Armenia is an ideal place for mountaineering, trekking, hiking, skiing and other kinds of extreme sports. There is great diversity in the landscape: mountain ranges, deep gorges, rivers and lakes, thick forests and alpine meadows. Regardless of your age, gender and experience, you will find your perfect-match, your dream-tour! Just contact any travel agency in Armenia or plan your trip yourself, Armenia is an adventure travel destination waiting to give you amazing new memories.
5 Armenia adventure travel tips:
View from Aragats Mount
Hiking and trekking
Armenia is an awesome place for lovers of hiking and trekking. There are more than 1000 options for trekking and hiking in the country, and all of them pass through picturesque landscapes and are full of historical and natural monuments. During walking tours travellers can see the ancient monuments of Christianity; churches and monasteries, fortresses and old caves. Among trekking itineraries, the most popular is the climbing to the southern peak of Mount Aragats (the highest Armenian mountain), also Mount Ajdahak with it’s amazing small Crater Lake, Mount Khustup which towers over Kapan city. For hiking, we advise visiting the Dilijan National Park, you will enjoy its wooded velvet landscapes and healing fresh air. You can start your hike from Lake Parz and head on through the wonderful path to Goshavank Monastery. But Armenia offers so much more than just hiking for those who want to choose travel to Armenia.
Skiing in Armenia
Skiing and snowboarding
Armenia’s skiing industry has been growing, and more and more it is a fantastic destination for a skiing holiday. The mountainous landscapes and the favorable climate of the country make it an ideal place for shredding slopes and hitting powder. Armenia has three well-equipped ski resorts among which the most popular is Tsaghkadzor town, which has a 4-speed chairlift and more than a dozen ski slopes. The best season for skiing here is January / February. In the towns of Sevan and Jermuk rope-ways and ski slopes are also established, however, they are not yet so well-equipped as in Tsakhkadzor, but are still fun, particularly for off the piste skiing. If you prefer to take off the main road and ski down-hill, Armenia is an excellent place! Mount Aragats, the highest in Armenia, offers good opportunities for off the beaten track skiing, it has four summits and dozens of potential routes to ski down. You can also choose Mt. Ara, Mt. Hatis, Mt. Geghama, Mt. Ishkhanasar and many others for your adventure skiing.
Paragliding in Armenia
Paragliding
Paragliding is another well-developing extreme sport in Armenia that is gaining popularity day by day. The country has great weather and terrain conditions for it: high and convenient mountains for repulsion, safe areas for landing, winds and air flows. The most popular place for flying is Mount Hatis, which is located close to Yerevan and offers simple relief, flat fields for landing, and predictable micrometeorology. For an absolutely amazing view, we advise going to Tsovagyugh village where the flying place is near to Akhtamar hostel. Here paragliders can enjoy an unforgettable view to Lake Sevan and surrounding beauties.
Rafting in Armenia
Rafting
Rafting or kayaking is still very under-developed in Armenia, but it is slowly gaining popularity as the rivers of the country according to some experts are ideal for rafting. The best season is during May, June and July and the best rivers are Dzoraget, Tartar and several sections of Arpa, Vorotan and Kasakh.
Trekking
Climbing and mountaineering
Armenia – a land of cliffs and rocks – has several exciting climbing destinations for an adventurous spirit. All of them are easily accessed by and not far from Yerevan. For example, in the capital itself, there are amazing cliffs beneath Davitashen Bridge. Also noteworthy climbing destinations: the Noravank Gorge just near the Noravank Monastery, the volcanic cliffs not far from Tatev Monastery, Arzni Gorge, Mt. Khustup and many other places for those adventurous enough to look. For those who are interested in climbing in Armenia, there are various clubs that organize hikes. The best time for climbing is in May, June, September, and the beginning of October. This time the weather tends to be pleasant, with little rain or very hot days. When travelling to Armenia it is important to know that there are some places in the country where climbing is forbidden. Notably “The symphony of stones” – a beautiful natural monument representing basalt columns. Here climbing was widespread and popular, however recently the climbers association decided to ban climbing to avoid potential damage to the basalt columns.
