Barbeque Festival in Armenia - August/September, 2025

When it comes to Armenian cuisine, nothing can beat the rich and tasty flavors. The Armenian cuisine is full of various spices, greens and verdure, which grow only on the Armenian highlands.

Armenian cuisine is an art itself made up of delicious and organic meals for everyone …

This culinary tour in Armenia offers a hands-on enjoyable cooking classes where you will have the opportunity to learn different recipes from all regions such as homemade dolma, flavorful khorovats (barbeque), succulent meat and fish dishes, scrumptious and out-of-this-world desserts. With the help of professional chefs and/or a nonna (a grandmother who passes along family recipes and a passionate dedication to Armenian cuisine through generations) you will have many master classes and dive into the art of cooking Armenian dishes.
Your Armenian cooking holiday will also include wine, brandy and vodka tasting, visits to fruit and vegetable markets and local sites of interest. Let's start!!!
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Upon arrival at Yerevan Airport our representative will be waiting to welcome you at meeting point. Transfer to your hotel, check in and relax in the comfortable room with full facilities.
OVERNIGHT IN YEREVAN
 

Let’s start our acquaintance with the city of Yerevan by stepping through its ancient history at the Erebouni museum and Fortress, which was founded in 782 B.C. 
While we are driving we see many of the other remarkable landmarks in Yerevan as: Sports and Concert Complex, Kievian Bridge, Bagramyan Avenue, President’s Palace, Academy of Sciences, National Parliament, Opera Theater.
Visit to Tsitsernakaberd memorial and museum to the 1915 Genocide, which is one of the most impressive monuments in Yerevan. 

Next stop is Cascade, which is a huge white staircase built on the Yerevan hillside in the 1970s, with water fountains running down the sides, all reminiscent of a natural river or stream cascading. It connects the central district to Haghtanak Park -“Victory” Park to the center of the city. The structure has escalators so that it is unnecessary to manually ascend the stairs all the way to the top. 

Today you will enjoy a tour of the most enigmatic of cities, visiting the remarkable Matenadaran Library and Research Institute of Armenia which houses about 22000 rare manuscripts. This is one of the richest depositories of manuscripts and books in the world. 
 “NOY” ARARAT Brandy, Wine Factory:  “…one does not drink brandy, one derives pleasure from it.” We will have a sampling as we conclude our first day.
Free time in the evening to explore the wine bars and restaurants on Saryan Street.
OVERNIGHT IN YEREVAN
MEALS: Breakfast/Lunch
 

From early morning we’ll start our travel day by visiting Arakadzotn Region - this part of Armenia, especially Mt. Aragats has always attracted the attention of travelers, tourists and geologists due to a tremendous number of historical monuments and beautiful landscapes. 
Artashavan - Field of Armenian Alphabet: “It is difficult to express the deep feeling Armenians have for their language, which many regard as the lifeblood of their culture”. 
Saghmosavank (“Monastery of the Psalms'') is located in the village of Saghmosan, on the right bank of the Kasagh River. It used to be one of the richest and most prominent spiritual and cultural centers in the middle Ages.  
We will stop for lunch and taste traditional “lavash” (UNESCO) which is loved and famous all over the world. 
Our first task is to make Armenian bread - “lavash” (flat bread) ourselves. It is baked in a “tonir” (ground oven). It's not an easy task but the grandmother of the family, where we will experience the true hospitality of the Armenian people, will demonstrate and teach us all the techniques to bake this bread. 

 Today there is an opportunity to visit one of the other wineries in Armenia – producing 
“Armenian Wine” Winery – as they say “let’s discover Armenia in their wines with its indigenous grapes and terroir diversity”. Armenia is notorious for its ancient. Be prepared to taste a variety of wines and taste cheese and cold cuts.

Back to Yerevan and free evening

OVERNIGHT IN YEREVAN 
 MEALS: Breakfast/Lunch
 

We embark on our journey to the land of ancient treasures of Christian history - Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin (UNESCO) the "religious capital" and the seat of the Supreme Patriarch-Catholics of all Armenians. The story holds that the place where Noah made the fire after the flood is the site upon which the main Cathedral, one of the earliest Christian churches, was built. Nowadays, it is located in the lower chamber, underneath the main Altar of the Cathedral.
Then we will admire the Churches of Sts. Hripsime and Gayane (7th century) named after the faithful nuns, these churches are dedicated to these virgins, 3rd century followers of Christ who were martyred.
Next visit is to the Zvartnots Cathedral. The ruins of Zvartnots Cathedral are located on a flat plain within the Ararat Plateau between the cities of Yerevan and Etchmiadzin. Built in the middle of the 7th century, under the instructions of the Catholicos Nerses the III. 

OVERNIGHT IN YEREVAN
 MEALS: Breakfast/Lunch
 

Today we’ll drive to Lake Sevan -the emerald of Armenia, a blue-eyed beauty under the sky. Lake Sevan is one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world, situated at an altitude of 1,897 meters above sea level. The most picturesque view of Lake Sevan is seen from the peninsula atop which Sevan Monastery (9th c.) towers over the lake.  

Not far from Airivank Monastery on the shore of Lake Sevan is the settlement of Noraduz famous for its big khachkars (crosses-stones) cemetery. There are about 900 khachkars of various styles and epochs there. Noraduz Cemetery became one of the most visited and popular sights of the Gegarkunik region since it presents one of the largest collections of Armenian khachkars. The prominent feature of the majority of khachkars is the cross with a solar disk under it.
After we will visit a unique place for excellent cheese experience, Mikayelyan Family Farm where you will have a chance to see the Gourmet cheeses production (Master Class) and will taste variety of Chesse and wonderful flavors with a glass of wine.
Drive to Dilijan: “A piece of Switzerland in Armenia” - Earth and sky, woods and fields, rivers, the mountains are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn otherwise…
We’ll also visit Haghartsin and Goshavanq Monasteries (10-13th cc). The Cross Stones in Goshavanq are remarkable due to their special type of handcraft work, called "needle-made"- the pride of Armenian architecture. 

OVERNIGHT IN DILIJAN
MEALS: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
 

From the Tavush Region we’ll drive to Lori Region. You will truly enjoy the exceptional natural beauty on the way to Lori.
We will have a busy day full of sightseeing in Lori Province. First we’ll pass through Vanadzor city – the historical and modern center of Lori. Alaverdi - town in a canyon, located between Armenian and Georgian boarder. We are going to visit the wonderful monasteries Haghpat and Sanahin where artistic merits transcend the limits of the national culture (UNESCO). The two monasteries present the blossoming period of Armenian religious architecture between the 10th and 13th centuries. This unique style is a blend of Byzantine ecclesiastical architectural elements and the traditional vernacular Caucasian architecture.

OVERNIGHT IN ALAVERDY
MEALS: Breakfast/Lunch
 

Today is a special day as we will have another interesting event of Armenian traditional meal making – Khorvats (Barbeque) Festival in Akhtala. We will have a chance to witness all the various methods of making Armenian Barbeque: “Barbeque in the fireplace”, “Barbeque on the horizontal bar”, “Barbeque in ground oven”, etc. There will be various interesting events and contests in the festival such as competition for “The Best Taste”, “The Best Look”, “The Best Idea”, “The Best Traditional Barbeque”, etc. It’s going to be a fun day with music, dances and lots of food!

Akhtala Monastery is one of the unique monuments of Christian history and we will make sure to visit it. The Monastery was built back in 10th century and till today it’s very famous for its well-preserved murals. 
Return to Yerevan

OVERNIGHT IN YEREVAN
MEALS: Breakfast/Lunch

Today we will visit to Garni, the location of the rare pre-Christian pagan temple maintained in Armenia, dating from the 1st century AD is a splendid example of ancient architecture. 

In Garni and Geghard, you can also see many natural sights, the Azat canyon and Khosrov reserve are wonders of nature. They appear to be gigantic basalt “organ” in the rocks, where the stone symphony dies out.
Trip to Garni Canyon : “Symphony of stones” – some of the most dramatic scenery in Armenia. We may have an enjoyable walk down to the Garni gorge where one cannot help admiring basalt formations and natural beauty.

Today you will have the opportunity to follow the whole process of how one of the finest jewels of Armenian cuisine is crated in a tandoor from formlessd traditional table/lavash making: “Eat thy bread with joy”
Master Class of Traditional Armenian bread “ lavash” being baked in tonir (ground oven). The preparation, meaning and appearance of traditional bread as an expression of culture in Armenia has been inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. 
Back to Yerevan
We will complete our journey with a FAREWELL DINNER in a typical Armenian Traditional Restaurant with live Armenian music and Folk Dances!

OVERNIGHT IN YEREVAN
 MEALS: Breakfast/Dinner

Transfer to Yerevan Zvartnots International Airport
  
HAVE A SAFE FLIGHT!!!