Arriving into Baku in the morning, you will be transferred to the hotel.
In the afternoon, visit one of the country’s oldest oil fields in the Absheron Peninsula and the Ateshgah Zoroastrian Fire Temple before returning to Baku.
Explore the winding alleys of old mosques, caravanserais and overhanging wooden balconies in the Old City of Baku, including the Icheri Sheher which date back to the 15th century, Maiden Tower, Shirvanshah Palace Complex, medieval Market Square and Caravanserai. Visit Synyk Kala Minaret, the city’s oldest building completed in 1093. Continue to the Museum of State Carpet and the Martyr’s Lane.
You will also visit the famous house of the Nobel Brothers at Villa Petrolea and enjoy an exclusive black caviar tasting with champagne at the Nobel Museum, usually not open for the public.
Get ready to travel back in time to ancient Baku. Visit the rock art engravings of Gobustan (UNESCO). Leaving Baku, we drive 296km over mountainous countryside to Sheki.
En route, we stop at Daribaba Mausoleum, Shemakha which serves as the former capital of Shirvan Khanate, Djuma Mosque and the royal mausoleum of Yeddi Gumbaz.
After visiting Sheki Khan Palace (UNESCO), we cross the border into Georgia. We will visit the 18th-century royal town of Signaghi, surrounded by the region’s longest defensive walls with 23 towers, as well as the Bodbe Nunnery.
Continue to the Lagodekhi National Park for a short hike.
After driving to Tbilisi overnight.
We start exploring the Georgian capital. Destroyed and rebuilt nearly 30 times, it is today one of the most lively and cosmopolitan cities in the Caucasus. Walk through the narrow streets and inner courtyards, and stroll down Rustaveli Avenue, the main thoroughfare. Visit Metekhi Church of the Virgin, which was rebuilt in the 12th and 13th centuries; Sioni Cathedral in the town centre, the main cathedral of Tbilisi, and seat of the Catholics of the Georgian Orthodox Church and the history museum. An on-site lecture by a historian will also be given at the Georgian National Arts & History Museum.
In the afternoon, Gori, infamous as the birthplace of Josef Stalin, and have lunch before visiting the Stalin Museum. A private lecture by a historian will be given in the museum. Then proceed just outside the town to visit Uplistsikhe cave town, developed to service the trade route from India to the west in the 1st millennium BC. The town is a complex of rock-cut streets, residences, churches, secret tunnels, water passages, markets, and the oldest theatre in Georgia, all hewn out of the mountain side. Return to Tbilisi.
Today’s excursion is to the haunting David Gareja monastery complex, set in the semi-desert on the border with Azerbaijan, 140 km or about 2 hour’s drive from Tbilisi. This complex of rock-cut cave monasteries and churches was founded in the 13th century by the Syrian Fathers, a group of monks from Assyria who came to Georgia to help with the establishment of Christianity. Many of the caves bear ancient frescoes. We have time for about 2 hours of hiking to visit two of the monasteries, enjoying a picnic lunch before returning to Tbilisi.
Today we drive north along the Georgian Military Highway. Completed in 1817 to link Georgia with Russia this has long been an important military and economic route through the mountainous region. About 45 minutes out of Tbilisi, we stop to visit Ananuri, the beautifully sited 16th-century fortress complex with its exquisitely carved churches; then continue into the Caucasus Mountains for another 1 hour to Gudauri, Georgia’s top ski resort.
After a brief rest to take in the mountain scenery, we continue for a 1½ drive through alpine meadows and mountain passes littered with medieval watch towers to Kazbegi. Here we take an hour and a half walk up to the Tsminda Sameba Church, perched in a beautiful, solitary spot high above the village of Kazbegi, one of Georgia’s iconic sights.
Return to Gudauri for dinner and check into your hotel.
Drive about 2 hours back to Tbilisi. From here it is an hour to the border crossing to Armenia at Sadakhlo. After the immigration formalities, meet your Armenian guide and driver.
Drive another 30 minutes to Dzoraget, along the Debed River nestled among the forest-covered hills. Check-in to the Avan Dzoraget hotel, built in 2004 but designed to evoke the historical atmosphere of a medieval Armenian castle. Take the rest of the day to stretch, unwind and relax. Check into your hotel for 1 night.
This morning we backtrack slightly to visit the 10th century monastic complexes of Sanahin and Haghpat, outstanding examples of medieval Armenian architecture and UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Visit the 8th century Sevanak monastery, built on the hill of what was once an island, turned peninsular as the lake level fell. The view over the lake and surrounding mountains is marvelous and well worth the windy climb up the steps.
Continue driving another 30 minutes to Dilijan, Armenia’s mountain resort area, to check in a local accommodation for the night.
Visit the preserved 19th-century street and buildings of Old Dilijan, and visit the Gohsavank complex in the woods, founded in the 11th century.
Then drive towards Lake Sevan. Enroute we stop to visit the caravanserai at Selim pass, built in 1332, and also visit Noraduz, an ancient cemetery with khachkars (‘cross-stones) dating back to the 6th century. Drive along the shore of Lake Sevan, the biggest lake in the Caucasus, occupying a full 5% of the area of this small country, and stop at Sevanavank.
Arrive in Goris for dinner and overnight.
Drive to the South of Armenia to visit Khor Virap Monastery, in the Ararat Valley against the spectacular backdrop of Biblical Mt Ararat. Although the complex we see today mostly dates from the 17th century, it is built over the 4th-century site of the imprisonment of St Gregory the Illuminator in a pit for 12 years. Next visit is to Noravank Monastery. Then drive to Tatev Monastery, above the beautiful Vorotan Canyon.
Then continue to Yerevan for dinner and check in at your hotel.
After breakfast start on a city tour, including a visit to the Memorial Park and the Museum of the Armenian Genocide. Then drive to Echmiadzin, the seat of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Visit the ancient cathedral, on the site where St Gregory the Illuminator was first built in 301-303 AD, also visit the Zvartnots ruins from the 7th century. Both Echmiadzin and Zvarnots are UNESCO World Heritages.
Return to Yerevan for dinner.
Make an excursion to cover several highlights. Visit the UNESCO World Heritage Geghard monastery, rock-cut from caves, producing some beautiful acoustics. Then continue to Garni, a pagan Hellenistic temple in a picturesque setting, and have lunch at a local house.
Return to Yerevan, and visit the Armenian History Museum, whose collection includes important relics from Stone Age to the Medieval periods. Also visit the spectacular Cascade complex, which houses one of the world’s greatest collections of modern glass sculpture.
