Dear Marc,

We returned halfway through last week from a fine vacation in Armenia. Here are some points of interest that we noted during our trip that could possibly be taken with any future clients wishing to take a similar trip.

General

Know that the normal GPS does not work in Armenia, what does work perfectly is the "MAPS.ME" app. Surely, without them, finding our destinations would have been very difficult at times. Be sure to take a local SIM card so you can use all the apps throughout the day without worry. A larger car (4x4 - we had a LANDCRUISER PRADO) is really desirable. Once you leave the major roads, road conditions are mostly poor. A bigger car also gives you some "body" in the sometimes hectic traffic, especially in Yerevan.

The three guides we had were top-notch. They were very credible and all three offered to contact them should we have a problem somewhere or should we need info of any kind ! Our program was very well filled. We did not visit all the suggested places on all days as we would have run out of time for the planned hikes or guided activities.

Yerevan

Absolutely recommend taking a guide for a city tour. After this city tour, you more or less know your way around and can continue exploring Yerevan on your own. Yerevan is beautiful, trendy, many water features with fountains and lots of greenery, beautiful specific architecture, All day very busy, lots of cars. Parking on the street is a real challenge so a hotel with parking is extremely convenient. Ani Grand Hotel is highly recommended !

In Yerevan, you can eat well, drink good wine, really quite a nice city to be in

Goris

Khor Virap is as expected. Should definitely be in the program. Norovank is very beautiful and definitely not to be missed. We also visited the "stonehenge" of Armenia, a place where you can be quiet for a moment anyway

Hotel in Goris is a beautiful and nice family hotel.

Vayk

Visit on your own to Khndzoresk and the cave dwellings is a bit of a search but very impressive. Tatev we visited by cable car, which is nice. You do miss the view of the monastery that, if you go by car, you could possibly have. Although you can certainly hike in Tatev to certain viewpoints. Then be sure to take plenty of time. You have to book a time for the cable car and if you miss it you have to pay extra. We did 1h30 which should definitely be double if you wish to do some hiking in the area as well. Hotel in Vayk : everything good but seems to have stood still a bit in time but this certainly has its charm ! This is actually the case with the entire town. Was an adventure to find a restaurant in the evening, only Armenian and Russian in Vayk.

Tsanghkuk

On the way to Tsanghkuk, we visited the cheese workshop near GAVAR town. We recommend that this definitely continue to be included in the program. We found the visit with tasting very worthwhile. Visit to Sevanavank monastery we did in the morning. Village seems a bit "in the middle of nowhere" However, the hotel with its restaurant is top notch and should definitely be done. We did the "dolmas making" master class and it was fun, especially eating the meal afterwards. You can take beautiful hikes in the surrounding mountains but be sure to take a guide. We took the master class dolmas with our guide and his wife (they were our translators) and we then had dinner together and a pleasant evening.

Haghpat

Hotel is large scale and made for groups. The room was definitely good and so was breakfast and restaurant. We did miss the small-scale homely character we had in all the other hotels. Nice but tough mountain hike with a guide (good footwear necessary !). A visit to Haghpat Monastery is a must and the nearby Sanahin Monastery can be included in the program.

Back to Yerevan

During the road visited only one monastery (Saghmosavank). We did not do the other suggested stops but the monastery is definitely worth a stopover.

Garni

Nice road there, Garni is very touristy though if you compare it to the previous days, for us what this a little "too". Just this : thank you for the bottle of wine we were able to find on behalf of you and the UNTAMED team on the first evening at the hotel in Yerevan. A very nice gift !

Kind regards

Geert and Els