Yerevan is built largely from pink and orange volcanic tuff, giving the city a warm glow that is especially striking around Republic Square and the open air Cascade complex, where a long staircase doubles as a modern art gallery. On clear days the snow capped peak of Mount Ararat rises dramatically beyond the city skyline, even though the mountain itself lies just across the border.
Just forty five minutes south of the capital, Khor Virap monastery sits on a small hill with what is widely considered the closest and most photogenic view of Ararat anywhere in the country. The site is also historically significant, built where Gregory the Illuminator, who later brought Christianity to Armenia, was once imprisoned in a pit.
Garni and Geghard are usually visited together as a half day trip east of Yerevan. Garni is a striking colonnaded temple from the pre Christian era, perched above a dramatic gorge, while Geghard is a monastery partly carved directly into the surrounding cliff face, with chambers that still carry the sound of Armenian liturgical chants during services.
Lake Sevan, one of the largest high altitude lakes in the world, offers a completely different landscape of open water framed by mountains. The Sevanavank monastery sits on a small peninsula overlooking the lake and is an easy stop on the way further north, while the shoreline is popular with visitors for swimming and boat rides in the warmer months.
Travelers with more time often continue south to Tatev, where the Wings of Tatev cable car crosses a deep gorge to reach a clifftop monastery, and to Noravank, known for its narrow red rock canyon and dramatic multi story church. Dilijan National Park, sometimes nicknamed Armenia's Switzerland for its forested hills and wooden architecture, rounds out a longer itinerary well.
Yerevan's center is compact and walkable, and most of the sites above can be reached on organized day trips, so even a week in Armenia leaves time to combine city life, ancient monasteries and mountain scenery without feeling rushed.