The Legends Route

Six days, five nights, and the difficulty rating of 3 out of 5 describes the average rather than the week. Four of the six days run entirely on a firm surface — trunk road, mountain road, made-up approach. Two carry that figure on their own: on day two a gravel and dirt track that climbs onto a ridge in Vayots Dzor, on day four a highland track that rises to 3,300 metres in Syunik. Judge the route by the number on the fact card and you will underrate those two days and overrate the other four.

The opening stays within reach of Yerevan, some 990 metres up. Twenty-eight kilometres east, sealed the whole way, and you park on the rock terrace above the Azat gorge, where Garni Temple & Fortress sit at about 1,400 metres. Ten kilometres further the road works up the valley, narrows, and at the end the gorge closes into a bowl of vertical basalt: that is where Geghard Monastery stands at roughly 1,800 metres. Off-road factor 1 at both places, parking right by the entrance; the effort only starts where you continue on foot. Come evening you are back in Yerevan.

Day two is where the terrain begins. The M2 runs 123 kilometres south-east to Yeghegnadzor at 1,194 metres, then the road turns off into the Yeghegis valley, a shade under fourteen kilometres to Artabuynk. Out of the village a gravel-and-dirt track works its way up onto the ridge, steep and full of bends: firm gravel in places, loose scree in others, deeply scoured ruts once it has been wet. Low range and ground clearance are not a reserve here but a condition; off-road factor 4 of 5. On top, at around 2,000 metres, Smbataberd Fortress sits on a spur of the Vardenis range, guarded by sheer drops on three sides. The last stretch into the walls goes along the crest on foot.

Day three is a transfer: eighty-six kilometres of M2 up onto the volcanic tableland, with the crest at 2,344 metres on the provincial line — sealed, steep, and not dependably open under heavy snowfall. Sisian, 217 kilometres out from Yerevan, lies at 1,600 metres; four kilometres of made-up road lead out to the pierced blocks of Zorats Karer at 1,770 metres. Day four then belongs to the track: seventeen kilometres from the village of Ishkhanasar, some 1,400 metres of climb in one go into the caldera that holds the Ughtasar Petroglyphs at 3,300 metres. The window for it is tighter than the season: the approach is clear between mid-July and the end of August, and after that only with luck. Book in June or October and that day gets a different off-road stage around Sisian — what lies up there is decided by the snow.

Day five is the full one: 139 kilometres, all of it firm, and three quite different roads all the same. Thirty-eight down to Goris at roughly 1,385 metres, fifteen out to the lip of the tuff canyon above Old Khndzoresk, 1,580 metres up — that is where driving stops, and stairs and suspension bridge are a job for your legs. Then the mountain road towards Tatev Monastery, also at 1,580 metres; the gorge itself is crossed by the cableway out of Halidzor over 5.7 kilometres, and the ticket is among the listed services. Last the road falls in hairpins to 1,020 metres and Satani Kamurj, where the spring water leaves the rock at around 25 degrees. Day six is 254 kilometres of road back. The roof over your head depends on the comfort class and not on the place: in Expedition a guesthouse, in Signature a hotel with a spa, in Frontier the wild camp. The vehicles travel in convoy, eight guests at most; on days two and four the lead guide runs in front if you are driving yourself.