Day Trip to Armenia Including Homemade Lunch

"Day trip to Armenia" from Tbilisi literally was ALL day, ca. 11-12 hours (including lengthy border crossings and morning check-in with Gamarjoba Georgia Tours). However it proved to be outstanding, thanks to one of the best & most informative guides (Zurab/Metro) we'd had on our 2 week Georgia/Armenia trip, and an over-the-top, bountiful, healthy, and delicious home-cooked Armenian lunch (our conclusion is that Armenian food ranks with the best cuisines of the world). We were a bit put off by the check-in process - a LOT of people starting their tours in a small office (with a toilet available, thankfully), giving the sense of chaos. However, the check-in itself proved to be quick & smooth. Thankfully there was just one Armenia tour so we connected with our sign-holding guide once it was time to embark. We had a comfortable bus, but we were one of 17 people, mostly young, perhaps 30-40 somethings (we are septuagenarians), very international, 7 countries. We even left a little early, which was a good thing because the border crossing from Georgia to Armenia took a LONG time (we'd done this before so we knew what to expect; this was our last outing on our Georgia/Armenia trip). We had done an 11-day small group (7 participants) tour of Armenia/Georgia, but booked this day trip separately and took it after our group tour had concluded, because it included a section of NW Armenia with some World Heritage sites which weren't included in our 11-day group tour. We are SO glad we did this. We lucked out with perfect weather (date of tour was Oct 3), and I had a good seat right by Zurab and thus heard most of what he said (I am hearing impaired) - he was VERY informative, speaking clearly and cogently. In the course of our group tour we had many very good guides but Zurab was the best speaker/educator of them all. We visited 3 church/monastery complexes, ranging from strong Georgian influence to mixed Georgian/Armenian to mostly Armenian. All were in splendid mountain settings. We also visited an oddball airplane museum (we could only view from outside as the gate was locked that day) and had a final stop to view a copper factory from a bridge. That last sounds strange but the setting was beautiful and it was a good break before the long journey back to Tbilisi (with a faster border crossing, thankfully). There was a stop at a supermarket with a place to exchange money en route, soon after the border crossing into Armenia. The opportunity to buy snacks was important as lunch was very late, perhaps 1:30 pm? (the check-in process had started at 8:30 a.m.) However, that lunch was one of the best we'd had in Armenia, and we'd already had several outstanding Armenian home-cooked lunches thanks to our previous 11-day group tour. I LOVE Armenian food - very healthy and fresh, with lots of vegetables, somewhat similar to middle eastern, but with different complex spicing. There was one "blip" - on our first border crossing, we almost left one of our group behind. Luckily I had been talking to that young man (he was from Jordan, traveling alone) while waiting in the very long passport control line, noticed he wasn't on the bus, and informed Zurab. After that incident, I could see Zurab counting the # of people on the bus before leaving each stop. WHEW!

Our recent trip to Armenia was a delightful experience. The tour guide, David, provided exceptional assistance and facilitated the border crossing process. The homemade lunch was both delicious and compliant with Halal dietary restrictions. We had the opportunity to visit several beautiful locations and met friendly individuals from various countries, including Brazil, Japan, and China. We express our sincere gratitude for the memorable experience.

Amazing trip to Armenia with Gamarjoba Georgia Tours, great organization, everything is done well, on-time, clear information in the email, bus is clean with WiFi. Our guide Katrina spoke good English, she was knowledgeable, great stories, David, driver, navigated very well the roads of Armenia. I strongly recommend trips with Gamarjoba Georgia!

It was my first tour ever and I can say for sure that I would do it again. David's knowledge regarding the region was amazing.

Itinerary was well planned, we had ample time at each attraction spot. Our guide Luka had been really informative and entertaining making the tour really enjoyable. Local Armenian cuisine hosted by Anush was a delightful experience.