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ENRUفاDE
Meine ReiseTagesausflüge
Khor Virap on its hill in the lower right, low sun on its walls, with the snow-covered massif of Ararat filling the sky behindKhor Virap's walls and bell tower seen close, with Ararat rising behind

Tagesausflug

Text auf Englisch

Khor Virap, Noravank & the Areni wine road

Ararat across the plain, a monastery inside a red-rock canyon, then a table in the wine valley.

Diesen Tag anfragen

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Diesen Tag anfragen

Die Geschichte der Route

A day that starts with Ararat above you and keeps going down.

Ararat opens the day from the plain, close enough to fill the sky and on the far side of a border. From there everything goes down: a ladder into the pit at Khor Virap, a cave at the mouth of the gorge where one of the world’s earliest known wine-production sites was found, a red canyon with Noravank at the end of it. The day comes back up at a table in Areni, with wine from the valley you have just driven through.

Der Ablauf des Tages

The order follows the mountain, then the ground: Khor Virap first, where Ararat is the reason to stop; the cave at the mouth of the gorge; Noravank at the end of its canyon; and Areni last, when the day is ready to sit down.

  1. Yerevanthe city
  2. Khor VirapArarat, if clear
  3. Areni-1 caveoptional
  4. Noravankinto the canyon · the peak
  5. Arenithe table
  6. Back to Yerevan
  • The Ararat plain
  • Over the pass
  • Vayots Dzor, wine country

Auf der Karte

Wohin der Tag führt

Der Tag selbst

YEREVANthe day starts and ends hereKhor Virapon the Ararat plainArarat · across the borderover the passAreni · the tableback downAreni-1 caveNoravank

Khor Virap is close to the city; most of the driving is the road south to Areni. The cave, the canyon and the table are a few kilometres apart at the end of it.

Wo in Armenien

ARMENIAdieser Tag

The day runs south from Yerevan: along the Ararat plain first, then over the pass into Vayots Dzor.

  1. 01 / 04

    Look up.

    One mountain fills the sky, across a border you cannot cross.

    01

    Khor VirapFIRST, IF THE SKY IS CLEAR

    A monastery on a low hill above the Ararat plain, with the border fence below it and the mountain filling the sky beyond. It is one of the closest views of Ararat anywhere in Armenia, and the view depends entirely on a clear sky.

    Tradition holds that Gregory the Illuminator was kept in a pit here for thirteen years. The pit is still there, under a chapel, and you can climb down into it.

    A short walk up from the road. The pit is down a steep metal ladder, about six metres, and is optional.

    ACHTEN SIE AUFBoth peaks, if the sky allows — then the ladder down into the pit.

    Khor Virap from above in early light, its church and walls on the rock, with both peaks of Ararat across the plain
  2. 02 / 04

    Go under.

    Six thousand years of winemaking begin in a cave you could almost walk past.

    02

    Areni-1 caveOPTIONAL, AT THE MOUTH OF THE GORGE

    A cave at the mouth of the gorge near Areni. Excavations found a wine-production installation dating to around 4000 BCE, and a leather shoe described by researchers as the oldest known in Eurasia.

    There is less here to look at than to understand: the importance is what survived.

    A short, steep path up to the cave mouth. The day works without it.

    ACHTEN SIE AUFHow small the mouth of the cave is, for what came out of it.

    The mouths of the Areni-1 cave in a wall of pale rock, reached by a railed stair through green ground
The red and ochre walls of the Noravank canyon closing in on the road

Into the redPER STRASSE

The road leaves the river and turns into a narrow gorge of red and ochre rock. The drive in is half of the next stop.

  1. 03 / 04

    Go into the red.

    The cliffs close in, then open on a monastery standing in the middle of them.

    03

    NoravankINTO THE CANYON

    The cliffs close in on both sides, then the canyon opens into a bowl with the monastery standing in the middle of it. Its two-storey church, finished in 1339, is attributed to the architect and carver Momik.

    The outside stair is steep, narrow and has no rail. It is optional; nothing else at the site depends on it.

    ACHTEN SIE AUFThe view back down the canyon from the top of the outside stair.

    The narrow stone stair built out from the façade of Noravank’s two-storey church
    Noravank’s two churches in low autumn light, the belfried Holy Mother of God on the left and St Karapet on the right, with khachkars along the path and the canyon walls behind
  2. 04 / 04

    Come back up to the table.

    The last thing this day brings up out of the ground is wine.

    04

    AreniLAST, AT THE TABLE

    Areni is both a village and the name of the region’s red grape. After monasteries, a cave and canyon walls, Safar ends the day at a table, not at another monument.

    The day ends seated in Areni, with a real wine-and-food chapter rather than another sightseeing stop. The exact host, cellar or table, and what is included, are confirmed with your request.

    Seated. No walking.

    ACHTEN SIE AUFSomething alive after the archaeology: the wine this valley makes now.

    A weathered wooden table on stone paving, set with lavash, cheese, olives, walnuts, dried apricots and two glasses of red wineIllustrative. What is served is confirmed with your request.

Bevor Sie sich entscheiden

Ist dieser Tag etwas für Sie?

Ideal für

  • A second day outside Yerevan, after Garni
  • Travellers who want landscape and a long lunch rather than a checklist
  • Anyone curious about one of the world’s earliest known wine-production sites
  • Travellers arriving around harvest in Vayots Dzor

Überlegen Sie es sich zweimal, wenn

  • You want a short day. Most of the drive sits between the first stop and the second.
  • You need every view guaranteed. Ararat shows itself only when the sky is clear, and Khor Virap without it is a smaller place.
  • Ladders and narrow stairs are hard for you. The pit at Khor Virap is down a steep ladder and the upper church at Noravank is up a stair with no rail. Both are optional.

Für den Tag merken

What survives from the valley

  1. GorgedzorGorge, or valley. It is the second half of Vayots Dzor, the province this day drives into, and the second half of the day is spent inside one.
  2. Wine jarkarasThe large clay jar Armenian wine has been made and kept in for millennia, often set into the ground.
  3. GrapeAreni NoirThe red grape of Vayots Dzor. Areni is also the village it is named after.

WHY THIS DAY IS ON SAFAR

Khor Virap, Noravank and Areni are usually sold as three stops on one road. Safar keeps them together because of the direction the day moves in: Ararat stays above you, out of reach, while each stop takes you lower — a pit, a cave, a canyon. Then the day comes back up at a table in Areni. The mountain opens the day; the table closes it.

Wo dieser Tag in eine Reise passt

Best after a shorter first day such as Garni and Geghard. That day is sacred architecture and stone; this one opens the country southward, across a much bigger landscape, and adds its wine.

For contrast, go north next to Lake Sevan and Dilijan. If Tatev is also in your trip, keep it for its own day — the road south already overlaps as far as Areni.

Ganz Armenien

Endgültige Details werden vor der Durchführung bestätigt.

Auf Anfrage

Wählen Sie Ihr Datum. Den Rest organisieren wir für Sie.

Khor Virap, Noravank & the Areni wine roadA full day from Yerevan
Preis
Wird nach der Anfrage bestätigt

So wird es organisiert

Safar gestaltet diesen Tag. Der Partner, der ihn durchführt, bestätigt jeden Teil im Rahmen Ihrer Anfrage, bevor etwas vereinbart wird.

  1. Sie nennen uns den Tag. Eine Minute. Keine Zahlung, nichts gebucht.

  2. Ein Mensch antwortet mit dem Preis, den Stopps, die die Jahreszeit zulässt, und dem Beginn Ihres Tages, einschließlich der Abholung an Ihrer Unterkunft, falls sie angeboten wird.

  3. Sie entscheiden. Wenn Sie zusagen, bezahlen Sie den Partner vor Ort direkt. Wenn Sie ablehnen, passiert nichts.

Ihr Tag

Erwachsene
2
Kinder
0

Das sind Ihre Wünsche für den Tag. Der Partner, der ihn durchführt, bestätigt, was an Ihrem Datum möglich ist, bevor etwas vereinbart wird.

Der gedeckte Tisch in Areni
Die Höhle Areni-1

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