Day Experience
Jermuk & the Arpa Gorge
A long day to the spa town of Jermuk, high above the Arpa: a waterfall of about seventy metres, warm springs to taste in a colonnade, and a tenth-century monastery in the gorge on the way.
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The route story
A day that follows the water uphill.
The first part is the road south: the Ararat plain, then the passes into Vayots Dzor, with a coffee break at Areni or Yeghegnadzor, the stop confirmed with your request. Past Vayk the road leaves the highway and follows the Arpa up into the hills. Gndevank waits in the gorge below the village of Gndevaz. Then the road climbs past the Kechut reservoir into Jermuk, a spa town on a plateau that the Arpa has cut in two. The afternoon is for water: the springs in their colonnade, lunch, and the walk down to the falls. Then the same road home.
The shape of the day
A break on the way out. Gndevank before midday, if the way down is open on your date. Jermuk from midday: the springs and lunch first, the waterfall last, with time to sit by it before the road home.
- Yerevanthe start
- Gndevankin the gorge
- Gallery of watersthe springs
- The waterfallthe reason for the drive
- Yerevanhome
- The road south
- Up the Arpa
On the map
Where the day goes
The day itself
South through Vayots Dzor, then up the Arpa to Gndevank and Jermuk, and back the same way. Not to scale.
Where in Armenia
Jermuk is in the hills of Vayots Dzor, south-east of Yerevan, about 170 km by road.
- 01 / 03
Go down to the monastery.
A tenth-century church in the gorge of the Arpa.
01GndevankLATE MORNING · ON THE WAY
Gndevank stands on the bank of the Arpa, in the gorge below the village of Gndevaz. Princess Sophia of Syunik had it built in the 930s; a gavit, the entrance hall, was added in 999, and walls later closed the complex in. Inside, a painting of Christ survives on the altar wall.
The old road along the gorge is broken and has been blocked by landslides, so the last stretch may be on foot: about a kilometre and a half from the junction, or down the canyon from Gndevaz. If the way down is not open on your date, the day goes straight on to Jermuk.
How Gndevank is reached on your date, or whether it is left out, is confirmed with your request.
An uneven path, downhill on the way in and uphill on the way out, unless the old road is passable by the vehicle. Uneven stone inside the walls.
LOOK FORThe painting of Christ on the altar wall, and the gorge from the walls.
The last climbBY ROAD
Above Gndevaz the road climbs beside the Kechut reservoir, where the Arpa is held back and part of it sent north through a tunnel to Lake Sevan, and then into Jermuk.
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Taste the water.
Warm springs, poured into stone urns under a colonnade.
02The gallery of mineral watersMIDDAY · IN TOWN
In the middle of Jermuk, by the small lake in the park, a colonnade built in 1956 holds the town's springs. Pipes set in the wall fill stone urns, each from its own spring and each at its own temperature, from warm to hot: from about 30 °C to around 50 °C. Tasting costs nothing; bring a cup.
Jermuk sits at about 2,080 metres, and its water has been bottled here since the 1950s. After the gallery the day sits down to eat: a table in town, the host confirmed with your request.
Level paving in the park and inside the gallery.
LOOK FORThe change in temperature from one urn to the next.
- 03 / 03
Walk down to the falls.
About seventy metres of water, spread thin over the rock.
03The Jermuk waterfallAFTERNOON · THE REASON FOR THE DRIVE
Below the town the water comes down the side of the Arpa gorge in a wide fan of thin streams, about seventy metres from top to bottom. Locally it is called the Mermaid's Hair.
A path goes down to its foot in about ten minutes. The way back up is a long flight of steps, and the hardest part of the day, so the day leaves time here: to sit by the water, then climb at your own pace before the road home.
A steep path and a long flight of steps into the gorge and back up. Not step-free; the stone can be wet.
LOOK FORThe columned rock in the walls of the gorge either side of the falls.
Before you decide
Is this day for you?
Best for
- A day of water, air and walking, after the central monasteries
- Summer in Yerevan: Jermuk is about a thousand metres higher, and cooler
- Anyone curious about a spa town and its springs, without staying the night
Think twice if
- Long car days drain you. About 5½ to 6 of the hours are road.
- Steps are hard for you. The waterfall is reached by a steep path and a long flight of steps.
- You want to bathe in hot springs. This day tastes the water; it includes no bath or pool.
- You need your evening to be predictable. Do not put a dinner, a flight or anything important right after the expected return.
WHY THIS IS ON SAFAR
Jermuk is known as a spa town, for stays of several nights. Safar makes it one unhurried day instead: the springs, the falls and a monastery in the gorge, with time at each and no hotel in the plan.
Where this sits in a trip
This day shares its road through Vayots Dzor with the Khor Virap, Noravank and Areni day and with Tatev. If those are in your trip, leave a day between them. Areni's cave and its wine belong to the Khor Virap day; this one only stops there for coffee.
Armenia, in fullFinal details are confirmed before fulfillment.