2 Days in Yerevan (Armenia)

Yerevan (also known as Erevan or Jeriwan) captured our hearts immediately. The capital of Armenia is just four flight hours away from Germany and is a true highlight in the Caucasus due to its culture, lifestyle, bars, cafes, and especially its delicious cuisine. Curious travelers should definitely visit this exciting city (and the country as well) while the region remains wonderfully untouched by tourism.

Since 1918, Yerevan has been the 13th capital of Armenia (sometimes counted as the 12th - depending on historical interpretation), with a brief interruption from 1920 as part of the Soviet Union. Though some districts of the Armenian capital have been inhabited for over 6,000 years, the city's birthday is dated back to 782 BC.

The city's birthday is symbolically celebrated every year by 2,750 fountains in Republic Square - unfortunately, during our visit, the fountains were turned off due to the intense heat and associated water-saving measures. Three stone tablets with the founding date were also discovered, which can be viewed at the History Museum of Armenia. With its 1.2 million inhabitants, nearly 40% of the entire Armenian population lives here. For comparison: Only seven million Armenians live abroad.

You can leisurely explore the center of Yerevan on foot, even though it is bustling with people at all hours of the day and night. The traffic in the center often remains quite lively well past midnight, with congested streets.

In this article, we will show you what we experienced during our two days in Yerevan: our activities, cafes, restaurants, bars, and museums. And here's a little spoiler: Two days were indeed much too short, but they are ideal for an initial impression of this vibrant, ever-awake city within the context of a round-trip in Armenia. Yerevan has enormous potential for exploration and is definitely worth revisiting!

Best travel time: Summer (May-September; very hot, yet very popular months for day trips as well). My tip: August, as many wine festivals, beer festivals, and other events take place during this time. Guidebook: Lonely Planet Guide to Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan Travel: Direct flight with Condor from Frankfurt, from Berlin via Warsaw with LOT: Find flights Accommodation booking: booking.com/Tripadvisor Activities & tickets to reserve in advance: Gett Your Guide

Before your city trip to Yerevan, you actually don't need a detailed plan or itinerary. You should just consider how many days you want to spend in Yerevan. Next, we recommend thinking about whether you want to visit just the capital or also take day trips. There are several options available:

Though we didn't have time for it, if you're interested: Many tour providers are located around Republic Square that offer day trips throughout the country.

There is no limit to what you can do in Yerevan. We could even create a week-long itinerary without it feeling boring, but we assume that you're likely visiting like us on a shorter trip. Therefore, we're sharing our 2-day itinerary for Yerevan. It certainly won't be your last visit to the Armenian capital!

My personal recommendation is to plan at least 2-3 nights in Yerevan. That is the minimum to explore the main highlights and a bit of culture, the great restaurants (and the nightlife) as well.

By plane: Currently, there are only direct flights to Yerevan from Frankfurt am Main. Condor regularly flies to Zvartnots International Airport (approximately 30 minutes by taxi from the center). From Berlin, there are currently flights with LOT (via Warsaw), Condor (via Frankfurt), or Turkish Airlines (via Istanbul). All other connections take too long. Research tip: We always search for flights first at the flight search engine skyscanner.de.

By train or bus via Tbilisi (Georgia): An alternative is to travel via the Georgian capital Tbilisi. From Tbilisi, you can comfortably travel to Yerevan by overnight train - and possibly combine it with a round trip through the beautiful neighboring country, or at least a city tour through Tbilisi.

You can also get from Tbilisi by bus (marshrutka). It is cheaper and faster than the train. The ride costs about 12 Euros and lasts 5 to 6 hours.

If you're planning a road trip, renting a car is a good idea to explore the highlights on the route from Tbilisi to Yerevan.

The relatively new Ibis Yerevan Center Hotel is located in the heart of the city. The shopping streets and the restaurants and cafes we tested are just a few minutes' walk from the hotel. Also, the main attractions such as Republic Square, the Armenian Opera, Cascade, and the Matenadaran Museum are nearby. We found the location ideal, although we didn't try the breakfast as we had breakfast plans with local friends in cafes (see tips for eating and drinking).

Here we have marked all the places mentioned in the article. This way, you can easily navigate and find the next highlight in Yerevan.

Yerevan is a very historic city. If you want to know more details about its history, we recommend taking a city tour. Guidebooks and websites often have significant gaps in information. You'll learn much more about the city and its inhabitants from locals.

We also recommend a tour at the Matenadaran Museum, which even offers tours in German by appointment. Because without a guide, it's just a museum filled with many texts without detailed explanations, and it's well worth listening to the sometimes very interesting stories behind the printed and painted words. You can inform the guide beforehand how long you want the tour to last (our tip: 45 minutes is sufficient).

Tip: There is also a free walking tour through Yerevan, where you give the guide a tip at the end of the tour. You give as much as you think the tour was worth. In the past, we not only learned a lot about the cities but also met some wonderful people with whom we later enjoyed spending more time - and let me tell you: you can have a great time in Yerevan!

➡️ Here you can find our food guide for Yerevan with many tips for excellent food

If you're like us and visiting multiple places in Armenia or have been to Georgia before, you can easily skip the visit to the Mother of Armenia statue (erected in 1962 in place of a Stalin sculpture) without missing much. Also, the visit to the Brandy Factory (either Ararat Brandy Factory or Noah Ararat) with a tasting isn't necessary in our opinion (and our local friends agreed). The same goes for the Genocide Memorial. It's an important place for Armenia, but for us, knowing the history is enough. If we had more time, we would have rather tested another restaurant or bar Because, like often during travel, time is the most valuable currency!

So here follows our suggestion for a weekend in Yerevan. We've optimized the program for you, although we had a slightly different sequence since, as mentioned, we also have friends in the region.

On the first day in Yerevan, we recommend visiting the most important and popular attractions of the city while also exploring the incredibly delicious and great Armenian food scene. Buckle your belt tighter, because the food is fantastic, and the portions are huge.

The Collective is the culinary neighbor and offshoot of the trendy cocktail bar Minas on bustling Pushkin Street. Chill music, relaxed crowd, stylish interior, and unbelievably great coffee creations not only perk you up but also fill you up: Fantastic Eggs Benedict in various variations, a tempting strawberry-cream croissant, tarts, and fluffy pancakes will make you want to stay forever. A casual place with extremely friendly staff and the finest HiFi speakers in Europe - truly!

Tip: It's not on the menu, but if you ask politely, the bar will mix you a trendy Bumble: espresso with orange juice! Chris had a "Sparkle," a double espresso with tonic water. Sounds like using leftovers, but it tastes excellent!

Afterwards, we highly recommend organizing a city tour. They can pick you up directly at Collective. The tour leads you through North Avenue, Republic Square, and to the Cascades. If you want to explore on your own, here's a rough route:

Along North Avenue, which is like the new shopping street with fine stores and designers, but also cool restaurants, you head to ...

"The heart of Yerevan", here you will find the government and union house, the old post office, as well as the charming Marriott Hotel. The foundations of the buildings are made of water-repellent basalt, which is covered in tuff.

This is also where you can see why Yerevan is called the "Pink City": Most of the buildings were constructed from naturally colored volcanic stone in various shades of pink - which beautifully shines in the daylight and especially in the evening light!

It's worth spending some time in the Historical Museum (located in the former Ministry of Foreign Affairs building) as well as the National Gallery of Armenia. Here you can admire - wait for it! - the oldest shoe in the world!

The fountain actually has an evening show! It starts in summer at 9 PM and goes until 11 PM, featuring classical and pop music (in winter from 8 PM to 10 PM), attracting people - including you! - with colorful lighting.

Continuing down Abovyan Street past the Moscow Cinema: The brilliant fountain at Charles Aznavour Square and the shifting art pieces give a playful feel.

Now, you should be feeling a bit hungry. How fortunate that the best-rated restaurant in Armenia, according to online reviews, is just a few minutes' walk away - Sherep Restaurant! But reviews are one thing; does it actually taste good?

... YES! Popular among both locals and tourists, this ultra-stylish yet enormous venue is a true haven for modern Armenian and Georgian cuisine. It belongs to Yeremyan Projects, which is dedicated to numerous culinary services, restaurants, and support programs for Armenia.

Sensational hummus, steaming hot lavash, whole grilled and table-carved trout, stewed pepper salad, boiled or fried khinkali (delectable Georgian soup dumplings), and an extravagant chocolate lava cake flambéed at the table... and there's still an immense amount more to discover in the vast menu. Tip: Be sure to check out the open kitchen!

Just a few hundred meters from Sherep lies the only place of Islamic prayer in Armenia: the Blue Mosque. Here one can escape the loud hustle of the main street and find peace in the garden for a few minutes.

The mosque dates back to the mid-18th century and features a significant, beautifully crafted dome adorned with turquoise-yellow tiles.

About a 45-minute walk away are the Cascades of Yerevan. This lovely place, filled with various artworks from around the world (including some plump figures by Fernando Botero), with around 572 steps, is not only a popular excursion and viewpoint but also includes many rooms for changing art exhibitions. Unfortunately, we didn't have the time to check it out due to our tight schedule, but we urge you to take a look!

Address: 10 Tamanyan St, Yerevan 0009, Armenia

Armenians are particularly proud of their alphabet, and not without reason: It is one of the oldest as well as one of the most recently modified scripts in the world. Old Armenian, the language of the oldest surviving Bible translation from 404 AD, served until the 19th century as a literary language and is now used only in ecclesiastical contexts.

If you want to learn more about this - and some brain work should also be needed after lunch! - we recommend the Matenadaran Museum near the Cascades. Additionally, you should book your ticket along with a tour, which can even be available in German upon request. The museum is also Armenia's largest manuscript archive: In the exhibition area, only 5% of the 20,000 manuscripts are displayed; the rest is well secured and protected in the cellar.

Without a guide, it's just a museum filled with many texts without detailed explanation, so feel free to utilize that option. This way, you'll hear about some of the very fascinating stories behind the printed and painted material. Among other items, you'll see the smallest book of Armenia - 104 pages, on goatskin and only readable with a magnifying glass - as well as the largest ham weighing a whopping 28 kilograms and containing over 600 pages. You can also inform the guide beforehand how long you want the tour to last (our tip: 45 minutes is sufficient).

Note: Do you want to take photos inside? Then you must pay an additional 2,500 drams and show the ticket at the entrance.

Warning, absolute insider tip! Hidden behind building facades, one can breathe wonderfully: The Dalan Art Gallery hides behind its artistic gates the beautifully green Cafe Abovyan 12. Here, surrounded by trees in front of the open bar and the small stage with live music, you can enjoy a coffee, a cold beer, or even small bites like Lahmacun. You must go there!

The The Club (the website is currently offline, it's best to try on Tripadvisor and email for a reservation) represents perhaps the most exciting culinary development in Armenia: As one of the first farm-to-table restaurants, Andranik Grigoryan uses only products cultivated from his own gardens. This "brutally local" trend comes from Scandinavia: Over ten years ago, with the "Scandinavian Cuisine Manifesto," the value of one's region, its products, and its seasons was highlighted.

In ten courses, the young chef Hayk Shakaryan presents a showcase of Armenian products, including zucchini blossoms filled with peas and green pepper hummus, cherry tomatoes with fermented tomato juice, grilled forest mushrooms with roasted garlic puree, and grilled figs with - unusually! - Beluga caviar. All of this comes at reasonable prices, mind you.

All over the establishment, different pickled, marinated, and fermented goods are displayed like in a laboratory.

The friendly host mainly serves natural wines. He knows a thing or two about it because the first project that earned Grigoryan a culinary name in the city is just a few minutes' walk away and invites you to have a nightcap...

Saryan Street is colloquially known as "Wine Street": Here, wine establishments line up back to back. However, it wasn't always like this: One of the first to adopt a wine-only concept was Andranik Grigoryan - back then still laughed at - he opened In Vino in 2012. This has inspired many others, so you can now enjoy a drink in style! Of course, the best place to do this is in the mother of all wine establishments...

Back then, Grigoryan started with ten different Armenian wines; today, there are nearly 250 - and the number grows daily! It's definitely worth a visit, and you should let the extremely friendly and English-speaking staff pour... uh, serve you for tastings.

Lahmacun signifies the Arabic influence in Armenian cuisine. Soft flatbread dough, onions, and boldly spiced minced meat - that's all there is to it.

Just a few hundred meters from the hotel, you'll find the best pizza in the city, nestled discreetly beneath an apartment entrance: "Lahmajo" is a so-called "hole-in-the-wall" eatery and an absolute insider tip! For just a few Armenian drams, you can get a delicious, hot, and utterly fresh lahmacun, the quality of which can probably only be found in the best Turkish grill restaurants in Berlin. Pair it with a refreshing Ayran, and your day can start!

Address: 19 Moskovyan Street, Yerevan 0009

Next, take an excursion to the grand Lake Sevan. For this trip, we recommend the wonderful Yeva Harutyunyan from Red Hat Tours; incredibly friendly and knowledgeable throughout the entire country, she can tell you a lot about the land, culture, and locals while safely transporting you from point A to B.

Lake Sevan is 78 kilometers long and 56 kilometers wide, making it the largest freshwater lake in Armenia and the entire Caucasus. Furthermore, the lake is located at an elevation of 1,900 meters, making it the second-highest lake after Peru's Lake Titicaca!

The destination for travelers is the province of Gegharkunik, just 1.5 hours away, near the larger city of Sevan on the northwest shore of the lake. There lies the ancient monastery complex of Sevanavank.

Interestingly, the monastery was originally on a small island in the middle of the lake until the end of the eighth century when massive amounts of water were drained from the lake for agriculture. Now, the monastery - which has settled on an expansive peninsula - can be reached via a short yet steep stairway.

You will see two churches, Surb Astvatsatsin ('The Mother of God') and Surb Arakelots ('The Holy Apostle'), plus the stunning view over the massive lake - resembling a sea! - where you can also engage in various activities such as pedal boating or sub-rock climbing.

Just 20 minutes from the churches lies the small but culinary significant town of Tsaghkunk. The region has no more than 2,000 inhabitants, the streets were constructed through private investment, and children come here after school to work in restaurants and follow in gastronomic and touristic footsteps.

There are several extremely interesting restaurants here, including the namesake Tsaghkunk Restaurant, where you absolutely should have lunch.

The beautiful and stylish restaurant opened in 2021. Here you can not only enjoy delicious Armenian tapas such as chili pepper dips, an enchanting aveluk salad (sorrel), and vanahash - a kind of "cheesy spaetzle" beloved on our journey - but also try your hand at baking lavash.

The young chef Arevik Martirosyan has a way of bringing the age-old traditions of Armenian cuisine into the new millennium with just a few simple touches - without wild experiments, foams, or self-indulgent fusion attempts. The absolute highlight was the fish dolma: stuffed grape leaves that are typically rolled with vegetables and pork here shine in white fish splendor. Addictively delicious!

In a hut directly behind the restaurant, traditional lavash baking in an underground oven is authentically recreated, and those who wish can have a go at it. But beware: It looks easier than it is...

We love visiting markets during our travels. It provides a great glimpse into the people, cultures, and how they interact, in addition to getting an overview of the local cuisine.

In Yerevan, this is especially easy at the Gum Shuka Market in the south of the city. Here you can enjoy wandering among numerous stalls of fish, meat, cheese, and the vast selection of vegetables and fruits for a good three-quarters of an hour.

Address: 35 Movses Khorenatsi Street, Yerevan 0018, Armenia

The Vostan dedicates itself to traditional Armenian cuisine. Once you step through the beautiful, ancient door, a true culinary gem unfolds - right in the noisy center of Yerevan.

Here, you can best enjoy... well... everything?! The aveluk salad made from crispy sorrel leaves is to die for, but the various delicate and beautifully smoky BBQ meats are also a true delight; particularly the salmon and lamb are in a quality that is hard to find elsewhere.

During dinner, we met Armen Yeritsyan, a true celebrity in Armenia. His art and fashion are extraordinary - so is he as a person. Maybe you'll run into him too?

Just a few minutes' walk from Vostan lies the trendy Minas Cocktail Room, right next to the "Collective" where you might have had breakfast. Here, cocktails of world-class caliber are mixed, with modern art and laid-back music playing. You can spend a few hours here diving into the nightlife of Armenians. And that can certainly last into the early morning hours...

For Yerevan, we relied on the Lonely Planet for Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia in English. Since this guide was the most up-to-date and also included city walks for every district, I purchased this travel guide.

In Yerevan, there are many options for city tours or guided museum tours. If you have little time, I recommend the following:

Leave us a comment if you have any questions! We are curious about your highlights in the Armenian capital and look forward to your feedback.

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