Hospitable and sunny Armenia traditionally attracts tourists with delicious dolm, juicy barbecue, young grenade wine, strong cognac and, of course, rich cultural and historical heritage. People who are not familiar with Armenia personally come from the natural attractions of the republic to mind Lake Sevan – the largest and most popular reservoir in the Caucasus. But on the territory of this compact country there are other points worthy of attention – picturesque waterfalls are scattered throughout Armenia. Some of them are inaccessible and require special preparation when visiting, it is easy to get to others in a passenger car, but all of them, of course, should be seen.
How to get
To get to Armenia, Russian citizens do not need a visa and even a foreign passport, and a ticket from Moscow with a return back will cost only 12,000 rubles*. To see the most beautiful waterfalls, it is best to rent a car. The rental cost starts at 2100 rubles* per day. To visit all the waterfalls, which will be discussed in the article, will need at least four days.
Waterfall Torchekan
Three hours of driving from Yerevan on the border between the Shirak and Lorian regions, Torchekan is located (40.9163366, 44.1157773). This powerful 23-meter cascading waterfall on the Chichkhan River surrounded by stormy greenery and embossed rocks in the warm season resembles the landscapes of Iceland.
He owes his name trout, which at the time of spawning goes against the current and jumps out of the water directly above the flowing streams, which is why from the Armenian “triple” translates as “jump”. And also the area of the waterfall – the habitat of many rare ritual birds that sing in votes unusual for the Russian ear.
The road from Yerevan or Gyumri is comfortable, it reaches almost to Torchekan itself, even a passenger car will pass through it without any problems. Not far from the waterfall, you can see Chichkhanavank – the oldest sanctuary of the Lorian region dated to the VII century.
Jermuk and Shaki
Jermuk waterfalls (39.8365564, 45.6681759) and Shaki (39.5518789, 45.9931415) are located away from Yerevan to the east, so they can be visited in one day, provided that the departure will be early.
Jermuk is a waterfall unique to Armenia: the fact is that he is in the center of a small town of the same name and is his main attraction. The city itself is a well -known alpine balneological resort that is famous for healing mineral water and hot springs. It may seem amazing, but the water of the 68-meter cascade remains ice even in summer heat. Strictly speaking, Jermuk is more like a water science: one of the steep slopes of the Arpi gorge, which shares the whole city, hissing and wriggling, draining the water, recalling long scattered hair. Therefore, the second name of the waterfall is “The hair of the mermaid”. Having risen from the gorge, you can take a walk around the resort part of the city and try in the gallery of mineral water.
If Jermuk is a city waterfall, ennobled, then his neighbor Shaki (only one and a half hours of a leisurely driving east) is wild and free, although it works on a schedule. Very small, about 30 meters wide and 18 meters in height, this picturesque waterfall scatters along the steep slope of the walls of rattling jets during the hours when the hydroelectric power station does not work upstream. Usually, regardless of the Shaki season, you can find “turned on” until 11 in the morning and after five in the evening. In the era of free travels, foreign tourists loved this nice waterfall, as it is convenient and easy to get to it: one and a half kilometers from the highway to organized parking along the country road will pass, and leaving the car, you need to go about 400 meters along the path. Not far from Shaki is the ancient observatory “Stone Bouquet”, more than 6,000 years old. Locals call her Armenian Stonehenge because of similar stone forms similar to the British monument. In addition, in the area of the waterfall, you can also detect with caution by many paleolithic caves and grottoes. And the journey to Jermuk and Shaki is successfully combined with a visit to the tatev high -mountain monastery, which is located 60 kilometers from the second waterfall.
Waterfalls of the Gagarot River
Another full day will take a hiking to the waterfalls of the Gagarot River. This is small, only 28 kilometers in length, the river originates from the crater of the Aragats Mountain and in its course forms several beautiful cascades, which are the highest -hill waterfalls of Armenia. The largest of them, about 17 meters high, is usually called the Gegarrot waterfall (40.4998336, 44.2063869). The lactic yellow color of water is explained by a large amount of clay and looks very contrasting against the background of burgundy-red stones of its channel. Downstream, there is another small waterfall, and the landscapes around are fascinated by their beauty: it is not for nothing that Aragats is considered the favorite and most visited place of Armenia among fans of foot tours and climbing the mountains. The path to Gegarot from Yerevan will take about an hour on a car, it is necessary to indicate the Kari Lake as an destination. There you can leave the car and continue to get on foot paths. The route does not seem difficult, but still requires certain experience and preparation. It is worth noting that in winter the waterfall freezes, and the path to it becomes several times more difficult and dangerous, so it is possible to bring it on a route without fears only in the warm season.
Vaagn and asthik waterfalls
Surprisingly, such a small country as Armenia has more than two dozen national parks and state reserves. One of them – the oldest in the world – the Khosrovsky forest located in the province of Ararat, stores on its territory many monuments of cultural heritage, including the famous Temple of Garni and the ancient fortress of Kakawababer. In addition, there are four waterfalls on its territory, but tourists are more often attracted by two of them – VAGN (40.0906380, 44.8121565) and asthik (40.0893366, 44.8168863), called the names of ancient pagan gods and located several hundred meters from each other. The first one, who received the name of the god of thunder and war, is broken by a narrow powerful stream from a steep cliff about 10 meters high and breaks against flat stones below. Asthik, named the goddess of beauty and fertility – a more smooth, empty, flows along the stone steps formed by a rocky slope into a transparent pool at the foot. The waterfall is drowned in the greens of trees and shrubs bent to the flows. You can only get to Vaagng and Asthik on foot, since vehicles are prohibited across the reserve.
Kasakh waterfall
The one who is in Armenia in the spring will have a unique chance to look at the disappeared waterfall – Kasakh (40.3363128, 44.3910527). Once the highest in Armenia, today, due to the construction of the hydroelectric power station, most of the year it flows through the pipe. But the spring water clutch again fills the dry channel, and from the 70-meter height of the picturesque gorge, stormy noisy streams rush down into the Kasah River.
The country of high mountains, deep gorges and stormy rivers, Armenia has about thirty waterfalls. Visiting some of them is an obligatory program for everyone who wants to get to know the rich and beautiful nature of this earth.
With ideas for the upcoming vacation, our project “where to go” will help you. You choose a month and city of departure, and we offer the most interesting and affordable options – with ticket prices and information about restrictions for tourists.
*Prices are valid at the time of publication
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