TUFF STONE TOWNS
MOUNTAIN CHURCHES
SOVIET MODERNISM
APRIL 22 ⇾ APRIL 30
OCTOBER 21 ⇾ OCTOBER 29
In addition to our regular group departures to Armenia, we also offer tailored services for private travel parties and lone wolves alike. Get in touch for more info on our customised Armenia Tours!
DAY 1 to DAY 2 • WELCOME TO ARMENIA
MeetMeet-and-greet at Yerevan International Airport, transfer to our hotel of choice in central Yerevan.
Breakfast-time introductory briefing about Armenia, its history, culture, and architecture with our local guide Suren and your tour leader Tjark Metzner, aka Travelproof Tjark.
For the next two days, we shall indulge in a thorough architectural jaunt around Yerevan, encompassing both early examples of Soviet constructivism and neoclassicism, alongside later modernist and brutalist masterpieces. Additionally, we shall explore a selection of pre-Soviet urban treasures, including the charming traditional district of Kond.
We'll also go truly off the beaten path visiting Gumi Shuka, a colourful USSR-style covered grocery market, the satellite town of Abovyan, and the hinterland district of Malatia Sebastia, aka Bangladesh.
Overnights in Yerevan.
Our guide will accompany you throughout your gallivanting in and around Yerevan and all across Armenia for the entire duration of the tour, enriching your days with essential knowledge, quirky stories, travel anecdotes, and cultural insights. In the evening you may then spend a few more hours together feasting on delicious Caucasian food while sipping local brews or a glass of classy Armenian cognac.
DAY 3 • Soviet SENTINELS
On our third day in Armenia we’ll undertake an excursion to the nearby Soviet-shaped town of Ashtarak, on the left bank of Kasagh River in the Aragatsotn Province.
In the proximity of Ashtarak, we’ll visit the dusty town of Lernamerdz, home to one of the last Lenin monuments still standing in the country and the hilltop hamlets Byurakan and Orgov, famous for their gloriously imposing Soviet-era astrophysical observatories.
Finally, before heading back for Yerevan, we’ll call at Artashavan to peruse a rather odd monumental complex depicting the Armenian Alphabet.
Overnight in Yerevan.
DAY 4 • NORTH BY NORTHWEST
Early morning start and transfer to Etchmiadzin, the spiritual capital of Armenia, home to a vast religious complex now included in the UNESCO World Heritage list.
En-route visits to the rusty USSR-era Ferris wheel in the satellite town of Zvartnos and the semi-abandoned Etchmiadzin Sport Compound.
Just outside Etchmiadzin, we’ll also have the chance to see traditional villages inhabited by the secretive Yazidis, a strictly endogamous ethnoreligious group sadly known for the persecutions they recently endured in Syria and Iraq.
Drawing a semi-circle along the barren and desolate western side of the Aragats Massif, we'll then head for the northern city of Gyumri, formerly known as Leninakan, with en-route stops in the Soviet towns of Metsamor, infamously known for its massive nuclear power plant, Armavir, home to the stately Sardarapat Memorial, and Maralik, former mining town harbouring a lively Soviet-era mshakuyti tun (House of Culture).
Overnight in Gyumri.
Bespoke Experiences
Full Soviet cultural immersion in an archetypical USSR-era mshakuyti tun (House of Culture), traditional Armenian dinner in an authentic farmers’ house, and afternoon tea with the Russian Molokans.
DAY 5 • STEAMPUNK CHARM
In the morning we’ll pay a mandatory visit to the mesmerising Iron Fountain in the outskirt of Gyumri and then set off for a journey across the green Armenian highlands, heading for the quintessentially Soviet mining town of Alaverdi, close to the border with neighbouring Georgia.
We'll break our trip to Alaverdi by visiting two architectonically interesting realities along the way: Spitak, a small-sized town completely rebuilt after the 1988 quake and home to a sadly abandoned Soviet Youth Camp, and Vanadzor (formerly Kirovakan), a city of industrial decay and neoclassic charm.
After a scenic drive along the Debed Canyon, we'll eventually arrive in Alaverdi, where we'll enjoy a tour around its steampunk downtown and a de rigueur ascent to the picturesque monastic complexes of Sanahin and Haghpat.
Near Sanahin we’ll also visit to the Soviet Air Force Museum dedicated to Artyom Mikoyan, a local aerospace engineer and one of the main designers of the legendary MiG.
Overnight in Alaverdi.
DAY 6 • RUSSIAN HERMITS
From Alaverdi we'll head south to Dilijan, a famous golden-era retreat for the Soviet intelligentsia, making a slightly time-consuming but extremely rewarding long detour via the remote Tavush province.
We’ll drive along a breathtaking panoramic road that runs along the tense border with Azerbaijan and crosses far-flung Soviet towns and isolated villages.
The array of precious jewels along the route will include the prototypically Soviet-Armenian towns of Noyemberyan and Ijevan as well as several idyllic villages-cum-monasteries such as Akhtala and Makaravank.
Once in Dilijan, we’ll pay our respects to the local WWII Memorial and and visit the little-known hamlet of Fioletevo, one of the last thriving Molokan communities in the Southern Caucasus.
The Molokans are a Russian Orthodox spiritual sect living in almost complete isolation from the rest of society, eschewing modern comforts and technologies: the Slavic version of the Amish communities in rural Pennsylvania.
Overnight in Dilijan.
DAY 7 • HOLIDAYS IN SOVIET SANATORIUMS
From Dilijan we'll then head for Lake Sevan, the Armenian answer to a missing ocean and the largest body of water in the Caucasus, a crystal clear freshwater alpine lake of extraordinary beauty and high economic, cultural, and historical significance.
We’ll spend the morning hours touring both the early modernist Writers’ House on the Sevanavank peninsula and the prototypically [post] socialist urban realities of Sevan and Gagarin, without neglecting to pay a visit to the two-church monastic complex of Surp Arakelots and Surp Astvatsatsin and the pantagruelic ruins of the Avangard Hotel.
We’ll then make a de rigueur diversion to the spa town of Jermuk, home to melancholic Soviet-era modernist sanatoriums perched on stone cliffs.
En route to Jermuk, besides the routine pauses for stunning landscape pictures, we'll first stop in Noratus for a remarkable collection of ancient khachkars (the quintessentially Armenian carved stone steles), then at serene lake-side monastery of Hayravank, and finally at an impressively well-preserved mountaintop Silk Road Caravanserai, offering breathtaking views over the ascending serpentine road.
Overnight in Jermuk.
DAY 8 • The Color of Pomegranates
We will leave Jermuk early in the morning and head back north towards the capital, crossing a landscape of sleepy towns, rolling fields, scant vineyards and bucolic orchards of apricots and pomegranates.
Highlights of our return journey to Yerevan we’ll include a visit to the winemaking village of Areni, where we’ll admire the marvellous church of Noravank while sipping local pomegranate booze, and Khor Virap, an ancient Armenian monastery-cum-Ararat-mountain-view located right next to the border with Turkey.
Overnight in Yerevan.
DAY 9 • FAREWELL TO THE MOUNTAINS
After enjoying a last Armenian meal together, we'll take care of your transfer to Yerevan International Airport.
Possible tour extensions to this itinerary include: Iraqi Kurdistan and/or Soviet Georgia.
End of the tour.
1690 €
INCLUSIONS
Double/twin-room accommodation (breakfast included), private transport in Armenia (car/minivan), all entrance fees, English-speaking guiding service, 24/7 on-site and remote assistance.
EXCLUSIONS
Single supplement, international flights, main meals (lunches and dinners), extra drinks, visa fees (if required), tips, travel insurance.