ArmeniaExpeditions
Off-road expeditions

A small country, an ancient world.

The world's first Christian nation, the birthplace of wine, a land of red gorges, cliff monasteries and volcanic highlands — and the heart of every journey we run.

Armenia is small enough to cross in a day, yet dense with wonder: rock-hewn monasteries, a 6,100-year-old winery, the enigmatic stones of Karahunj and the sacred silhouette of Ararat. Its southern province of Syunik is our off-road heartland.

01Three gateways

Cities worth your time

The Cascade in Yerevan at golden hour, with fountains and flower beds in the foreground and snow-capped Mount Ararat on the horizon.

Yerevan

The rose-tinted capital, one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities.

The town of Goris in a green valley basin, with jagged rocky peaks and a band of low cloud behind and red-roofed houses in the foreground.

Goris

Elegant stone town and gateway to the cave dwellings of Khndzoresk.

Dilijan’s restored old town with stone-and-timber houses, a wrought-iron sign and a cobbled lane, framed by autumn woodland.

Dilijan

Forested spa town, often called 'little Switzerland'.

The best of Armenia is on no postcard.

Syunik, Southern Armenia

02The full index

Every destination

Monasteries, gorges, geysers and legends — filtered by category and terrain.

57 places

Ararat plainMonastery

Khor Virap

Paved

Syunik, Southern ArmeniaMonastery

Tatev Monastery

Paved

Vayots DzorMonastery

Noravank Monastery

Paved UNESCO

Upper Azat valleyMonastery

Geghard Monastery

Gravel

Garni gorge, KotaykNature

Symphony of Stones

Gravel

near Goris, SyunikCave town

Old Khndzoresk

Off-road

Jermuk, Vayots DzorGeyser

Geysers of Jermuk

03Myths & tales

Legends & Myths

Weathered basalt relief of Vahagn the Dragon-Slayer, with flame-shaped hair and a coiling vishap dragon.

Vahagn

The Dragon-Slayer

Vahagn, called Vishabakah — the “dragon reaper” — was born of fire, so the legend goes: flames burst from sky, earth and the crimson sea, and from them rose a youth with hair of fire. As god of fire, thunder and war he set out to slay the dragons (vishaps) of the highland.

Weathered basalt relief of Hayk the archer, forefather of the Armenians, drawing a great bow.

Hayk

The Patriarch

Hayk the archer is held to be the forefather of the Armenians — who to this day call themselves “Hay” and their land “Hayastan”. He defied the Babylonian tyrant Bel and led his people back to the mountains around Ararat, where he felled his foe with a single arrow.

Weathered basalt relief of Ara the Beautiful, the dying-and-rising god, wreathed in sprouting vines and pomegranates.

Ara the Beautiful

The Dying God

So greatly did the Assyrian queen Semiramis desire the beautiful king Ara that she waged war on Armenia to win him alive. Yet Ara fell in battle. Scholars see in him a dying-and-rising god of fertility — the eternal promise that the land returns each spring.

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