Starting a new topic...

At the end of our visit to Georgia, we did a short stay in Armenia.

Tuesday: Tblisi - Alawerdi - Diliwan
We took a Marschrutka from Tblisi to Yerewan and got off at Alawerdi. The bridge is in walking distance. The other two sites require a cab (very cheap). We first stopped at Achtala (great frescos!!!) and then did Haghpat where two of our tires broke. We also saw the bridge (nice) but skipped on Sanahin as the weather turned bad and we were a bit stressed out due to the tires and waiting for the car.

Alawerdi is pretty simple and we couldn't find a nice hotel, so we continued to Diliwan (15k for the driver). The whole valley with former soviet factories is great and there are more nice churches to explore. Personally, I found the Debed valley to be the best place in Armenia.

Wednesday: Diliwan - Yerevan
We stopped in Sewanawank on the way. Very scenic. And then explored Yerewan in the afternoon including Etschmiadsin. Etschmiadsin was nice to see as it functions as religious centre (large compound!) for the Armenia Orthodox church. Unfortunately, the main church is under renovation.

Thursday: Yerevan
We took a cab to Garni and Geghard in the morning and spent the rest of the day in Yerevan.

Friday: Yerevan
We had skipped Zvartnots and Saint Hripsime Church, so we did those. Generally, we could have done a longer excursion that day.

Saturday: Yerevan - Home
Very early flight. We simply got a cab at 3:00 in the morngin.

Getting around:
Cabs are really cheap. You can install the GG app and just keep the meter running, so no need to get a driver.

Yerewan:
* Not a huge fan of Yerewan. It's more pricey than Tblisi and less nice.
* The Armenian Genocide Museum is ... a bit challenging. It clearly has an agenda and is not a neutral presentation.

WHS:
Nothing really great. As such, I would not recommend planning a trip with Armenia as its focus, at least when travelling for WHS.
* To me the Debed valley was best. The WHS should be extended to cover the key churches here.
* Geghard has nice masonry but that's it.
* Zvartnots is nice for the ruin and Etschmiadsin for its function, but not great either.
Note: I guess the greatest sites (Ani, Mount Ararat) are on the Turkish side of the border.

Gaps:
Unlike nearby Georgia, I didn't spot anything to be missing. It's definitively not more Armenian churches, though.

I'm in a bit of a doubt on how to fill 6 full days plus a few more hours on departure day from Yerevan. I don't think I want to travel around but rather do possibly 3, maybe 4 day trips and otherwise stay in Yerevan and relax a bit. Of course I want to include WHSs, but I don't need to visit every church or monastery. As a geologist I'm really interested in great landscapes, and I guess the huge columnar basalts are a must. The lake.. to be honest, currently not convinced: it's a body of water that is hiding the interesting things below the surface. Not interested in food or alcohol experiences. Oh yes, traveling early November. Any suggestions on how to fill the time there?

<moved Rodinia's post here, see above (ES)>

November would suck for Lake Serevan anyway. I would still recommend going up to the north and see the monasteries there and possibly drive along the lake side. Rental cars were cheap but you can also get drivers easily with Yandex. Yerevan has lots of places to eat and relax though so you'll find enough to do if you are feeling lazy :)

Not possible on a western phone. Use Bolt instead.


* At least the Northern loop, I would do with an overnight. Yerewan isn't that great a place anyhow. And overpriced. Best part for me was Debed Valley. If you can find a to you acceptable place (hotels are very simple) in Alawerdi, I would do that and explore the canyon and the churches.
* The Southeastern loop could be a bit much on a day trip. It looks pretty nice, even though it's yet another monastery.
* Simply getting a driver is cheaper than joining Western priced tours, btw.
* Last but not least, Tbilissi is way more lively and can be done as one overnight.


A lake is a lake, even in November. Would still go there, especially if heading to Diliwan.

Birdlife tends to disagree with you there.

Thanks guys. I've been to Georgia during another trip, thus that's a nope. I'm still undecided and curse my impulsive booking when Wizzair offered flights to Armenia ;)

I'm not particularly fit at the moment due to a not fully healed accident, thus driving might be an issue. As is sleeping in very basic hotels, which makes the decision on what to do a bit difficult. Drivers are really cheaper than a tour, even for a single traveler? Seeing that day tours are not really more expensive than 20 Euro I do wonder. Not really a tour person, but on the other hand, having a driver can be a bit awkward for me. Phew, more to consider.

At 20 USD tours are well priced. But at least for in and around Yerewan that still doesnt make that much sense. Online you find a lot more expensive tours.

Again, I would someone else drive. It's really cheap if you negotiate. Apart from Yerewan, Armenia felt pretty basic. There are some modern hotels in Diliwan, but... it's still a rural corner.

Anyhow, squeeze in the Debed valley and you are good.

Not sure what you mean here.
Obviously, as it is a museum of the Armenian genocide, it is going to be sympathetic to the victims and critical of the perpetrators and third parties who did little to help.
What particular about the way they presented it was problematic?

An additional issue is that I found that the level of English amongst the taxi drivers is very low, and as when I travelled there I did not get a local SIM, I couldnt even use google translate. I hired taxis off the street and tried to agree everything whilst I was still in range of my apartments wifi. Not always practical!

I used two tour companies when I was there and found them excellent, with very small groups. Not sure what the etiquette is in recommending commercial outfits here, as i am a newbie, but I would like to recommend them. Perhaps someone can clarify if thats allowed?

Armenia isn't the easiest of countries if you have mobility difficulties. When I visited, I was with my uncle, who was using a walking stick.

Some advice I would have, based on my experience, is to download an app where you can hire a taxi. I had the "gg" app. When I was there, in 2019, it had a facility where you could order a taxi on the app, and pay in cash for the taxi arrived. This was useful as I didnt like the idea of entering my credit card details on the app.

If you are staying in Yerevan, I suggest get a taxi if you wish to visit the Genocide museum (it is not very accessible on foot or by public transport). Then, when you want to return, you can use the Wi-Fi in the museum to summon a taxi via the app.

When we visited the site of Erebuni (where Yerevan began, in the first millennium BC) we discovered that the museum was at the bottom of the hill, and that the remains of the site were on top of the hill. There is a pathway up, but that wasn't practical for us. The staff suggested that we hire a taxi to bring us up the hill (on kind of a service or access road) and pay to have it wait until we wanted to come back down. I had hailed a taxi outside our accommodation to get us to Erebuni but there was no Wi-Fi at this museum to use the taxi app. The staff at the museum kindly phoned for a taxi, and translated as we made a deal with the taxi driver to wait for us at the top.

You can name them if they are genuine recommendations, not if you are personally affiliated with them.

If you go to e.g., Auschwitz Musuem, there is very little creation of a narrative. They simply show you the gruesome exhibits and they speak for themselves. The Armenian Genocide is not that type of museum. It's short on exhibits and heavy on long text panels. Indeed, after my visit I felt, I could have read a book and would have come out with roughly the same experience.

In addition, the panels are not historically accurate. One of the very first panels states that Armenians were discriminated by the Ottoman Empire because of the tax that the Ottomans/Turks levied on them. This is misleading, as the Jizya is an Islamic tradition, not a Turkish one and it predates the Ottoman empire by 800 years. And there were more types of this misleading representations that lessened the impact the museum had on me significantly.

Last but not least, there is no serious discussion of Western Arminia and what that would have entailed. Not all places in what is described as Western Armenia were majority Armenias. Trabzon was not Armenian.

Getting a SIM was not an issue and makes sense even for 6 days.

Okay, Thanks.

The two companies I used were Hyur Service - https://hyurservice.com/en and Yerani Travel - https://yeranitravel.com/

They would not necessarily be the cheapest, but I felt they gave good service. The have a lot of one-day tours, so you can play mix and match as to where you go