Winter
Armenia's main ski resort, an hour from Yerevan, with a gondola to 2,819 metres and an eleventh-century monastery at the bottom of the run.
Duration
9 hours
Group
Small group, max 12
Difficulty
Depends on you
Languages
EN · RU · DE · FR · IT · ES
Worth knowingThe season usually runs from late December to March and depends entirely on snow. We will tell you what the mountain is actually like before you commit.
An hour north-east. Tsaghkadzor sits at 1,841 metres on the slope of Mount Teghenis and was called Darachichak until 1947.
The ropeway runs in stages with stations at 2,234 and 2,465 metres and a top station at 2,819 metres — 850 metres of vertical drop. The complex opened in 1967, built specifically to acclimatise Soviet athletes at altitude for the Mexico City Olympics the following year, and the USSR's strong showing there is still credited locally to the training done here.
Whether you ski, board, or simply ride the gondola for the view is up to you. Equipment hire and lift passes are arranged for you at the base station. Instructors are available in English and Russian.
In the town: four churches of grey stone, founded in the early eleventh century by Prince Grigor Magistros Pahlavuni. The domes came down in the 1927 earthquake and were rebuilt between 1998 and 2000. Surb Harutyun stands alone in a clearing a few minutes into the beech woods above the main group.
Returning around 17:30.
In the price
Not included
Stops in the order we visit them. Distances are indicative, not a driving route.
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Want it privately?
Your own vehicle and guide, your own start time, and the freedom to linger where it is worth lingering.