Armenia-Georgia

Welcome to Armenia!!! Our tour leader will greet you at the airport and help you with all the ground handling services. After a welcome briefing meeting with the tour leader, you will check in to your hotel in Yerevan.    

City tour: Time to explore the Armenian capital, the pink city, located at the shadow of the biblical Mount Ararat, which is one of the oldest capitals in the world: we’ll explore Republic Square, Cascade, Opera House, North Avenue and beautiful parks of Yerevan. Have a nice stroll in the heart of the city. From the impressive Cascade, which forms the heart of the city, you have a wonderful view of the whole capital and Biblical Mount Ararat.  

Visit ’’Megerian Carpet’’ Cultural Center with participation in traditional Armenian food preparation master class with one of the most demanded and famous chefs Mr. Sedrak Mamoulian and have your first encounter with genuine and authentic Armenian food during your welcome dinner.

After the dinner free time in Yerevan. Pass by the Republic Square to see the Singing and Dancing Fountains and take pictures with this amazing background. Evening Yerevan is another highlight that should be added to your bucket list. Cafes and bars are full of locals at night. Join them for glass of local Armenian wine. You’ll not regret!

Accommodation

• Overnight in Yerevan

Included Activities

• Yerevan city guided walking tour
• ‘’Megerian Carpet’’ Cultural Center
• Food Preparation Master Class

Meals Included

• Welcome Dinner at ‘’Megerian Carpet’’ Cultural Center

Important Notes

It’s important that you attend the welcome meeting, as we will be distributing details and next of kin information such as brochures with useful info about Yerevan and Armenia, maps, places to eat and things and activities to do around.

08: 00 – Breakfast at the hotel

09:00 – Starting the tour

The day starts with departure to the villages of Goght and Garni. Our first stop is at Geghard Monastery - an incredible medieval monastery, being partially carved out of the adjacent mountain, surrounded by cliffs. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site with enhanced protection status. Here you might have a chance to enjoy the performance of a fantastic choir in one of the chambers of the monastery with one of the greatest acoustics you ever saw. The choir will leave you with goose bumps and unforgettable emotions.

Barely recovered from the musical and cultural strong impressions, we take you to Symphony of Stones (half of the road to the Symphony of Stones is hiking) where you can listen to the silent music of stones, that the virtuoso nature has created himself.

Garni gorge is one of the most exceptional places for tourists to visit and to see amazing natural rocks known as the “Symphony of Stones” or “Basalt organ”. The rocks have a shape of long hexagonal vertical columns, which are associated with the church organ. Huge stone pillars are located at an altitude of about 50 meters above the ground. It’s hard to believe that neatly and symmetrically sculpted stones are created by nature itself and not by human.

We continue towards Garni Temple - the only standing Greco-Roman colonnaded Pagan temple in Armenia and the former Soviet Union. An Ionic pagan temple located in the village of Garni is the best-known structure and symbol of Pre-Christian Armenia. The structure was built in the 1st century AD as a temple to the God of Sun Mihr.

Lunch will be in a cozy Armenian restaurant with a panoramic view to Temple Garni. Here you will participate in a traditional Armenian lavash baking preparation master class․

After lunch we return back to Yerevan, where will have a guided tour to NOY Brandy-Wine-Vodka Factory - one of the best corners of Yerevan city to enjoy your time. The administrative building of the factory built in Shustov’s times, has turned into a museum where the information about Armenian brandy making and about the people who had a contribution to the development of the factory is kept. Here you may take a tour and get acquainted with the glorious past and present of Armenian brandy and wine making and spoil your taste buds by tasting Portwein 1944-year reserve, Cognac 5- and 10-years reserve. After the tour the rest of the tour is free.  
Duration – 8 hours

Accommodation

• Overnight in Yerevan

Included Activities

• Geghard Monastery
• Symphony of Stones
• Garni Pagan Temple
• Lavash Baking Master Class
• NOY Brandy-Wine-Vodka Factory

Meals Included 

• Breakfast at the hotel

09:00 – Breakfast at the hotel

10:00 – Starting the tour 

Program starts with visiting is Zvartnots Cathedral (literally “celestial angels cathedral”) is a 7th-century centrally planned aisled tetra conch type Armenian cathedral. Now in ruins, it is located at the edge of the city of Etchmiadzin, on the background of mesmerizing view to Byblical Mount Ararat. Zvartnots was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2000. 

Our next highlight is the spiritual and religious center of Armenia Etchmiadzin. The city is best known as the location of Etchmiadzin Holy Mother Cathedral, the center of the Armenian Apostolic Church. It is unofficially known in Western sources as a “Holy City” and in Armenia as the country's "Spiritual Capital". Along with several important early medieval churches located nearby (St. Gayane, St. Hripsime), Etchmiadzin Cathedral was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. The Holy Lance that pierced Jesus’s side (also known as the Spear of Destiny and Lance of Longinus) is kept in Etchmiadzin. 

Our next stop is Armenia Wine winery. We’ll have a nice lunch and wine tasting at the winery. Wine tasting is carried out in a professional tasting room.

In the territory of the winery there is also a Museum of the history of wine of Armenia. The museum presents the rich history of Armenian winemaking.

Then we’ll continue our way to the Armenian alphabet monument. The sculptural group is located right under the open sky and includes 39 elements that repeat the shape of the letters of the Armenian alphabet.

Back to Yerevan.

Duration – 8 hours

Accommodation

• Overnight in Yerevan

Included Activities

• Zvartnots Cathedral
• Etchmiadzin Holy Mother Cathedral
• Treasure Museum of Etchmiadzin
• Wine degustation at “Armenia wine” winery
• Wine history museum of Armenia
• Armenian alphabet monument

Meals Included

• Breakfast at the hotel

08:00 - Breakfast in the hotel

09:00 - Starting the tour

Today’s program starts with Lake Sevan. Not a single visit to Armenia is complete without visiting her majesty Lake Sevan - the highest freshwater mountain lake in Europe, and surrounded by the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Set 1900m above sea level, Sevan is the largest lake in the Caucasus, it's also one of the largest freshwater high-altitude lakes in the world. Its colors and shades change with the weather and by its own mysterious processes, from a dazzling azure to dark blue and a thousand shades in between.

On the Sevan Peninsula, we visit Sevanavank Monastic complex, which dates back to the 9th century. Almost no visit to Armenia is complete without visiting one of the highest mountainous lakes in the world. Get ready to tick off another bucket list location in Armenia.

06:00 AM / For the lovers of high sky, we offer in Sevan an amazing Paragliding adventure as an optional activity at extra cost. A must do when visiting Armenia, with Armenia`s leading experts in tandem paragliding flights. The team of highly qualified and professional pilots will make sure to give you the experience of a lifetime.

*** Paragliding is offered as an optional activity at extra cost. Depending on weather conditions, Paragliding may be cancelled if the weather is not suitable for flying on that specific day of the tour. Please wear warm/thermal clothes and sunglasses/goggles for paragliding. If you wish to do paragliding, the transfer from Yerevan to Sevan will be very early – 05:00am.

Our day continues to beautiful city of Dilijan that is sometimes referred to as the forest kingdom of Armenia. In this cozy town, you can find vivid examples of traditional wooden house architecture. The mountains and gorges are covered with rich forests changing to alpine meadows and dotted with small farms, hiking tracks, lakes and rivers. The mountainous landscape is highly diverse, with different terrains, climates, soils and water resources. Many natural and man-made features enrich the national park: monasteries, lakes, archeological sites, forests, rivers and farmland create an endlessly-changing environment.

Lunch in Dilijan at ‘’Toon Armeni’’ Restaurant.

Our next stop is Haghpat Monastery. The monastic complex is included in UNESCO World Heritage list. It represents the highest flowering of Armenian religious architecture of that era.  The functional role, location and stylistic characteristics were taken into consideration during the construction of the building that stands in perfect harmony with the picturesque landscape. 

We will reach Bagratashen checkpoint, from where the Georgian side will welcome you and the tour will continue in Georgia.

Duration – 9 hours

Included Activities

• Lake Sevan
• Sevanavank Monastic Complex
• Dilijan
• Haghpat Monastery

Meals Included

• Breakfast at the hotel

Continuation of Day 4: Welcome to Georgia

Our tour leader will greet you at the Checkpoint and help you with all the ground handling services.  Transfer to hotel. After a welcome briefing meeting with the tour leader, you will check in to your hotel.

Accommodation

• Overnight in Tbilisi

Discover Georgia's unique nature so close to you as never before! Unless you experience it yourself, it is hard to imagine a glass bridge over the new creature of nature – a canyon at the height of 240 meters, where you feel like losing your footing. Still, at this very moment, you understand that you are a part of these surroundings, and up in the sky, you get pleasure from the magnificent sights of nature.  Except for the Canyons and diamond bridge, you have an opportunity to try a bike in the sky. We will return to Tbilisi at around 6 o'clock. Please note: If you are going to hike 2km and see the waterfall, please wear comfortable shoes. If you are not going hiking, you can use two hours and visit the cranes' village.

Optional:

• Sky bike 50 USD per person

Swing 35 USD per person

Stop At: Kass Land, Tsalka Canyon, Dashbashi

Kass land Dashbashi canyon National park is on every traveler's bucket list.CNN traveler called it Georgia's most impressive natural monuments''.An extreme,exciting,and unforgettable moment that would arouse to stay imprinted in their memory,the Glass diamond bridge,bike zipline,horse riding,biking and much more.

Stop At: Dashbashi Canyon, Dashbashi Georgia

Dashbashi Canyon is part of Khrami gorge near Dashbashi village, 3 km from small town of Tsalka, in Tsalka Municipality, in Kvemo Kartli region of southeastern Georgia, 1,110-1,448 meters above sea level. The distance from Tsalka Canyon to the popular Algeti National Park is 42 km.

Accommodation

Overnight in Tbilisi on BB basis 

Duration – 8-9 hours

09:00 – Breakfast in the hotel and check out

10:00 - Starting the tour

Old Town Tbilisi

We will continue our tour to old part of Tbilisi where you will visit fallowing places: - Tbilisi sulphur pools - Bridge of Love - Waterfall - Meidan Bazar Tunnel - Gorgasali Monument - Mother of Georgia - Bridge of Peace - Tbilisi clock tower - Anchiskhati - Monument of Tamada - Shardeni Street. Will also drive through main streets and pass: - Freedom square - Rustaveli avenue - Hero square - Agmashenebeli Avenue - President House.

Sameba

Our first stop is Holy Trinity Cathedral, locally known as “Sameba.” The Cathedral construction was only completed in 2004, so it doesn’t offer the same history as most other Tbilisi churches. But the Holy Trinity Cathedral is impressive in different ways. It’s the third-largest Orthodox cathedral globally, with 97.5 meters only after the Saint Isaac´s Cathedral in Saint Petersburg and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.

Rezo Gabriadze clock

Then we will visit the famous Rezo Gabriadze clock.The clock tower was created by the renowned Georgian puppeteer Rezo Gabriadze. On the hour, a window opens at the top and an angel strikes the bell. Below the clock, a screen opens and shows the circle of life: boy meets girl, marriage, childbirth and funeral. The Clock Tower is a popular tourist attraction in the Old Town.

Tamada (toaster) is definitely a very good representation of Georgian traditions. Being a toaster in Georgia means being a very respected and important person at the table who is being in charge of “toasts”.

After tour Transfer to Tbilisi Airport