by extraordinary viewpoints.

While you can easily spend a week or longer exploring Armenia in depth, a popular option is to combine it with another Caucasus country such as Georgia or Azerbaijan. Multi centre holidays enable to you to appreciate the often fascinating cultural differences between neighbouring countries in everything from cuisine to religion, as well as the range of landscapes in each. Note that, due to the ongoing tension over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, overland crossings between Armenia and Azerbaijan are not possible at the moment.