Armenia: Land of Tastes and Secrets

Our first stop will be at the GUM Market (GUM-i Shuka in Armenian), one of the most visited markets in the centre of Yerevan which is also a popular touristic site. It offers visitors a rich array of dried fruits and vegetables in a unique atmosphere enriched with a lot of tastes and aromas. The sellers keep inviting you to their stores to taste their products and enjoy the diversity of flavours.

Armenia boasts centuries-old traditions in the production of high-quality dried fruits, berries and vegetables which are commonly called chir in the Armenian language. Thanks to their natural sweetness, rich taste and delicate aroma, local fruits, berries and vegetables are just delicious when dried. Most fruits are sun dried, and this only adds to their quality and delicious taste.

Echmiatsin Cathedral

After the visit to the GUM Market, we will drive to Echmiatsin, which is the religious capital of Armenia, the heart of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the residence of the Catholicos, the Supreme Head of the Armenian Church.

Here we will see the magnificent cathedral of Echmiatsin, which is on UNESCO List of World Heritage.

Armenian Tolma (Dolma) / Master Class

Next, we are going to have a tolma making master class: you can either take part in all the stages of the preparation of this dish or just follow the process. There are a lot of varieties of the Armenian tolma which can be made of meat, fish, vegetables, etc. Also, the recipes vary from region to region, and the type of the tolma often depends on the season: thus, for instance, the summer tolma is made of eggplants, peppers and tomatoes. One of the traditional ways of making tolma is to wrap the ingredients in grape leaves.

The history of the tolma goes back to the depth of centuries: it is traditionally considered that Armenians started making it as early as the middle of the first millennium AD.

Zvartnots Church

On the way back to Yerevan, we will stop at the church of Zvartnots, which traces back to the 7th century. Like many other early medieval Armenian churches, it has not come down to our days as it was destroyed by a severe earthquake in the 10th century.

Although the church is in ruins nowadays, its magnificence and beauty still fascinate visitors.

In the evening we will return to Yerevan.

Tour details:

Number of Participants	Price per group
2 – 3	135 000 AMD
4 – 6	170 000 AMD

The price includes:

• service of the guide
• transport
• hotel pickup and drop-off
• tolma making master class
• entrance tickets to Zvartnots Temple
• lunch

The price does not include:

• alcoholic beverages

For booking as well as for all questions, please contact us.

Read more for further details․

Wine tours in Armenia