Guide to the Yerevan City           Printable Version

Yerevan is the capital of Armenia with population over 1.2 million. Yerevan is one of the oldest continuously inhabited urban centers in the world. Its ancient history goes back to Erebuni, an ancient Urartian fortress established in 782 BC.

Yerevan city culture is unique and similar to European cities.
It is the perfect urban vacation spot with great restaurants, cozy cafes, active nightlife and active social life. The Armenian people's capital is like a jewel in the region where ancient culture is mixed with modern lifestyle and great traditions.
The center or downtown of Yerevan is around 1.8 miles across. The climate is dry and hot in summer and cold in winter. Summer temperatures reach 104 F, but shaded cafes and streets of the city are pleasant for walking even in the scorching heat. Yerevan is a very safe city with non-existent violent street crime. You can safely walk around the city at night and enjoy the surroundings. The best time to visit Yerevan and Armenia is from April to October.

Getting Around

The best way to get around the Yerevan is taxicabs. They are cheap and available at any time of the day. There is a price difference between taxis that are freely available on the streets and call taxi services. Call taxi services are cheaper and convenient. The service can be arranges by the phone in advance. Taxicab drivers know the city and arrive within 5-10 minutes. The cost is around 500 Dram ($1) in the downtown or within 1.8 miles and 150 Dram ($0.15) every mile after. Tips are not necessary, but the good taxicab driver deserves 250 Dram ($0.50) tip. Taxi service in Yerevan is exceptional and is a very convenient way to get around the city.

Another great way of exploring the downtown is walking. On the nice summer evening Yerevan streets are great for walking. The Mashtots Avenue and upper Abovian Street are shaded by big Planetrees that provide nice shade in summer and are pleasant for walks. You can get from Republic Square to Opera Square in about 10 minutes. The word of advice is to be a little careful when crossing the streets. Cars that belong to some government officials or local tycoons sometimes do not stop on the red light. In general, cars do not yield to pedestrians, just like in the New York City, so be extra careful and do not expect them to stop when crossing the street.

Driving a car in Yerevan is a torture just because of corrupt traffic police. You cannot drive even a half-mile without being shaken off by the traffic cop. The problem is that they will try to invent violation and accuse you in some stupid, nonexistent thing and ask for the bribe. The bribe is usually 1000 Dram ($2), but it depends on "violation". Traffic police is everywhere they do not stop government officials or local tycoons, because they are afraid of them. So the situation is unfair and it looks like the entire Armenian traffic police exist just to collect their miserable bribes from poor people and not protect the law. Fortunately, traffic police is the only annoying thing in Armenia.

General public transportation is mini-vans and busses, locals call vans "marshrutka". They are cheaper alternative to taxicabs and cost around 150 Dram ($0.15).

City Guide

The Republic Square is the central place of the Yerevan

Sayat Nova complex and the cozy cafe on the top.

Yerevan city center is the best place to be. The hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, galleries and parks are located in near proximity to each other. Socially active places in the Yerevan are parks around the streets in upper area of downtown. Cafes near Opera Square are great place to visit during the day or in lunchtime, evenings are crowded with teenagers. The nice, quiet places for cup of coffee are cafes near the Nairi Move Theater. There are so many open-air cafes in Yerevan that they deserve dedicated guide in our web site.

The major streets for the walks in Yerevan are Mashtots Avenue, Sayat Nova Avenue, Abovian, Tumanian, Terian and Moskovian streets. You can visualize the streets by visiting our city map.

To get familiar with the city you can start your walk on Mashtots Avenue. The avenue has many great restaurants, cafes and shops. The main attractions are Matenadaran the ancient manuscript museum, Opera Square, groceries market (Shuka), Blue Mosque and St. Sarkis church. The next interesting streets are Abovian and Tumanian. These streets are nice for evening walk and have many shaded cafes for an ice cream brake. Abovian Street has many attractions, hotels, restaurants, shops and historical buildings. Going down on Abovian Street, you will see the Republic Square, which is the focal point of the city. The square is surrounded by Armenian Government buildings, hotel and State Museum of Armenian History. If you are tired from the walk, stop by a nice café below the Armenia hotel for a very good espresso and cake. In the end of Sayat Nova Avenue you will find very good open air café on the top floor of the Sayat Nova complex.

Cascade fountain complex in summer afternoon.

The Victory Park and the Memorial of Mother Armenia

View from the top of the Cascade complex

Parks are plentiful in the Yerevan, the biggest one starts from Nairi Movie Theater and ends near St. Gregory cathedral. The area between Alec Manukian Street and Khanjian Street is a big park with trees and fountains.

Another place worth mentioning is the Cascade complex. It is an interesting structure with escalators going up to the Victory Park (Monument). You can use Cascade escalators free of charge and it is a much better alternative to climbing up the stares in summer heat. The Victory Park is on a mountain and has a scenic overlook to the entire downtown from above.

During the day you can visit two beautiful churches of Yerevan. The St.Sarkis church is located in the beginning of Mashtots Avenue and it is situated near Hrazdan gorge. The newly built St.Gregory cathedral is located on the crossroads of Tigran Mets Avenue and Khanjian Street. The cathedral has some unusual design, but looks magnificent from the Republic Square

The other interesting place in the downtown is Proshian Street. To try the best Armenian barbeque in the world go to the restaurants of Proshian. For more details on cafes and restaurants visit our dining guide.

If you need to get online or use a computer, use the Internet cafes that are abundant in Yerevan. There are two problems with most of them, dreadfully slow connections and cigarette smoke. Some underground small Internet cafes feel like a "gas chamber" not so different from city's bars in winter. The price of 1 hour of Internet usage is 200 Drams ($0.40). The best one can be found in downtown, it is the small Internet place on the corner of Sayat Nova and Marshal Bagramian Avenues, just by the flower shop on the corner. Another acceptable Internet café is on the second floor of the restaurant building in front of Yerevan Hotel on the Abovian Street.

For your shopping needs there are many grocery stores and open markets in the downtown. If you are looking for art or Armenian souvenirs then go to Vernissage on a weekend. Every Saturday and Sunday the park behind the Nalbandian and Khangian streets becomes a souvenir fair. Make sure to negotiate a better deal and you can get some discounts on gorgeous woodcarvings, pottery and hand made jewelry from Obsidian. A word of advice, please do not buy key chains or objects with insects or reptiles frozen in plastic. It is illegal to catch endangered animals and use them for the souvenirs in Armenia. Help us protect Armenia's unique wildlife.

On the weekends you will see a painting fair in the Sarian Park by the Kozirek café. When you are looking the Armenian cognac in Yerevan, the best places to shop are Ararat factory stores on Amirian Street and on Mashtots Avenue, in front of Nairi Movie Theater. The duty-free shop in the airport has cheaper prices and good selection of Ararat cognac as well. You can find detailed shopping guide in our shopping section.

Outside of the downtown there are many great things to see. The Hrazdan River gorge is beautiful and has many interesting restaurants to hide from the summer heat. Some of them have quite eclectic architecture and great food. You can get a nice table by the calm river and listen to the live music. Similar restaurants could be found on the Myasnikian Avenue not far from the National Zoo.

Other interesting places to visit outside of the downtown are the Genocide Memorial and Erebuni ancient settlement. The Genocide Memorial and Museum of the Armenian Genocide are in Tsitsernakaberd Park and were built to commemorate and mourn 1.5 million Armenians massacred by Ottoman Turks in 1915. Erebuni and Karmir Blur ancient settlements are open to visitors. The Erebuni citadel was founded by Urartian King Argishti in 782 BC.

Yerevan has very active social life. If you are looking for nightlife and live entertainment, there is a live music in some cafes like Sayat Nova, Poplavok, Triumph and many others. The nightclubs like Omega, Pioneer have interesting shows until 11pm, and then they start exotic dance and striptease show until 4-5 am. We have included reviews of some of the nigh clubs in our nightlife guide.

When you are in Yerevan do not forget to visit small holly town Ejmiatsin that is originated in the 7th century BC. Ejmiatsin is the seat of the supreme Catholicos, or primate, of the Armenian Apostolic Church. You will find beautiful churches, monasteries and interesting architecture in the town center.

St. Hripsime church in Ejmiatsin is magnificent

Holly Mother Cathedral of Ejmiatsin

From the Yerevan, take Admiral Issakov Avenue and go strait for 12 miles. You can hire a taxicab, which will cost you around $20 for the entire trip. Just before the airport you will see the flashy casino district and then another attraction on your way to Ejmiatsin are the ruins of Zvartmots cathedral. Near the entrance of the city you will find the one of most beautiful churches in Armenia, the St. Hripsime church. The church was built in 618 AD, but was restored in the last century. St. Hripsime has a small chamber in the basement where the coffin of virgin Hripsime laid to rest.
Next on the list to see is the Holly Mother Cathedral of Ejmiatsin. It was built in the 4th century and it is surrounded by Palace of Catholicos, museum, seminary, synod house, library, printing house and other structures. When inside the Ejmiatsin Cathedral visit the museum with ancient silver and gold treasures of Armenian Kings and church.
The third church to visit in Ejmiatsin is St. Gayane. It was built around 640-641 AD. According to the historians Gayane was martyred by the pagan Armenian King Trdat in the 4th century. The story describes that the Gayane led the Christian maiden Hripsime from Rome to the Ejmiatsin to escape the persecution of Diocletian and how their subsequent martyrdom eventually led to the conversion of the Armenians to Christianity

South of Ejmiatsin you will find lakes, swamps and rivers. The lakes and rivers are great place for fishing and for researching wildlife of Ararat valley.

We hope you will enjoy Yerevan and find our guide helpful addition to your trip. If you have your story about Yerevan or comments please send them to us, we will create section where our readers can post their own stories about Armenia.