Visa-Free Country Yerevan East & South Route One-Day Itinerary Guide!

Yerevan's eastern area boasts many attractions, each relatively close but inconvenient by public transport. I opted for a chartered car (💰30,000 AMD) and explored both the east and south routes in half a day. Here’s my timeline for reference:

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1️⃣ 8:20 AM Departure

2️⃣ 8:40-9:00 AM Charents Arch
Offers a view of Mount Ararat.
Architects Rafael Israelyan and road builders discovered this spot’s view of Ararat during construction and decided to erect this monument. The 5-meter-high arch is made of basalt.

3️⃣ 9:30-10:00 AM Geghard Monastery
🕐 9:00 AM-6:00 PM
A serene stone church nestled among snow-capped mountains.
The church has no modern lighting—only sunlight filtering through small windows and openings. Inside, you’ll find holy water and crosses, but it’s very dark, so be cautious.
Exterior under maintenance 🧰. Behind it lies a stunning gorge with streams and snowy peaks. Restrooms available.

4️⃣ 10:30-10:50 AM Symphony of Stones
🎫 300 AMD
Located in a gorge with mountains, rivers, and snowy peaks in the backdrop.
These are volcanic rock formations that collapsed into stacked, naturally suspended cubic structures—symmetrical hexagonal and pentagonal basalt columns nearly 50 meters tall. From afar, they resemble an accordion 🪗.

5️⃣ 11:00-11:40 AM Garni Temple
🕐 9:00 AM-10:00 PM
🎫 1,500 AMD
A Greek-style temple facing snowy mountains, dedicated to Mithra (the Greek sun god). Built with Arabian stone, it features 24 outer columns symbolizing the 24 hours of a day. The interior is dim, lit only by reflected natural light.
The temple is encircled by a defensive wall—314 meters long, 2 meters thick, and up to 6-8 meters high in some sections. The fortress structure reveals five distinct architectural layers from different eras. The walls and towers are made of large, regular-shaped blue basalt blocks weighing 4-5 tons each.

6️⃣ 12:00 PM Azat Reservoir
The scenery resembles Tibet’s Yamdrok Lake, with snowy mountains in the distance and a vast water body below.
Passing through a small town, every utility pole had large bird nests—a local feature, according to the driver.

7️⃣ 12:40-1:30 PM Khor Virap Monastery
In the 4th century, this land served as a prison. Instead of cells, deep pits were dug underground to confine prisoners—hence the name "Khor Virap," meaning "deep pit" in Armenian.
Saint Gregory the Illuminator was imprisoned here for 13 years by King Tiridates III for heresy.
Many stalls at the entrance sell cheap fridge magnets (💰600 AMD).

8️⃣ 2:20 PM Return to the city