Goris

Aksel Bakunts was a famous Armenian writer. The house museum is worthy of a visit regardless whether you are a fan of his writing, as it's an interesting example of what a traditional home would have looked like in his time. The surrounding neighbourhood sports plenty of 19th century houses. The museum also organizes traditional Samovar tea drinking workshops where they show how to use a samovar and tell about its origins and uses.

The museum has an impressive collection of over 5,000 ethnographic and archaeological objects that tell the story of the region's rich cultural heritage, history, and traditions. One of the most prominent pieces is a five-faced idol that dates back to the 2nd millennium BCE.

This church is dedicated to Gregory the Illuminator, the patron saint of Armenia. Built in 1897-1904, it was consecrated in 1903 by Catholicos Khrimian Hayrik and opened the following year without a dome or altar. The coming of the Soviets resulted in it being closed in 1926. Until the 1960s, the church was used to store grain and as a geological museum. In December 1989, the church was reopened, still in an unfinished state. Between 1984 and 1997, the dome and a holy altar were completed, and after being blessed on 20 December 1997, it's fully operational today. Before the dome was added, the church was 12 metres high, but today, with dome and the cross, it is 28 metres high.

Until the 1950s, people lived in those caves still, and this was an active cave village, so be careful who you call a caveman around here!

A couple of kilometres off the main highway is the little known and less visited monastery of Bgheno Noravank. Easy to miss the turnoff, and just consisting of a couple of chambers, it's a good spot for a break if you're on a long drive.

At a height of 1,400-2,800 m above sea level with an area of 18.5 km². Caucasian grouse, roe deer and brown bear are among the notable animals in the sanctuary. With the closeness of the sanctuary to Azerbaijan and actually spreading across the border, get up to date information of border safety when heading there.

Besides being a hotel, Yeghevnut also organizes various cooking classes on traditional Armenian dishes both savory and sweet. The recipes are mostly the ones inherited from the hotel owner's grandmother. They also have an old tradition of beekeeping and organize beekeeping and beeswax handcream making workshops. You can take your cream with you or possible buy one from them if not planning on taking the class.

Loby Goris is a family owned cozy restaurant. The house itself is almost 100 years old and is adjacent to Goris. They serve many dishes that you can pre-order and a special one named Goris tolma that you can also take a class to learn to prepare. While common tolma in Armenia is wrapped in wine leaves, in Goris it can also be wrapped in bean leaves (Goris is famous for its beans). The meat recipe is also different. All-in-all, you need to try it for yourself.