Classic Armenia - 7 Days (Private Tour)

Arrivato to Zvartnots international airport, meet with your guide/driver and then transfer to the hotel.

Today you explore the secrets and hidden gems of Yerevan, the pink “pearl” of Armenia, a beautiful European city mostly built with different shades of local pink stone called "tuf" quarried in Armenia. Founded in 782 B.C. Yerevan is reputedly one of the oldest cities in the world to have been continuously inhabited. We start the exploration with the "Victory Park" and "Mother Armenia" monument offering a "bird's-eye" view of the city with the fantastic view of the majestic snow-capped Mount Ararat (5165 m) dominating the skyline. Continue to the colossal monument of Cascade and Cafesjian Center for the Arts which includes a world-class sculpture garden and indoor modern art museum with works from Botero, Chihuly, Arshile Gortky, Jennifer Bartlett, Lynn Chadwick, Barry Flanegan and Jaume Plensa and many others.  Exploring the Republic Square, Abovyan Street, one of the oldest streets in Yerevan which used to be a part of the Great Silk Road, we walk down the Northern Avenue and arrive at the Freedom Square, the home of the Opera and Ballet Theatre (architect A. Tamanian). The design and layout of the building was awarded with Grand Prix in 1936 World Exhibition in Paris. A cultural showcase not to be missed is Matenadaran, one of the world’s largest and oldest repositories of Armenian, Greek, Persian manuscripts. Marvel at the illuminated pages of some of those manuscripts within their glass cases.   Tour of  "Goom" bazaar of Yerevan, a real museum of food with pyramids of fresh and dried fruits stuffed with different kinds of nuts, honey, cinnamon and other spices, colorful strings of "sweet sujukh", orange beads of dried peaches(“alani”) stuffed with walnuts, piles of "lavash" traditional Armenian bread, many kinds of cheeses some of them aged in clay pots, pickles, beans and other organic products offered by local farmers. Overnight in Yerevan Tour duration: 6/7 hours Meal plan (B-)

We drive to Garni Fortress, the royal summer residence of the Armenian kings and visit Garni Temple of the Sun, the only standing Hellenistic temple in the Caucasus and the former USSR. It resembles Parthenon in Greece but its dimensions are smaller as it was built only for the Armenian royal family to worship the Sun God. We continue to Geghard Monastery (UNESCO), the most beautiful rock-cut medieval monastery in the world with its fascinating natural setting and decorative art carved inside the solid rock.  It is the only place in Armenia where you can see a large number of the Armenian exquisite lace-type cross-stones carved on the rocks. Master class of traditional Armenian bread “lavash” being baked in tonir (underground oven). The preparation, meaning and appearance of traditional bread as an expression of culture in Armenia has been inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage on Humanity. After a hearty lunch we will explore the most surreal site in Armenia, the stunning Garni Gorge where you can marvel at basalt rock formations - columns looking like honeycombs or pencils. The site stretches for a kilometer along the river... Meal plan (B-) Tour duration: 6/7 hours Driving distance: 90 KM Overnight in Yerevan