Questions, answered properly

Citizens of the EU, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Russia and the other CIS states, and a long list of others, enter Armenia without a visa for stays of up to 180 days.

Russian citizens may enter on an internal passport. Citizens of many other countries can obtain a visa on arrival at Zvartnots or apply for an e-visa in advance.

Rules change. Check the official position with the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs before you travel, and tell us your nationality when you enquire — we will confirm what applies to you.

For day tours, a day or two is usually enough outside the peak. For multi-day journeys in September and October — our busiest months — six to ten weeks is sensible, mainly because the good small guesthouses fill up.

That said, we have put together a decent week at four days' notice more than once. Ask.

Not for day tours. You book with a name and a date and pay your guide on the day, in cash or by card.

Multi-day journeys need a 20% deposit to hold hotel rooms, with the balance due when you arrive in Yerevan. We take cards, bank transfer, and Mir for Russian clients.

Day tours: free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure. Multi-day journeys: free up to 14 days before, after which the deposit is retained.

If we cancel — for weather, road closures or anything else — you get the full amount back or a different date, whichever you prefer.

The currency is the Armenian dram (AMD, ֏). Cards are widely accepted in Yerevan and increasingly in the regions, but carry some cash for village guesthouses, small cellars and site entrances.

Exchange offices in Yerevan give better rates than the airport or your bank at home, and they take euros, dollars and roubles. ATMs are everywhere in the city.

No, by European standards. A good dinner with wine runs €12–25 a head, a coffee €1.50–3, a taxi across Yerevan €2–4, and a museum €2–5.

Wine is the surprise: excellent bottles at the cellar door start around €6.

Yes. Local SIM cards from Team, Ucom or Viva are sold at the airport and everywhere in the city, cost a few euros, and come with generous data. Coverage is good on main roads and patchy in the mountains.

eSIM works too if your phone supports it.

Shoulders and knees covered, for everyone. Women are not required to cover their heads in Armenian Apostolic churches, though many do out of preference, and scarves are usually available at the door.

Beyond that, Armenia is relaxed. Yerevan dresses well and nobody will mind what you wear in the street.

Yes. Armenia has consistently low violent crime and Yerevan is a city where people walk home late without thinking about it. The ordinary advice applies — watch your pockets in crowded markets — and little else.

Solo women travellers generally report feeling comfortable here.

The borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan are closed. This does not affect travel within Armenia, and none of our routes go near a contested area.

Travel to Nagorno-Karabakh is not possible. Following the events of September 2023 the territory is under Azerbaijani control and its Armenian population left; no operator can take you there, and any that offers to is not telling you the truth.

The borders with Georgia and Iran are open and used normally. We run overland trips into Georgia regularly.

Check your own government's current travel advice before booking — it is the only source that speaks for your insurance.

Yes, and it is very good. Yerevan's water comes from mountain springs and there are free drinking fountains — pulpulaks — on street corners all over the city. Fill your bottle from them.

Zvartnots International Airport (EVN), 15 km west of Yerevan, is the main gateway, with direct flights from across Europe, Russia, the Gulf and the region. Gyumri's Shirak Airport (LWN) takes a smaller number of routes.

You can also arrive overland from Georgia — Tbilisi to Yerevan is a comfortable day by road, and there is a slow overnight train.

We meet every arrival, at any hour. Flights into Yerevan have a habit of landing at four in the morning.

Day tours: sixteen people maximum. Wine, food and photography days: six to ten. Hiking: ten. Multi-day journeys: twelve to fourteen.

Every tour can also be run privately for your party alone. It costs more per person for one or two travellers and often costs about the same from four upwards.

Say so when you book and it is straightforward. Armenian fasting cookery is an entire tradition of excellent vegan food, so this is not a compromise here.

Please be specific about allergies. Walnuts in particular turn up in places you would not expect.

Many are. Garni, Echmiadzin, Zvartnots and the Yerevan sites are largely level. Geghard, Sevanavank, Tatev and Noravank involve steps or uneven stone.

Tell us honestly what you can manage and we will design around it — and say so if something will not work rather than letting you find out on the day.

Yes, from anywhere in central Yerevan, included in the price. If you are staying outside the centre tell us the address and we will confirm.

It is not obligatory and it is appreciated. If your guide made the day, €5–10 per person is a normal gesture, and a little less for the driver. In restaurants, round up or leave about 10%.