Private Tour - Armenia

Individual arrival in Armenia and transfer to the hotel in the early morning. If you would like to use the transfers from the airport to the hotel included in your trip, please let us know your flight times. An early check-in has already been booked for you at the hotel so that you can rest straight away in your hotel room. Strengthen yourself with a hearty breakfast before setting off on your first journey of discovery through Erewan. Due to the color of the stones used for construction, it is also called the “Pink City”. Among other things, you will see the so-called “cascade”, a huge staircase complex with 572 steps that leads into the city center and the sculpture garden. You will visit the monumental Republic Square, stroll along Mashtots Street and take a look at the Blue Mosque, an oasis of peace in the middle of the city. In the Museum of Ancient Armenian Manuscripts Matenadaran, the central archive for old Armenian manuscripts, take a look at the collection of over 17,000 manuscripts, which includes outstanding examples of Armenian miniatures, among other things. The 989 Codex Etchmiadzin exhibited there has almost the rank of a national relic. At the end of the day, you will visit Zizernakaberd (“Swallow Fortress”). Up here is the memorial to the victims of the Armenian genocide of 1915, and the museum houses historical documents and pictures taken by eyewitnesses.

You will drive to the center of the Armenian Apostolic Church near Echmiadzin. The city, holy for Armenians, has among others three churches, which are considered important examples of early Armenian church architecture. The cathedral, is said to have been the first cross-domed church. You will also visit the nearby Hripsime Church, a masterpiece of early medieval Armenian architecture. On the way back to Yerevan, you will stop at the ruined site of Svartnoz Cathedral, a palace church built in the 7th century, and at the ruins of the medieval fortress of Amberd, one of the few witnesses of Armenian military architecture. It controlled the Ararat plain as part of a defense line. Back in Yerevan, you will stop at the brandy distillery "Ararat". You will take a tour of the factory's warehouses and, of course, will be able to taste three levels of maturity of the good drop. You will spend the night in your hotel in Yerevan.

Today, you will visit two unique masterpieces of Armenian architecture from the 10th to 14th centuries: the monasteries of Haghpat and Sanahin. The monastery complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Both are located on a plateau and are separated by the deep gorge of the Debed River. Haghpat was one of the largest religious, cultural educational centers in medieval Armenia. Along the way, you will visit a copper mine in the small mining town of Alaverdi. Alaverdi already covered 25 percent of copper requirements in tsarist Russia by 1900. In the late afternoon, you will reach the spa town of Dilijan in “Armenian Switzerland”. Check in at your hotel in Dilijan.