Armenia may be a relatively small country geographically, but there is a whole lot to see here. I spent nearly a week in Armenia, based in the capital of Yerevan. I wanted to get out and see the rest of the country, but without a car it can be essentially impossible! Your choices are to either hire a private driver, or join a group tour. I chose to do two different day tours with Yerani Travel. My favorite was definitely the tour to Khor Virap, Areni, and Noravank!

The tour started at 9:00am. Yerani Travel will do a pick-up service from quite a few different hotels around town. We got picked up down the street from our hostel, which was super convenient. Otherwise, you meet at their office near the Cascade—which is really easy to find! The tour was all in English, and our guide (who was lovely but I can’t remember her name!) was really friendly. At every place we visited, she took us around and gave us a brief history, and then gave us free time to explore. I loved this about this company!

Our first stop of the day was the stunning Khor Virap. This monastery is one of the most popular places and pilgrimage sites to visit in Armenia. Khor Virap was the site of Gregory the Illumintor’s imprisonment for 13 years—supposedly in a pit 6 meters below the ground. The king who imprisoned him eventually proclaimed Christinanity as the state religion of Armenia in 301 AD. The original chapel was built in 642 to in veneration of Saint Gregory.

The larger chapel was built in 1662, around the remains of the old chapel and the monastery. Today it’s a big complex, with lots of tourist stalls and tidbits to explore.

Khor Virap is located right by the (closed) border with Turkey, and in the shadow of Mt. Ararat. In my opinion, it’s one of the most visually stunning places in all of Armenia! Climb up towards past the cross to see the monastery complex from above.

And also make sure to walk back along the road to get photos with the monastery and Mt. Ararat in the background.

Our next stop of the day was Areni Cave. This place is important for one big reason: it was where the oldest shoe in the world was discovered! Guides have to get the key to the gate, so I’m not sure if it’s a place you’d be able to access on your own (not with a guide/group). We headed into the cave and learned more about the people who lived there, and the history.

While the oldest shoe in the world is housed in the History of Armenia Museum in Yerevan today, you can see the area where they found it. Armenia has so much history it’s almost overwhelming. The Areni Cave is just another part of that history.

Noravank

Another of Armenia’s most stunning monasteries is Noravank. The monastery dates back to the early 1200s, and is located around some spectacular scenery in a narrow red-brick gorge. It was the home of Syunik’s bishops and became a major center for religion and learning in medieval Armenia.

 

The biggest attraction in Noravank is Surb Astvatsatsin, which is one of the chapels. It’s one of the only multi-level medieval chapels in the country. You climb up the stairs of the façade to get to the second story of the chapel. The chapel is a memorial chapel, with burial vault on the ground level. It was originally built in 1339.

You can see the other main church on the site (Surb Karapet Church), as well as climb down a hole to see an underground bit. Some of the best photos are out of the actual complex, looking down at the churches in the Amaghu valley. This was such a beautiful place and I’m so glad I was able to visit!

After Noravank, we stopped at a restaurant and had lunch. Lunch was included in our tour, and man oh man—what a feast it was! By the time we got to have lunch it was mid-afternoon and I can’t speak for everyone, but we were starving by the time we sat down. I can’t even remember what all was included, besides good traditional Armenian food and lots of it. There was quite a lot of khorovats (barbequed meats), and tasty lavash bread. It was a massive spread and even though I was starving by the time we got there, there was still lots of food left over! The restaurant where we had lunch (which I can’t remember, am I a great blogger or what!) was a hotel/resort, and located in a manmade lake!

Our last stop of the day was to Areni Winery. We had a wine tasting included in the tour as well, as the Areni region is well known for its wine! It was a little cramped with two groups in the tasting room, but the wines—WOW! We had samples of about 6-10+ different wines, including lots of really tasty and interesting fruit wines and brandies, and I’m pretty sure there was vodka as well. While I didn’t really like the massive group size (30-40 people between the two groups), there was a huge variety of wines and brandies to sample! You can buy bottles of wine or brandy here.

You can also see the giant room with the big wine barrels after the tasting! While we weren’t shown around this factory bit, it was still cool to see the inside—and where all the magic happens!

This was a pretty long daytrip. It was about 2 hours driving from the Areni Winery back to Yerevan. I can’t remember exactly when we got back (again, sorry for not being a better blogger!), but it was about 6:00-7:00pm. It was long.

That being said, I absolutely loved this daytrip. Joining a tour was a great way to see so much more of Armenia than we’d be able to squeeze in on our own with public transportation. It was also a lot less expensive than hiring a private driver to visit all these places for the day.

The tour cost 12,000 dram per person, or roughly £20 or $25. To say that it was a complete full-day tour, included entrance to all of the attractions, and it included a massive lunch, it was well worth the money. We also had free bottled water and some cake-like snacks on the bus too. Oh yeah, and there was free wifi on the bus!!! You can read my budget breakdown on my trip to the Caucasus here.

One of the things I liked most about Yerani Travel was that the guides were really friendly and knowledgeable, but they gave us plenty of free time to explore on our own. As a blogger, I have a lot of focus on getting “the shot” when I travel and go places. I was desperate to get out and take the photos of Khor Virap with Mt. Ararat in the background, and to climb up a section of the canyon for the shots of Noravank. It was a perfect mix of being together as a group and free time. After doing her bit, our guide told us what time we needed to meet back at the bus. Our guide also gave us lots of information on the drive when we were on the bus, but also knew when not to talk—aka when everyone was napping.

I would absolutely recommend Yerani Travel’s daytrip to Khor Virap, Areni, and Noravank. The tour was excellent value for money, and our guide was really nice and spoke perfect English. We also did another daytrip with them to Garni and Geghard—but I’ll write about that one soon! If you’re staying in Yerevan and looking to do a daytrip, this one to Khor Virap, Areni, and Noravak is one you can’t miss.

Have you ever been to Armenia? What were your favorite places?

Check out my other Armenia posts:

16 Things You MUST Do In Yerevan, Armenia

The Tbilisi To Yerevan Night Train

How Much Does It Cost To Travel The Caucasus And Istanbul For 2.5 Weeks?

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