About The Armenia Guide

Armenia rarely appears on mainstream travel shortlists, which is exactly why we started The Armenia Guide. Across more than a dozen visits to the country — covering Yerevan's food markets, the monastery corridors of Geghard and Noravank, mountain trails above Dilijan, and the serpentine road down to Tatev — we kept finding that existing English-language resources were either too thin or simply wrong. We built the guide we wished had existed.

Who writes this site

The Armenia Guide is produced by a small team with direct, repeated experience of Armenia. Here's who's behind the content:

• Regional editor (Caucasus travel). First visited Armenia in 2017 and has returned six times since. Covers cross-country logistics, border crossings via Georgia and Iran, marshrutka and intercity bus routes, and the practical side of travelling without a tour group. Has slept in guesthouses in Goris, Gyumri, and Dilijan and driven the Vardenyats mountain pass in winter.
• History and heritage writer. Specialist in Armenian ecclesiastical architecture and pre-Christian sites. Has personally visited and documented Khor Virap, Geghard, Haghpat, Sanahin, Tatev, Noravank, and the ruins at Zvartnots. Cross-references descriptions against Armenian historical scholarship and UNESCO documentation before publishing.
• Food and Yerevan contributor. Based in Yerevan for two extended stays totalling five months. Covers the Vernissage market, Mashtots Avenue restaurants, the GUM market food hall, wine bars in the Northern Avenue area, and the brandy culture tied to the Ararat valley. Tracks opening hours and pricing seasonally.

Tatev and the southern routes

The road south from Yerevan through Areni and Goris to Tatev Monastery is one of the most rewarding drives in the entire South Caucasus. We have made this route three times in different seasons — including once via the Wings of Tatev aerial tramway after it reopened. The gorge views from the cable car are not exaggerated; the monastery itself, perched above a 300-metre drop, justifies the journey on its own. We cover the route in detail, including overnight options in Goris and the side trip to the cave dwellings at Khndzoresk.

Dilijan and the north

Dilijan is often described as "Armenia's Switzerland" — a comparison we find more marketing than accurate, but the forest hiking is genuinely good. The trails around Haghartsin Monastery and Jukhtak Antar park are well-maintained and uncrowded outside July and August. We have walked the main ridge trails above the town and stayed in the old quarter guesthouses that have opened since 2019. The north also holds Haghpat and Sanahin, two UNESCO-listed monastery complexes that receive far fewer visitors than Geghard despite being equally significant.

Our editorial standards

Every page on The Armenia Guide follows a three-stage process:

1. Visit in person before writing. We do not publish destination guides, restaurant recommendations, or hiking routes based solely on secondary sources. If we haven't been there, we say so — or we don't publish the piece yet.
2. Verify against official sources. Visa rules, entry requirements, and climate data are checked against primary government and institutional sources: the Armenia Tourism Committee for destination and event information, Armstat for climate and statistical data, and the Armenian e-Visa portal for current entry requirements. We do not rely on third-party travel forums for information that can be confirmed directly.
3. Update when conditions change. Opening hours shift seasonally, restoration work closes monastery sections, and transport routes change. We mark major updates with a revised date and revisit high-traffic pages before each peak season.

How we fund this site

The Armenia Guide includes affiliate links to tour and activity providers. When you book through one of these links, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only link to services we would use ourselves. Full details are in our affiliate disclosure.

Say hello

If something on this site is out of date, factually wrong, or if you have a question we haven't answered, we want to hear it. Reach out here and we'll respond.