Northern Armenia Life —
NORTHERN PART OF ARMENIA — (I were 48h in Gyumri and left due to a lack of activities in the city)
There were no article about Gyumri, because the city is empty and they spoke about Lights coming there (Somebody spoke to me in the Railway) there is nothing interesting to say for the second city of RA, Many company's closed and a city center Empty.
The Northern Part of Armenia is a Area with many Mountains and Majority are Small City's with Many Villages and Some City's, we will list Main city's Below.
- 1 Gyumri – Armenia's 2nd largest city which once dwarfed Yerevan. Small old town area still shows earthquake damage from 1988.
- 2 Vanadzor – Armenia's 3rd largest city with Soviet Armenian architecture, and vast industrial sections which have been largely left to disintegrate.
- 3 Alaverdi – This industrial mining town doesn't have a lot to offer, but there several beautiful monasteries in the vicinity of it: Sanahin Monastery, Haghpat Monastery.
- 4 Berd – The surrounding region is a hiker's and biker's paradise, waiting for someone to mark and publish the old trails that weave across the rolling hills, valleys and mountains.
- 5 Dilijan – The center of Armenia's "Little Switzerland" area, and very popular place for locals to get away from the city.
- 6 Dsegh — A village in Northern Armenia, which is especially famous thanks to its beautiful natural surroundings
- 7 Ijevan – With Makaravank Monastery nearby.
- 8 Noyemberyan – Small town near the border with Georgia, featuring 2 small nearby monasteries.
- 9 Pemzashen – The site of the USSR’s largest mine of pumice, and has 2 monasteries.
- 10 Spitak
- 11 – Known for the ruins of nearby Lori Fortress, and to a lesser extent for the house-museum of namesake Stepan Shahumyan.
- 12 Tumanyan – A cute little town with a nice town square which has stunning views of the Debed Gorge's cliffs. The town square holds the quirky little Tumanyan Matchbox Label Museum, and the Soviet-themed Flying Samovar Cafe.
Main CIty's of Northern Armenia :
-Lori and Tavush are some of the greenest parts of Armenia, with a lot of forests along bordering regions especially. The northernmost part of Lori had its history intertwined with Georgia's for many centuries. The north and northeast are also extremely rich in monasteries and other historic monuments. Days can be spent visiting and hiking to them. The whole area is great for hikers, with no fences, and lots of back country trails. Camping is acceptable just about anywhere.
Gyumri was devastated by an earthquake in 1988 and so was Spitak. Recovery was excruciatingly slow, but now things are for the most part restored - at least to levels of normalcy seen in other parts of Armenia. You will, however still notice earthquake damage in Gyumri.
How to Arrive :
-Each of the three Marzes has a main highway from Yerevan. One goes to Gyumri, one to Vanadzor-Alaverdi-Georgia, and the third to Dilijan-Noyemberyan-Georgia (via Lake Sevan). Options to get out to each of these regions is day trips/tours, renting a car, taking a taxi, or public transportation. Gyumri, Vanadzor and Dilijan are all no more than 1½-2 hours from Yerevan, and a day trip is easy. If you want to go beyond these cities though, it can become harder to fit it all into a day trip, and looking into spending the night becomes worthwhile.