Luxury holidays in Armenia
Watch Ararat turn pink above Yerevan at dusk and hear chant fill the rock-cut church at Geghard. Send us your dates and we book your guide, hotels and the road into Georgia.
It comes off your final price, and is refunded in full if you don't go ahead.
Your first glass of Armenian wine might be poured in a stone cellar in Vayots Dzor, a short drive below the red cliffs of Noravank. Winemaking here is older than almost anywhere, and the Areni cave holds some of the earliest evidence of it yet found. Lunch runs long: lamb with apricots, sour cherry soup and lavash still warm from the clay oven.
Back in Yerevan, the pink stone buildings glow at sunset and Ararat stands across the border, snow on its summit for most of the year. Armenia became the first Christian state early in the fourth century, and its monasteries still sit on ridgelines and at the heads of gorges. At Geghard, chambers are cut into the rock itself, and a few bars of chant fill the whole space.
Ideas your travel expert can build into your time in Armenia, each with a guide and driver.
Cross from Georgia to the monastery of Haghpat, then continue through the forested spa town of Dilijan and along Lake Sevan. You reach Yerevan with Ararat standing over the city.
Start in Republic Square, then see the ancient manuscripts of the Matenadaran and the art of the Cafesjian Center. Browse carpets at the Vernissage market and end with folk music in a musician's home.
Pay your respects at the Armenian Genocide Memorial on Tsitsernakaberd hill, then visit Etchmiadzin Cathedral, seat of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Finish at the ruins of seventh-century Zvartnots.
Hear chant echo through the rock-cut chambers of Geghard, then see the classical temple at Garni. Join a lavash baking session and end the day at Yerevan's Ararat brandy factory.
See Ararat up close from Khor Virap, then taste and lunch at a family winery in Vayots Dzor. Noravank monastery waits at the end of a red-cliffed canyon.
Spend an evening at Malkhas Jazz Club, founded by the pianist Levon Malkhasyan, with dinner and a live set from local and visiting players.
Most Armenian days are spent around the capital and in the valley that lies beneath Ararat.
A pink stone capital with the Cascade steps, a manuscript library and cafés looking out to Mount Ararat.
Khor Virap monastery beneath the mountain, with the pagan temple of Garni and the cave monastery of Geghard nearby.
Late spring and early autumn bring the clearest views of the mountain and comfortable touring weather.
Cold and snowy, mountain roads often closed.
Deep winter, short days and icy roads.
Cool and changeable, snow on the high passes.
Spring blossom in the valley, fresh and green.
Warm days, clear views of Ararat and wildflowers.
Long sunny days, ideal for the monasteries.
Hot in Yerevan, cooler in the mountains.
Hot and dry, apricots and summer fruit in the markets.
Grape harvest and comfortable touring weather.
Autumn colour and clear skies over Ararat.
Cooler days and the first snow in the mountains.
Cold with snow, a quiet time to visit.
Many routes connect once in the Gulf or Europe before the short hop into Zvartnots. Your travel expert finds the best connection from your home airport.
Tell us when you want to go, for how long and who is travelling. Your travel expert replies in writing with a trip shaped around you.
