Adventure
Lori
Built in 1977, this cable car linked lower Alaverdi, near the copper smelter, with the upper Sarahart district during Soviet times, crossing over the Debed Canyon. It carried miners, students and local residents. After being damaged by a lightning strike in May 2014, the cable car was repaired, but it closed for good on March 1, 2016. Today it is no longer possible to ride the cable car. Instead, you can continue your journey to Sanahin Monastery.
Adventure
Lori
Dzoraget — Armenian for "gorge-river" — rises in the Bazum Mountains and cuts a canyon up to 300 meters deep on its way to join the Debed River near Dzoragyugh. Wow Glamping, in nearby Dsegh village, offers guided and independent horseback rides through this stretch of the Lori countryside. What people can do there: Ride out from Dsegh into the Dzoraget valley on a guided or independent horseback trip suitable for beginners
Adventure
Lori
Armenia's first mountain bike park, set in the forested hills near Mount Pambak outside Vanadzor, opened in October 2022 with support from the EU, German development agency GIZ, UNDP, and the Vanadzor municipality, after being founded by Emma Petrosyan and Vaghinak Karapetyan. It centers on the Caucasus's first purpose-built pump track alongside groomed cross-country and downhill trails. What people can do there: Ride the free pump track or rent a bike for the park's green and blue machine-groomed trails — complete with berms, bridges, and jumps — past a botanical garden and abandoned Soviet-era structures, join a guided weekly tour, or stay over at the on-site café and campground/bungalow.
Adventure
Lori
The Debed flows through a deep gorge in Lori Province past the UNESCO-listed monasteries of Haghpat and Sanahin, and several operators now run rafting trips along a roughly 10–12 km stretch of the canyon, mixing calm water with rapids up to class 4.4 in early season. What people can do there: Raft a stretch of the Debed with a guide, jacket, and helmet provided, take breaks for river jumping or sliding along the way, and — depending on the trip — pass in view of Haghpat and Sanahin monasteries
Cultural
Kotayk
Built in 1957 to a design by architect Rafayel Israyelyan, this arch stands near Voghjaberd village on the Yerevan–Garni road. It is said that in the mid-1950s the architect noticed this remarkable view of Mount Ararat on the road to Garni and decided to frame it with an arch. The arch bears the name of Yeghishe Charents, who perished during the Soviet repressions in 1937. Lines from Charents' poem "I Love My Sweet Armenia..." are carved into the basalt and tuff arch. You can take photos here with Mount Ararat in the background.
Food
Kotayk
Kotayk Brewery was founded in 1974 in Abovyan and began large-scale production in 1978. The brewery produces about 500,000 hectolitres of beer a year under the Kotayk, Kotayk Gold, Erebuni, Urartu and Moskovyan brands, making it one of the largest breweries in Armenia.
Cultural
Kotayk
In 1985, Levon Arakelyan began digging an ordinary potato cellar under his house in Arinj village, near Yerevan. But he kept working for another 23 years, using only a hammer. According to various accounts, he was inspired by recurring dreams. By the time of his death in 2008, he had created seven interconnected chambers with a total area of about 300 square metres, reaching a depth of about 21 metres. The underground space features sculpted columns, religious niches and a prayer room. Today the site is cared for by his widow, Tosya, who often guides visitors herself. Here you can descend about 80 steps into the hand-dug chambers and see the sculpted columns, the niches and the prayer room, where visitors light candles and make a wish. You can also see Levon's tools, clothing and awards.
Adventure
Kotayk
With a fourth line added in 2006, Tsaghkadzor's ropeway climbs Mount Teghenis from about 1,970 meters to 2,819 meters across five lifts in around 32 minutes, making it the backbone of Armenia's main ski and mountain resort. What people can do there: Ride up for sweeping views that reach Lake Sevan from the second station and, on clear days, Mount Ararat; use it for skiing and snowboarding access in winter with equipment rental available; and in other seasons, combine the ride with horse rides, ATV or buggy rides, and cafés at the stations
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