8 Days Short Break for Turkey and Armenia Tours

Istanbul Tours, Yerevan City Tours, Etchmiatsin Cathedral Tour, Yerevan-Khor Virap Monastery - Noravank - Selim Caravanserai - Lake Sevan, Dilijan , Yerevan - Garni Temple - Geghard Monastery

Tour Itinerary

Day 1 - Istanbul - Arrival Day  (No meal)
You will meet at the Istanbul international Ataturk Airport with our staff and transfer to your hotel. You will check into your hotel and the rest of the day is yours to explore Istanbul. Overnight in Istanbul.

Day 2 - Istanbul (B + L)
You will have breakfast at your hotel then meet with your guide at the hotel. You will explore the old city by walking,  visiting Topkapi Palace (closed on tuesdays) Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, Aya Sophia Museum  Covered Grand Bazaar.

Overnight in Istanbul.

Day 3 - Full Day Bosphorus Cruise and Two Continents (B + L)
You will have breakfast at your hotel then Pick up from the hotel for the tour of Bosphorus Cruise and the Asian part of Istanbul. We will enjoy a Bosphorus Cruise, having lunch and visiting the Beylerbeyi  Palace, Bosphorus Bridge, Asian side. At the end of the tour transfer back to hotel. Overnight in Istanbul

Day 4 - Istanbul - Armenia  (B + D )
After breakfast check out from the hotel. You will be picked up from your hotel and drive to airport. Take flight to Armenia. Upon arrival in Yerevan, you will meet with our local representative at the airport and be transfered to your hotel. The rest of the day is yours to explore this historical cultural city. Overnight in Yerevan.

Day 5 - Yerevan City Tour and Visiting  Etchmiatsin Cathedral  (B + D )
You will have breakfast at your hotel, then then you will be picked up from your hotel. We start the tour by panoramic view of Yerevan. Matenadaran Museum, The Institute of Ancient Manuscripts is one of the oldest and most well-endowed libraries in the world dominates the centre of Yerevan from its location on top of the hill at the end of Mashtots Avenue. The Matenadaran has a collection of more than 17000 books and manuscripts, many from ancient times, covering not only different facets of Armenian history and culture, but also of many other countries as well. Along the way you will get to see the Sports and Concert complex, Kievyan Bridge, Baghramyan Avenue-the Presidential Palace, Academy of Sciences, National Parliament, Writers Union, and the Opera House, Republic Square, History Museum of Armenia. State History Museum of Armenia was founded in 1919. The Museum had Archeology, Ethnography, Historiography and Fine Arts sections. The Museum collections became the main resource for starting up a number of museums (Museum of History of Yerevan, Armenian Ethnographic Museum, etc.). The archeological groups of the Museum conduct excavations on various sites and publish monographs and collections of research papers. Then we will visit Old Food Market.

Then drive to Etchmiatsin on the way to Etchmiatsin we will visit Hripsime church. Pilgrimage to Etchmiadzin Cathedral which is the first official Christian church in the world, built in 301.Afterwards we will arrive Etchmiatsin, called New City and Vagharshapat in the past, lying 20 km from Yerevan, is the city where the Mother Cathedral - the throne of the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians - is located. It was founded in the beginning of the 4th century A.D. According to the Revelation of Gregory the Illuminator, Jesus Christ descended from the heavens and pointed to the site on which the Cathedral was to be built. That is why it was named Etchmiatsin which means 'The Only Begotten Descended'. After wards,  visit the ruins of Zvartnots Temple where is the architectural masterpiece of Zvartnots was built by the order of the Catholicos Nerses III. It was damaged by an earthquake in the 10th century and unearthed nearly a thousand years in the town of Etchmiatsin. At the end of the tour, you will be transferred back to your hotel and overnight.

Day 6 - Yerevan-Khor Virap Monastery - Noravank - Selim Caravanserai - Lake Sevan  (B + D )
You will have breakfast at your hotel and check out. You will be picked up from your hotel and drive to Ararat Region, visit Khor Virap Monastery. If you want to see Mt. Ararat at its best, we highly recommend you to visit Khor Virap. The latter was a royal dungeon in Artashat (Artaxata), the ancient capital of Armenia which is located just in front of the biblical mountain. Afterwards we will keep moving on, we will drive to Vayots Dzor Region to visit Winery and tasting in Areni Village. Also we will visit Noravank - The architectural complex of Noravank (13-14th centuries).Then we shall keep continue our tour. We will visit Noravank where is the architectural complex of Noravank (13-14th centuries) Afterward we will drive to Selim by passing the Old Caravanserai. The Selim Caravanserai is situated on the celebrated "Silk road" on the way from Gegharkunik to the Vayots Dzor. It located on the Selim Mountain whose summit is 2410m above sea level, this unique inn was founded as a transit point along the most famous of the caravan routes of old. Marco Polo is known to have passed through this locale and described how the local Armenians lived amidst the rugged mountains. At the end of the tour, drive to Sevan. Overnight in Sevan.

Day 7 - Lake Sevan - Dilijan     (B + D )
After having breakfast at your hotel and check out from your hotel in Sevan. You will be picked up from your hotel  and drive to Sevan Lake and Sevan Monastery on the peninsula. Then we will drive to Dilijan where is a small paradise in Armenia with its charming nature and extraordinary architecture.

We will visit Sharambeyan street, it has been preserved as an Old Town Dilijan complete with craftsmen's workshops, small shops with traditional Armenian products and crafts, museum, showing a typical 19th century home with all its locally made furnishings, guest house and a Tufenkian Restaurant. Afterwards, we will visit Goshavank Monastery in Dilijan before we drive back Yerevan. At the end of the tour, drive back to Yerevan and transfer you back to your hotel.Check into hotel and overnight in Yerevan.

Day 8 - Yerevan - Garni Temple - Geghard Monastery    (B  )
You wil have breakfast at your hotel and meet your guide at the hotel then drive to Garni village to visit Garni Pagan Temple where is the ancient architectural complex of Garni (3rd century B.C. - 1st c. A.D.), 28 kilometers away from Yerevan, in the province of Kotayk, includes a fortress, a palace and a pagan temple. On this triangular plateau, plunging from a height of 300 meters to the rushing River Azat, stand the ruins of a powerful fortress with huge basalt slabs designed for defense of the royal summer residence of Armenia. Also we will visit Rustic House in Garni with you. In here we will organize Armenian bread-lavash making ceremony and the visitors will participate in it.

Then  will visit Geghard Monastery with you. The cave monastery of Ayrivank or Geghard. - six kilometers from Garni, dates back to the 4th century. Subsequently destroyed, it was rebuilt in the 12th century. The main Cathedral of the Virgin Mary was erected in 1215. The spear that pierced Christ's body is believed to have been kept here. That is why the monastery was named Geghard ('Spear' translated from Armenian). It is a unique complex of churches carved into the mountain and linked to each other by a series of tunnels and caves. At the end of the tour, you will be transferred to Airport for taking flight.

If you like you can extend the night.

Includes

• Arrival airport transfer from Istanbul Ataturk airport
• 3 nights hotel in Istanbul
• 3 open buffet breakfasts
• Guided Istanbul city tour
• Guided Istanbul Bosphorus cruise and shopping tour
• Return transfer to Istanbul Ataturk airport
• Arrival airport transfer from Yerevan airport
• 4 nights hotel in Yerevan
• 4 breakfasts and 4 dinners
• Guided Yerevan City tour and Etchmiatsin
• Guided Khor Virap Monastery tour and Wine Factories
• Guided Lake Sevan tour
• Armenian bread making ceremony
• Armenian souvenir
• All entrance fees mentioned in the itinerary
• Transportation in a fully air-conditioned, non-smoking coach
• Professional English-speaking tour guides
• Return airport transfer to Yerevan airport

Excludes

• International flights
• Visas

Notes

Haghia Sophia Museum is closed on Monday; replaced with Underground Cistern.
Topkapi Palace is closed on Tuesday; replaced with Beylerbeyi Palace
Grand Covered Bazaar is closed on Sunday
Beylerbeyi Palace Close on Monday and Thursday

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