Top 6 Day Trips from Yerevan That You’ll Love!
Yerevan is the perfect base for exploring Armenia. In a couple of hours, you can get out of the city to reach waterfalls, UNESCO monasteries, sparkling lakes, and fascinating historic sights. And it’s pretty straight-forward.
Yes, public transport can be a bit limited in Armenia, but some of these spots are easy to reach by marshrutka or train, and we have a fun and local recommendation to reach the others! Many people just visit Yerevan and stay for a couple of days in the city, but if you have the time, absolutely explore Armenia outside of the bustling capital on these day trip suggestions. There’s some really special and unique day trips from Yerevan that are worth the extra time to get there.
And if you have even more time, head down south to explore Armenia’s least visited regions for some really off-the-beaten-path and beautiful sights; but that’s for another blog post!
After having spent nine weeks travelling all over Armenia, these are our to recommendations for day trips from Yerevan.
Disclaimer: This blog post may contain affiliate links, which means that if you click and purchase through a link, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. And if you do choose to do this, THANK YOU so much for supporting us! It means that we can continue to create content for you guys. Full disclaimer here.
1. Garni, Geghard & Symphony of Stones
Our favourite day trip from Yerevan! Garni Temple, Geghard Monastery, and the Symphony of Stones: A Greco-Roman temple, a UNESCO-recognised monastery, and a unique rock formation all set in a beautiful canyon.
Garni Temple is a Pagan temple that predates Armenia’s Christianity (which means it’s been around since before the 4th century!). It has survived several occupations and at least one earthquake, but has been put back together. The temple is perched on the edge of a canyon which means it has really beautiful views all around.
A little further up the canyon is Geghard Monastery which is arguably one of Armenia’s most impressive! This UNESCO monastery dates back to the 4th century and is SO atmospheric with its original artwork and khachkars.
Top off the day with a short stop off at the Symphony of Stones, a unique and interesting rock formation kind of similar to the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. Hexagonal tubes of rock make up the hillside, and you can stand right underneath it!
This is kind of doable as an independent day trip from Yerevan if you’re up for a little adventure. Otherwise, you’ll definitely be able to arrange a day tour or (our favourite way) arrange yourself a private driver through GoTrip.
2. Armenia’s Religious Centre: Vagharshapat
The heart of the Armenian Apostolic Church is right here in Vagharshapat (AKA Echmiadzin). This small town has several UNESCO-registered churches dating back to the beginning of Christianity in the country (including the world’s oldest cathedral!), and you can see them all together in one day trip from Yerevan.
Get yourself to Kilikia bus station and jump on the next bus to Vagharshapat; it’ll only take half an hour and they leave pretty regularly. The world’s oldest cathedral is right here.
On the way to Vagharshapat, just outside of the centre are the ruins of Zvartnots Cathedral. We missed this one, but from the photos I’ve seen online its arguably the most dramatic with Mount Ararat towering above it in the background.
You could cover all of the major churches in a half-day trip from Yerevan.
3. Sevan & Dilijan & Haghartsin
You don’t need long at Sevan but it is beautiful! The largest lake in the Caucasus is surrounded by mountains, which will be topped with snow if you hit it in winter/early spring. The water is really blue and kind of sparkles. There is also a peninsula where you can get some lovely views over the lake, and it has a small church (Sevanavank) with ancient khachkars.
If you’re looking for somewhere for lunch nearby, head over to Assorti for Armenia’s best loligov dzvadzekh (tomato scrambled eggs) or Bohem Studio Teahouse for some cheesy mushrooms and tabbouleh!
Dilijan is known for its hikes and this short hike is perfect and has some really interesting stops along the way. It’s pretty un-strenuous but it brings you through some beautiful forest areas and past two fascinating medieval monasteries that feel like they’ve been taken over by the forest!
And if you’ve got time for one more stop, go to see Haghartsin Monastery just a fifteen-minute drive outside of Dilijan. Believed to date back to the tenth century, this historic monastery is tucked up in the forest and is a beautiful sight to see.
Public transport is really limited and so I’d again recommend our favourite a GoTrip driver, or hiring a car to get here.
Savvy Traveller Pro Tips 🇦🇲
After exploring Armenia for nine weeks, these are our favourite booking tools that we couldn’t travel without!
4. Noravank & Areni & Khor Virap
Noravank Monastery is on the tentative UNESCO list and is a pretty special sight to see. Just driving through what seems like a dusty red rock canyon is exciting enough in itself! The monastery itself is perched on the side of a rockface within the canyon and it has some really interesting and unique features!
Make sure you check out the façade with the ancient staircase that forms a triangle, but PLEASE do not climb the stairs! There were signs everywhere asking people not to climb them, but way too many entitled tourists were ignoring them just to get a quick photo.
Back through the canyon, you’ll end up at Areni-1, also known as the world’s oldest winery! We definitely recommend paying for a tour guide so that you can understand the history of the winery and all the finds that make it the world’s oldest.
Areni, not so surprisingly, is known for its wine and its vineyards, so make sure you go for a wine tasting before you leave the town! We took a tasting at Areni Wine Factory and got an amazing deal of 10 different wines plus a little cheese and bread for 1000 AMD when we visited back in 2023 – yeah, that’s £2! You’ll find regular wines like white, red and rose, and then some more interesting wines like pomegranate, peach, and blackberry.
On your way back to Yerevan, stop off at arguably the most famous monastery of Armenia (and one that we have still not managed to visit even though we’ve been to Armenia three times now!), Khor Virap. On a good day, you can get outrageous views of the beautiful ancient monastery with a stunning snow-capped Mount Ararat backdrop.
Again, this is best done through GoTrip, hiring a car, or organised trip through somewhere like Get Your Guide.
5. Tatev Monastery
Now, this is a hell of a journey. You’ll be driving the majority of the day but if you only have time for a day trip from Yerevan instead of travelling down south for longer, this is an option. Tatev Monastery dates back to the ninth century and is currently on the UNESCO tentative list. It sits on the edge of a canyon overlooking some of the country’s most breath-taking scenery, and the drive to get here is part of the fun; it is beautifully scenic!
If you fancy adding a little extra adventure to your Tatev trip, get your GoTrip driver to drop and wait for you at the Wings of Tatev so that you can ride the world’s longest reversible ropeway across the canyon to take you to Tatev Monastery.
Bear in mind that the Wings of Tatev do not run on Mondays, but you could still drive directly to the monastery.
Yerevan to the Wings of Tatev is a good four-hour drive to make the 240km journey, so this will be a long old day!
6. Gyumri
Another long journey, but if you plan your day trip on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, you can jump on the express train. The express train will get you to Gyumri in the north of Armenia in two and half hours from Yerevan.
You can explore the main cathedral and the square, as well as the local tuff orange and black heritage architecture. Wander up to the Black Fort and Mother Armenia for views over the city. And definitely don’t miss a meal at Gwoog – our favourite restaurant in the whole of Armenia! A small, local, homely place serving up north Armenian classics such a panrkhash and tatar boraki, dishes that we didn’t find in any other restaurants around the country.
Other Things to Do Within Yerevan
You can easily fill a couple of days just exploring Yerevan, and you definitely should because it’s a fascinating city, but make sure you also stay a little longer to see more of what Armenia has to offer.
Climb to the top of the famous Cascade for views over the city with mighty Mount Ararat in the background. Learn about the Armenian Genocide at Tsitsernakaberd. Shop for retro souvenirs at Vernissage and tasty local snacks at GUM market. Check out the Armenian restaurant and wine bar scene, local coffee, and brandy!
Yerevan makes a perfect base to explore the north of the country because it is so central, and within a few hours, you can reach many of the country’s top sights. And if you prep yourself for a really long day, you can get down south to Tatev Monastery as well!
Plan more of your trip with these:
- Travel Tips for Armenia: 11 Actually Useful Things to Know
- The Tbilisi to Yerevan Train: Everything You Need to Know
- How to Get Around Armenia: The Complete Transport Guide
- 24 Fascinating Things to Do in Yerevan: the Complete Guide
- Garni and Geghard: the Best Day Trip from Yerevan
- Easy Day Trip from Yerevan: Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin)
- How to Get to Tatev Monastery, Armenia
Found this post helpful?
We’d really appreciate your support by buying us a coffee. It’ll help us to keep creating free food & travel guides for your next adventure.
It would make our day! And we really do love a good coffee 😉
