Vayots Dzor

The Vayots Dzor marz is in the centre of Armenia, with its largest urban centre, Yeghegnadzor, situated 123 km from Yerevan.

Vayots Dzor has one of the most rugged landscapes in Armenia, with vegetation struggling to cling to the towering rock cliffs. Once teeming with forests, the upper slopes of the region are blanketed in alpine meadows, turning to a sea of grass and wildflowers in the spring and shades of burnt amber in the summer. Hiking and camping aficionados will enjoy the unforgiving terrain and relative remoteness of the trails that lead to abandoned villages, sites of medieval and Bronze Age ruins, and far-flung seasonal shepherd outposts set up by local Armenians and Yezidis. Walking among the spectacular rock formations cut like diamonds by the Arpa River is not just an above-ground experience, as Vayots Dzor also contains some of Armenia’s largest caves.