Romantic Road Trip: Monasteries, Wine & Spa

Four days, three nights, and the tempo is set not by altitude but by time at the wheel. It falls unevenly: just under three hours on the first day, a good hour on the second, four on the third, four and a quarter on the fourth. The two short days stay inside Vayots Dzor, where everything sits close together; the two long ones take you into Syunik and bring you back. Difficulty 2 of 5, one vehicle, two seats — nobody here is waiting on a second party, so when a morning starts is yours to settle.

The first two days run almost wholly on sealed road. From Yerevan at around 990 metres the trunk road heads 110 kilometres south-east to Areni; a kilometre further east the Areni-1 cave opens directly above the carriageway, at 1,010 metres. Twelve kilometres of spur lead to Noravank Monastery, laid into the Amaghu gorge between rock wall and stream bed and ending at roughly 1,591 metres. You sleep at Yeghegnadzor, 1,194 metres up. On the second morning the trunk road carries on to Vayk, 1,300 metres, where the H-42 turns off towards Jermuk; from it a short spur drops to the bank of the Arpa and to Gndevank Monastery at 1,750 metres, its surface alternating asphalt and packed gravel. After rain that gravel softens, and then ground clearance and four-wheel drive count.

Genuine terrain fills a single afternoon. From the edge of Jermuk — the town itself lies at 2,080 metres — a track pulls up onto the high plateau to the geysers, around 2,100 metres up: loose gravel, deep washouts, several drives through streams and through the river, which carry their highest levels once the snow has melted. The off-road factor here is 4 of 5, while the route as a whole is graded 2. Low range engaged, tyre pressure down, and the track runs out at the spring itself; from there only a short walk over open grass separates you from the warm water.

The third day reaches furthest. Twenty-four kilometres fall from Jermuk back to the trunk road, then fifty-seven kilometres run east and lift over the provincial boundary at 2,344 metres — sealed to the crest, and yet the point where a summer day can tip first. Past Sisian at 1,600 metres, another thirty-eight kilometres drop to Goris at roughly 1,385. From there the cableway crosses the Vorotan gorge in 5.7 kilometres and sets you down on the plateau of Tatev Monastery, 1,580 metres up and, on the way, as much as 320 metres above the river; if it stands still, the sealed mountain road reaches the monastery gate. The counterpart for a driver comes next: switchbacks, 560 metres of descent, down to Satani Kamurj — and the same carriageway back up.

The fourth day is the run home: 254 kilometres of trunk road, four and a quarter hours before any stops. Where you sleep follows the comfort class rather than the town — this route is built for the Signature class, so three evenings in a hotel with a spa; in the Expedition class it would be guesthouses, in the Frontier class a wild camp. A private driver comes with the class. If you would rather steer yourselves, you take the road stages and, after the briefing at the start, the track above Jermuk as well — the guide stays aboard and paces out the fords ahead of you. The driving season runs from June to October.