Activities

Food

Brandy & chocolate pairing

Yerevan

The ARARAT Brandy Factory (Yerevan Brandy Company) museum preserves more than 120 years of Armenian brandy-making history, tracing the process from grape to cask to bottle. Tastings are typically paired with dark chocolate (often vegan) alongside other Armenian delicacies like dried fruit and nuts, meant to complement the brandy's notes of nuts, caramel, dried fruit, and spice. The museum offers guided tours in Armenian, Russian, English, French, and German, with three tasting tiers. What you can do there: tour the museum and cellars, and taste a flight of ARARAT brandies paired with chocolate and other snacks, in one of three packages: Standard (Three Stars + 7-year "Ani"), "ARARAT Flavors" (7-year Ani, ARARAT Apricot, ARARAT Coffee), or Advanced (10-year "Akhtamar," 15-year "Vaspurakan," 20-year "Nairi").

Food

GUM Market / Pak Shuka food market

Yerevan

GUM Market (also known as Gumi Shuka) is one of Yerevan's most-visited traditional food markets, taking its name from the nearby department store — GUM standing for the Soviet-era "State Department Store". Located behind Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral, it's a place to see and buy organic dairy products, fresh and dried fruit, vegetables, spices, sweets, jams, and honey, reflecting everyday Armenian food culture. What you can do there: browse and buy dried and candied fruits, nuts, spices, sujuk, fresh produce, honey, and other local foods, and get a feel for everyday Armenian market life.

Food

Lavash baking in a tonir

Kotayk

Lavash is the traditional thin Armenian flatbread, inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2014, traditionally baked by slapping rolled dough against the hot inner wall of a clay oven called a tonir. What you can do: Roll and shape traditional lavash dough by hand. Bake it against the wall of a tonir under a guide's instruction. Taste your own lavash with herbs, cheese, and compote afterward.

Food

Dargett craft beer tour & tasting

Yerevan

Dargett, opened in 2016, is Armenia's first craft beer house, brewing more than 20 types of craft beer on-site using modern brewing technology alongside traditional methods. Located on Aram Street in central Yerevan, it functions as a brewpub/restaurant where visitors can sample beer tasting flights alongside food. Yerevan Card holders can get a 15% discount on a brewery tour. What you can do there: sample a beer tasting flight across their 20+ house-brewed styles, take a brewery tour (discounted for Yerevan Card holders), and eat at the attached restaurant.

Food

EVN Wine Academy tasting

Yerevan

EVN Wine Academy is a wine school and tasting venue operated under ICARE (International Center for Agribusiness Research and Education) on Teryan Street in Yerevan, directed by Artur Grigoryan. It runs masterclasses and tasting sessions where guests sample four different Armenian wines while learning food-and-wine pairing basics, offered in English or Russian. What you can do there: join a guided masterclass tasting four Armenian wines with paired snacks, and learn the basics of food-and-wine pairing.

Food

Yerevan wine-bar crawl (Saryan St)

Yerevan

Martiros Saryan Street in Yerevan's Kentron district has become known as the city's "wine street," sometimes nicknamed "Yerevan's Montmartre." The transformation is largely credited to In Vino, which opened in 2013 as Armenia's first specialized wine club/shop/bar at 6 Saryan Street, with a collection that's grown to over 1,000 labels of Armenian and international wine. Its success drew other wine-focused venues to the same stretch, including Wine Republic (a larger bar with extensive food pairings and outdoor seating), Voskevaz Wine Time (a rustic spot for Voskevaz wines and small bites), and Enoteca (a boutique bar with curated tasting flights, artisan cheeses, and sommelier guidance). What you can do there: hop between several wine bars on one walkable street, sampling Armenian and international wines by the glass, pairing with cheese/charcuterie boards or Armenian snacks, and enjoying outdoor terrace seating on a lively evening street.

Food

Wine tasting at In Vino (Saryan St)

Yerevan

In Vino opened in 2013 as Armenia's first specialized wine club, shop, and bar, and is widely credited with turning Martiros Saryan Street into Yerevan's "wine street." Its collection has grown to more than 1,000 labels spanning top Armenian producers as well as wines from France, Italy, Spain, and beyond. The interior evokes a classic European enoteca, with floor-to-ceiling wooden wine racks and warm lighting, and guests can drink in or buy a bottle to go. The venue regularly hosts meet-and-greets with winemakers and themed tasting evenings. What you can do there: taste wine by the glass with guidance from the bartenders/sommeliers, pair with imported cheeses, cured meats, olives, nuts, or baguette sandwiches, sit on the summer terrace overlooking Saryan Street, attend a winemaker meet-and-greet if one's scheduled, or buy a bottle to take away.

Food

Noy Brandy-Wine Factory tour & tasting

Yerevan

The Noy brand is produced at the Yerevan Ararat Brandy-Wine-Vodka Factory. The on-site museum holds close to 900 exhibits related to the history and production of Armenian brandy, wine, and vodka, and offers guided excursions in Armenian, English, and Russian. Visitors touring the museum can pair their visit with a tasting of Noy brandies of different ages, priced according to which labels are included. Entry with brandy tasting, 5,000, 10,000, or 15,000 AMD depending on which brandies (and their age) are included in the tasting. Children under 9, free. Visitors under 18 cannot take part in tastings. What you can do: Tour the factory museum's nearly 900 exhibits on Armenian brandy, wine, and vodka production history.