DAY-BY-DAY EXPERIENCES
Day 1 – Arrive to Tbilisi airport
Meeting at the airport in Tbilisi. Transfer to the hotel. Check in.
At 18:00 or 18:30 we will start night Tbilisi walking tour. We will explore the Old Town of Tbilisi after dark. Follow your local guide to see top landmarks including Metekhi Church and the Narikala fortress. Visit the observation deck at Mtatsminda to see Tbilisi lit up at night.
Note: If the flight will delay or guests will get tired, we will conduct night tour next day.
Overnight in the hotel in Tbilisi.
Day 2 – Mtskheta and Tbilisi city tour
Breakfast in the hotel. After breakfast we will be departure to excursion Mtskheta and Uplistsikhe – this is an unusual tour, which will bring you a lot of pleasure. The ancient capital of Georgia keeps many interesting secrets.
- First stop will be Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is the heart of Mtskheta. It was built in the 11th century on the site of the first Christian church in the state, the church of St. Cidonia, built from wood in the 4th century. The founder of Tbilisi, Vakhtang Gorgasali, the ruler of Kakheti Irakli the First, the dynasty of Bagrationi – Georgian kings are buried in the cathedral, in front of the chancel.
- Next stop will be Jvari Monastery is the friary, stands on Mount Armazi near the old Georgian capital of Mtskheta. The Rivers Aragvi and Kura, indeed, are rustling, merging with green streams under the mountain. According to the legend, the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Nino, walking through Georgia with a preaching, put a cross here and a small church was built on the site of the cross in 545.
Then we will continue the way to Gori.
- The Museum of Stalin is a house museum-telling visitors about the life of the “father of the nations”.
- Uplistsikhe – one of the rarest monuments in the world – the oldest city-fortress. Cave city with a long history and many underground tunnels.
Arrival in Tbilisi. Overnight in the hotel in Tbilisi.
Day 3 – Guided tour to Ananuri and Gergeti
Breakfast in the hotel. Place to visit today:
- The fortress Ananuri is on the bank of Zhinvali Dam was stage of numerous battles, the main supporting point of fearsome Aragvi Eristav’s who guarded the way to an ancient capital of Dusheti.
- Zhinvali Dam is the most beautiful place of Georgia. Turquoise mirror of water reservoir, which sprawled between the mountain peaks, is unusually picturesquely in any time of the year. The ancient Georgian Military Road passes along the Zhinvali dam shore. The road had been named since the time of Russian Empire.
- Gudauri is the most famous Georgian ski resort on the southern slope of the Great Caucasian ridge. The young Gudauri resort rapidly develops offering new slopes, entertainment and hotels to its guests.
- Trinity Church is the most wonderful sightseeing and sanctity of Georgia was founded in the 14th century, is at 2170m above the sea level. Church is visible from any point of Stepantsminda.
- Breathtaking Georgian Military road passes through Cross Pass will not leave anyone indifferent. The Cross Pass was named due the fact that in 1824 the place of intersection of Caucasian ridge and Georgian Military road was marked with the stone cross.
- The Arch of Diversity Russia and Georgia is with the viewing platform, was created in 1983 and is dedicated to the two hundredth anniversary of the St. George’s treatise. The platform is fenced with a giant mosaic panel, which depicts significant events of Georgian history.
Arrival in Tbilisi. Overnight in the hotel in Tbilisi.
Day 4 – Guided tour to Sighnaghi and Bodbe
Breakfast in the hotel. Departure to excursion in Sighnaghi and Bodbe. Kakheti is not only wine region of Georgia. Kakheti is also famous with main city Sighnaghi – city of love, city of a fairytale in surroundings of Alazani valley and Caucasus Mountains.
Places to visit:
- Sighnaghi fortress is the one of the largest castles of Georgia, surrounded by fortress walls and 28 watchtowers overlooking the Alazani valley. Fortress reigned over Sighnaghi and linked up with the Great Wall of China.
- St. Nino relics are rest in the Orthodox monastery of Bodbe.
- Wine tasting in Kindzmarauli Corporation, Winery khareba or Tsinandali Palace. (one winery by guest choice is including in the price)
Arrival in Tbilisi. Overnight in the hotel in Tbilisi.
Day 5 – Guided tour to Sevan and Goshavank
Breakfast in the hotel. At 8 am departure to Georgian-Armenian border, At 10 am meeting at Georgian border.
- We will also visit Goshavank – monastery complex, built in XII-XIII centuries in the village of Gosh in Armenia. Goshavank is the cultural, educational and religious center of medieval Armenia. The sources referred to it as a seminary, university, and so on.
- The next stop will be Haghartsin Monastery, which was built in the X-XIII centuries, mostly under the auspices of the Bagratuni Dynasty.
- The next stop will be blue Sevan. Lake Sevan is a freshwater lake in the Armenian highlands. It is the largest lake in the Caucasus. It is guaranteed to be the largest source of fresh water in the region. We will also visit the Sevanavank – a monastery in the north-west coast of Lake Sevan. The monastery is located on a peninsula, which was once a small island.
Overnight in the hotel in Sevan lake.
Day 6 – Day trip to Noratus and Dadivank
Breakfast in the hotel. Today we will visit:
- The village of Noratus is situated near the legendary lake of Sevan. Here is the world’s biggest khachkars collection, as well as the oldest Armenian cemetery covering an area of 7 hectares. Noratus ‘amount of khachkars reaches nearly 1,000 copies from the 13th-17th centuries. Each of them has their own distinctive design made of ornamental or life scenes. “Khachkar” implies “cross stone” in Armenian translation. It is a monument with complicated sculpted patterns, clusters of grapes, solar disk and a cross. Noratus ‘oldest khachkar was built in the 5th century.
- Then we will go to the Dadivank or Khutavank monastery (IX-XIII century), which is located half of kilometer to the north from the Tartar River. The first name connected with name of saint Dali, which was preached Christianity in western Armenia and was a discipline of the apostle Thaddeus – one of the seventy Christ’s disciples. Monastery was built over his grave, according to tradition. The second name comes from armenian Khut (khut mean hill) and vank (monastery): “monastery on hill”. Dadivank was built in incredible beautiful place and placed in surrounding landscape.
- The next stop will be Gandzasar monastery XIII century. Curent monastery of Armenian Apostolic Church is located on the left bank of the river “Khachen”, which is near Vank vilage in Nagorno-Karabakh. Local people named this place Gandzasar, because there were silver mines. (Armenian Gandz means treasure, sar means mountain).
Overnight in the hotel in Stepanakert.
Day 7 – Day trip to Tigranakert and Shushi
Breakfast in the hotel. Today we will visit:
- We continue our journey visiting old city named Tigranakert, which is located in province of Nagorno-Karabagh. Tigranakert one of four old armenian towns, which were founded by Tigran II on I century BC and took his name. The ruins of Tigranakert were discovered in 2005 in lowlands of Karabakh to the north-west of Askeran. This amazing ancient city preserved stone sculptures, churches and other buildings which were carved in the rock. During the meeting of the government of Artsakh it was decided to declare Tigranakert as national park.
- The next stop will be ancient fortress town named Shushi, which were cultural center of one of the 15 provinces of historical Armenia during the last thousands of years. In the 19th century medieval Shushi was the largest cultural and educational center of the South Caucasus. The city had school, printing house, theatre, issued about 20 periodicals etc. Shushi is motherland of many unical attractions, like canyon Unot, Ghazanchetsots Cathedral (19 century), Kanach Zham church (Green church), and ‘’Tank’’ memorial.
Overnight in the hotel in Stepanakert.
Day 8 – Day trip to Khndzoresk and Tatev
Breakfast in the hotel. Today we will visit:
Afterwards we visit a village in the eastern part of the Syunik region of Armenia – Khndzoresk. The main attraction of the city is the “cave city”. Here people lived in the caves until 1958. In 2012 there was built “Hanging Bridge” over the gorge that connects the two banks of the old village Khndzoresk. The height of the bridge is 60 meters and its length is 100 metres.
The day begins with a visit the journey to the Tatev monastery (IX-XIII centuries), which is located on the edge of a gigantic canyon. Tatev was one of the most famous spiritual and educational centers of the Middle Ages. The complex can be called one of the most noteworthy places on earth. The ropeway “Wings of Tatev” (the longest ropeway in the world – 5752 m, ranked in the Guinness Book of Records) will carry us over the beautiful Vorotan gorge directly to Tatev monastery.
Overnight in the hotel in Goris.
Day 9 – Trip to Karahunj, Noravank and Areni
Breakfast in the hotel. Today we will visit:
- Then we visit the prehistoric complex Karahunj (Zorats Karer), located at an altitude of 1770m, which is also called “Armenian Stonehenge”. The complex consists of lots of large standing stones, some of which have circular openings in thier upper part. Karahunj is considered to be one of the oldest observatories in the world.
- Afterwards we go Noravank monastery complex, built in XIII-XIV centuries, which is located 1.5 kilometers east to the village of Areni. The complex is located on a narrow ledge winding gorge tributary of the Arpa River. The gorge is famous for its steep red cliffs, towering behind the monastery.
- Then we continue our way to the village of Areni in Vayots Dzor region of Armenia. We visit the “Cave of the birds”, where the oldest winery in the world and the world’s oldest shoe, which was more than 5500 years old, were found. Village of Areni is famous for its wines till now. Every year in October the annual festival of wines takes place there.
- After we will visit “Areni” wine factory and taste Armenian wine in the tasting room of the factory. The wines of this producer differ in their unique tastes. The bouquet of the fragrance is revealed gradually leaving a pleasant aftertaste.The next stop will be monastery of Khor Virap, situated at the foot of Mount Ararat, near the border with Turkey. It is a place of pilgrimage, which is connected with the legend of Grigor Lusavorich (Grigor the Illuminator). According to church tradition, Gregory was imprisoned on the orders of King Trdat III, caught in that he professes Christianity, and was held there for 13 years. Those interested can go down to the prison, which has a depth of 6 m and a diameter of 4.4 m. Right in front of you, very, very close and in all its beauty you will see the symbol of Armenia – Mount Ararat.
Overnight in the hotel in Yerevan.
Day 10 – Guided trip to Geghard and Garni
Breakfast in the hotel. Today we will visit:
After breakfast, we visit the pagan temple of Garni, built in the I century by Armenian king Trdat I and dedicated to the god of sun Mihr. According to history, the temple was built on the money of the Roman Emperor Nero. Azat River gorge is famous for its basaltic pillars – the result of a volcanic lava flow.
Next stop is Geghard monastery complex (IV century), which is included in the list of World Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO. Its full name is Geghardavank, literally it is translated as “Monastery of the spear”. The name of the monastery complex comes from Christ Spear (Spear of Longinus), which the Roman soldier Longinus thrust in Jesus Christ. The spear is now kept in the treasury of Echmiadzin Cathedral.
Back to Yerevan.
- After we visit the Institute of Ancient Manuscripts – Matenadaran named after St. Mesrop Mashtots. The most ancient manuscripts are dated back to the 5th century AD and are associated with Mesrop Mashtots, who invented the Armenian alphabet.
- Walking tour through the city. Yerevan architecture is original and distinctive. Today, Yerevan is a city where there is a variety of architectural styles, with green alleys, numerous fountains. You will be able to see the sights in Yerevan: Grand Cascade (open-air museum), the square of France, the Opera and Ballet House, Northern Avenue, the Republic Square.
Overnight in the hotel in Yerevan.
Day 11 – Departure from Yerevan airport
Breakfast in the hotel. Check out. Trip to the airport
Happy flight and soft landing! We will be glad to see you again!
