A country not to be missed on your Caucasus trip. Not yet exploited by mass tourism, Armenia is an escapist travel destination off the beaten path where you can find beautiful nature, warm and hospitable people and excellent gastronomy.
It’s an ex-URSS country so you can see soviet influence but at the same time people are like “Mediterranian”, very open and welcoming.
There are many natural spots to visit and many ancient Churches and fortresses. Armenia is considered an old culture more than European so you can visit the oldest Christian Churches in the world.
We mark it in Asia, but actually Armenia is in Europe, is considered Eurasia, a country that is part of Europe and Asia.
You can enjoy wilder tours in nature (old coves, mountains and lakes) or just relax in some of its many resorts near spring waters, or something more adventurous like 4×4 tours or Zip Line from mountain to mountain over 100m high.
Before Covid you could find cheap flights from Rome to Yerevan (the Capital), and also flights from Greece and Germany. Hopefully when life gets back to normal, they will restart the flights again.
Mountains
Armenia is a country of mountains, so if it’s your thing, you’re going to enjoy yourself to the fullest.
Hiking, mountain biking, climbing, winter sports like skiing and snowboarding and many other activities that you can do at a very affordable price if taking a guide. Being a safe country, you can easily move around alone, but as anywhere, if you take a local guide, you can discover the hidden gems and corners.
Christian churches
It’s not all churches in Armenia but there are quite a lot of them, dating back to the first days of Christianity in Armenia, back in 301 AD. The intrinsic architecture, hand-carved stone gems, symbols of the past and much more to discover in each church. You don’t have to go to every one, but the most epic ones are so so worth it, like Noravank, as in the picture below.
Armenia Nörd Republic
Hiking
One of the coolest places we visited was this sort of a hanging bridge that swang a littke as you crossed this abyss of a couple of hundred meters. If heights make you nervous, maybe should stay on the other side 😀 In the picture below you can see the view from
Food
Talking about food, it has a lot to offer- the famous shish kebabs, lots of vegetables and fresh seasonal produce, a bunch of beautiful spices and much more. You can also do wine and konyak degustation tours both in Yerevan and outside. We went to Areni and Yerevan konyak factory, great experience!
Wilder activities
From wilder activities, you can do basejumping, paragliding, white water rafting, riding an resored Kamaz (old USSR truck) in the mountains – that was very cool, a lot of shaking – and many other fun activities.
So, if you want something different but at the same time familiar, we highly recommend a trip to Armenia.
Where to find more information
You can find more info here: toursenarmenia.com
