This is a comprehensive tour of key sites in this beautiful, mountainous and slightly mysterious country. The quality and range of birds was excellent with the bonus of a distant Brown Bear sitting with cub at one mountainous site for our group. Hasmik was a very knowledgeable and affable guide and all drivers used experienced. Accommodation was varied and of a good standard, food both interesting and varied and the people welcoming. Well organised and a recommended destination that will be fondly remembered.
P.S. Suffolk



Tour Itinerary and Reports
Can I help you?
Armenia in Spring
Tour Code: ARM01A 9-day tour to Armenia, a hidden gem of the Caucasus region
£2,995 (Inc flights)
£2,495
Highlights
Tour Itinerary and Reports
Can I help you?
Quick Enquiry
Summary
We begin our holiday at Mount Aragats, where we’ll look for such species as Caucasian Black Grouse, White-throated Robin, Horned Lark and the distinctive local race of Bluethroat. Next, we head to the Armash Fish Ponds, Armenia’s premier wetland region, which teems with birds such as Pygmy Cormorant, White-winged Black Tern and Glossy Ibis. Next, we will be based for two nights at Yeghegnadzor, where we’ll look for montane species such as Red-fronted Serin and Caspian Snowcock. We’ll then spend two nights at Dilijan exploring Lake Sevan en route; Sevan is the country’s largest lake and a nesting site for the rare Armenian Gull. Flycatchers, redstarts and warblers should provide a fitting finale to our holiday.
- Radde’s Accentor, Rock Thrush and White-winged Snowfinch
- Lammergeier and Levant Sparrowhawk plus several eagle species
- Marbled, White-headed and Ferruginous Ducks among a host of other wetland birds
- Moustached, Great Reed, Paddyfield, Menetries’ and Upcher’s Warblers
- Colony of Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters near Armash Fish Ponds
- Look for Crimson-winged Finch, Wallcreeper, Ortolan Bunting and Rose-coloured Starling
- Semi-collared and Red-breasted Flycatchers, Roller and Lesser Grey Shrike
Grading
Slow-paced day walks but in this mountainous country some of the walking will inevitably be on paths of varying steepness.
Nestling in the snow-capped Caucasian Mountains and overlooked by Mount Ararat just over the border in Turkey, Armenia is one of Europe’s best kept birding secrets. Despite its small size, not much bigger than Wales, and the fact that it is landlocked, this former Soviet Republic is home to over two-thirds of Europe’s regularly occurring bird species including many that are rare or difficult to find elsewhere.
Caucasian Black Grouse and Caspian Snowcock are found in the high mountains as well as a very good selection of more widespread alpine species such as White-winged Snowfinch, Eurasian Crimson-winged Finch, Alpine Accentor and Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush. Juniper scrub below the snowline holds Radde’s Accentor, Ring Ousel and Bluethroat, (the latter like many other species in the Caucasus, a very distinctive local subspecies). Broadleaf woodland further north resounds to the song of Caucasian Chiffchaff, Green Warbler and both Semi-collared and Red-breasted Flycatchers while the gorges and mountain steppe landscape nearer the Turkish border provide habitats for White-throated Robin, Finsch’s Wheatear, Menetries’ and Upchers Warblers plus many other predominantly Middle Eastern species which reach their northern limit here. The fishpond complex at Armash is renowned for its breeding populations of White-headed, Marbled and Ferruginous Ducks plus Pygmy Cormorant, White-tailed Lapwing and many others species; this area is also a magnet for migrants and is also home to a small colony of Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters.
Throughout this largely unspoilt and sparsely populated country, bird of prey populations remain healthy with several species of eagle to be expected and we have a good chance of encountering Lammergeier and Levant Sparrowhawk. Our nine day tour covers each of the country’s main habitat types but being such a small country, with generally good infrastructure, travelling times between areas are short allowing us to maximise the amount of time spent in the field. While our primary focus is on the regional specialities of the Armenian Caucasus we are sure to see a very good cross section of more widespread European species too.
Outline Itinerary

What's Included?
- Flights
- Accommodation:
Accommodation will be in a mixture of standard tourist hotels where each room will have private facilities, and local ‘home-stay’ guest houses in rural areas where toilet and washroom facilities may be shared. A limited number of single rooms will be available.
- Food:
All food is included in the tour from breakfast on Day 2 to breakfast on Day 9. Any meals eaten in transit at the airports are not included.
Reviews
Dates & Prices
2024
Prefer to Travel in a Private Group?
For any interested natural history club or society, we can arrange for a private departure of this tour.
Enquire
Why Naturetrek?
At Naturetrek we craft expertly-guided group and tailor-made wildlife holidays and cruises to all seven continents. On one of our holidays, you can be assured that our passionate team will enable you to experience and enjoy the best of the world's wildlife and natural spectacles in as comfortable and rewarding a manner as possible, caring as best we can for the environment in the process. We are proud to provide:
- The widest choice of wildlife holidays worldwide
- Tours managed and led by naturalists, for naturalists
- Outstanding value and exceptional customer service
Furthermore, as a Naturetrek client, our office team are always to on hand to help you – so if you have any queries about your holiday, whether before or after you have booked, we will be delighted to answer them on the phone. Please just give our team a call!