You won’t see Armenia, or its capital city Yerevan, at the top of many ‘must visit’ lists, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a freakin’ awesome place that you need to see!
Armenia is not overrun by tourists and there are a lot of free and fun things to do in Yerevan. On top of that, it’s cheap, clean, modern, historical, green and probably any number of other adjectives you can think of.
The point is, Yerevan is a place that you should visit.
So, if you want to know what to do in Yerevan Armenia and get the answers to the following questions –
⭐ Is Yerevan worth visiting?
⭐ Is Yerevan walkable?
⭐ How many days is enough for Yerevan?
⭐ What is special in Yerevan?
⭐ What is Yerevan known for?
⭐ How do I spend a day in Yerevan?
read on and all shall be revealed!
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Entering Armenia By Air
After visiting a friend in Dubai, I got on a 700 AED (US$190) flight from Dubai to Yerevan with Fly Dubai.
If you don’t know about Fly Dubai, it’s the United Arab Emirates no frills airline.
On arrival, immigration staff were relatively friendly, but you can expect them to examine your passport closely.
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Of course the officer found my Azerbaijan stamp from a few years ago and asked why I went there. You see, Armenia and Azerbaijan are currently having a little spat about land.
Armenian Administration on Azerbaijani Land
The Artsakh Republic, formerly known as Nagorno-Karabakh, is a mostly non-recognised state administered by Armenia but claimed by Azerbaijan.
Armenian immigration will ask about your reasons for visiting Azerbaijan and will let you in if they’re satisfied with your reason.
With Azerbaijan, on the other hand, you’re on their permanent shit list if you enter Armenia.
Welcome to Yerevan, Do you Want a Taxi?
There is no way of getting out of the Yerevan airport without being asked if you want a taxi. You may even get approached by the same driver several times.
If taxis are your thing, then go for it, but it’s cheap and easy to get a marshrutka (minibus) from the airport to the city. It only costs 300 Armenian dram (US$0.75) and runs every 30 minutes.
Just pay the driver as you exit the van.
If you don’t like taxis or buses, you could always hire a car.
What to Do in Yerevan – See the Dogs of the City
When walking around the streets of Yerevan, you will see dogs. Many dogs.
If you visit in late autumn, when Yerevan weather is nice and cool, (around 10°C), most of the dogs just seem to be resting and unaware that there’s a whole city buzzing around them.
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They generally won’t approach people. In fact, they are normally quite indifferent.
Things to Do in Yerevan – Meet Russians and Hear Their Stories While Eating Cheap Food
Almost as soon as I got off the minibus, I met a very friendly Russian guy, Ilya, who was eager to practice English. He took me to a local canteen style eatery, which is where all the cheap meals, (1500-2000AMD or US$3.8-5), are at.
We ate with two more Russian guys, both named Roman. All three were from different cities; from St Petersburg to Siberia. They all had very similar stories.
They were fleeing conscription and they went to Armenia because people speak Russian there and the MIR Russian banking system is available.
Two had left families behind and didn’t know when they would see them again. They seemed surprisingly positive and upbeat about being able to start new lives abroad and bring their families over.
Cascade Yerevan – Free Things to Do in Yerevan
If you ask anyone in Yerevan about ‘must see’ places, the first one they mention will almost certainly be The Cascade. Sounds like a waterfall, right?
Nope!
Cascade Yerevan is a link between the city centre and the Memorial to the Soviet Armenian 50th Anniversary Monument Terrace on the hill 118 metres above.
Cafesjian Sculpture Gardens In Front of Cascade Yerevan
At the bottom of the complex, you’ll find the Cafesjian Sculpture Gardens.
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As you could probably guess, this area is full of manicured gardens and sculptures.
Cafesjian Centre For The Arts in The Cascade Yerevan Complex
Once you pass the sculpture gardens, you’ll be right in front of the Cascade Complex, where you’ll see a lot of stairs. 572 to be exact.
But don’t despair!
You can actually enter the building on the left side of the complex where you’ll find yourself in the Cafesjian Centre For The Arts.
The centre houses the Escalator Exhibition.
To be clear, it is not an exhibition about escalators, it’s an exhibition on multiple levels beside escalators.
If you don’t want to walk the 572 stairs, the escalators can take you almost all the way to the top of the complex.
Sculptures and Water Features at Cascade Yerevan
You can still see each level of the outside of the complex if you take the escalator as there is an exit point on each level.
There are new sculptures and water features on each level of the Cascade Yerevan Complex.
Although the water features seem to be turned off for the winter, they’re still quite impressive.
Once you get to the top of the complex, the Memorial to the Soviet Armenian 50th Anniversary Monument Terrace is within sight.
Unfortunately, you have to take the stairs from that point.
But make sure to pause and take in the lovely view over the city.
Things to Do in Yerevan – Memorial to the Soviet Armenian 50th Anniversary Monument Terrace
Just a few hundred metres walk from the top of the Cascade complex is the Memorial to the Soviet Armenian 50th Anniversary Monument Terrace.
Once you get to the terrace, you’ll be able to see the other half of the city, which is located on the hill.
You may even notice a bit of a change in the architecture between the two sides.
The terrace would also be a great place to see the sunset over the city.
Visit Mother Armenia – What to Do in Yerevan
If you look to the right once you reach the Memorial to the Soviet Armenian 50th Anniversary Monument Terrace, you can see a massive monument referred to as Mother Armenia.
Mother Armenia is a 22 metre tall statue, standing on top of a 29 metre pedestal, perched on the top of a hill.
So it would be fair to say that she is watching over the whole city and can be seen from many places in Yerevan.
Mother Armenia comes with bonus war paraphernalia. There’s even a three floor military museum inside her from Tuesday to Sunday.
You can get a pretty awesome view over the city from near Mother Armenia and it would be a great place to watch the sunset.
Get a View of the City – Free Things to Do in Yerevan Armenia
As already mentioned, you can get a great view over the city from –
→→ the top of the Cascade complex
→→ Memorial to the Soviet Armenian 50th Anniversary Monument Terrace
→→ Mother Armenia
You can walk to these spots pretty easily, but if you don’t like stairs, you could hail a taxi with the Yandex app.
Things to Do in Yerevan – Stroll Through a Park or Six
Yerevan has an amazing amount of green spaces in an around the city centre. You could probably spend a couple of days discovering them all.
Victory Park
From the Memorial to the Soviet Armenian 50th Anniversary Monument Terrace monument, you can take the pedestrian subway to cross the road to Victory Park.
The first thing you’ll see is an old gate. There is a park map just inside the gate, but it’s all in Armenian.
That doesn’t really matter, because the park is relatively easy to navigate.
Square of France
The Square of France is a rather interesting park in Yerevan.
It is a green area that stretches across all four sides of an intersection of two main roads.
It contains several smaller parks. One to the west of the intersection is called Park after Martiros Saryan while one to the east is called Park after Komitas.
The north of the square is across the road from the Cafesjian Sculpture Garden.
To the south is the Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall and the Armenian National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre.
Past the theatre, there is more green with an artificial lake called Swan Lake that has beach huts.
It appears that they drain the lake for the winter though.
Circular Park
As its name suggests, Circular Park is a semi-circular park.
It follows the curve of the road starting from near Square of France and ending near a the Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral.
Circular Park is definitely one of the more interesting parks in Yerevan
Children’s Park, Yerevan 2800th Anniversary Park and English Park
These three parks form a rectangle about a block from the end of Circular Park.
Aside from the fact that these parks are together, they couldn’t be any more different.
One has monuments and buildings in it. One has fountains and monuments. One has monuments and a mini funfair.
Cathedrals and Churches
The Saint Anna Church can be found just a block away from Square of France.
What is interesting about this church is that it was only built in 2014.
It was constructed behind the tiny 13th century Katoghike Church.
Then, near the end of Circular Park, you can see the Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral.
At 42 metres high, it is one of the biggest religious buildings in the South Caucasus.
Republic Square – What to Do in Yerevan
Republic Square is at the centre of Yerevan and is spread over the four sides of an intersection at a roundabout.
The side that contains the Museum of History of Armenia and the National Gallery of Armenia also has a singing fountain.
That fountain closes for the winter.
Things to Do in Yerevan – Find Your Inner Child at a Fun Fair
On the way to Mother Armenia, you’ll come across a semi-open amusement park. I presume it’s fully open in summer.
The stuff that is open, seems to be quite cheap, so it could be a nice place to spend a few hours.
There’s also a mini funfair in Children’s Park and another one near the end of Circular Park.
How to Get Around Yerevan
How to Get Around Yerevan
Yerevan is quite a walkable city.
All of the things mentioned in this post are within a few kilometres of each other.
If you don’t like walking though, you could always hire a bike through an app like Ride Yerevan.
Electric scooters can also be hired through the same app, or from one of the other local companies.
Quick Recap of Some of the Fun and Free Things to do in Yerevan
→→ See the dogs of the city
→→ Meet Russians and hear their stories
→→ Walk through the Cascade Yerevan complex and the Cafesjian Centre For the Arts
→→ Visit the Memorial to the Soviet Armenian 50th Anniversary Monument Terrace
→→ See Mother Armenia
→→ Get a view of the city from the top of the hill
→→ Stroll the City Parks
→→ Look at some beautiful cathedrals and churches
→→ Check out Republic Square
→→ Find a funfair to feed your inner child
And to answer your questions –
⭐ Is Yerevan worth visiting?
Definitely! Book your ticket now!
⭐ Is Yerevan walkable?
Very much so. Footpaths are wide in most places and all the good stuff to see is relatively close together.
⭐ How many days is enough for Yerevan?
That depends on how much you want to see. Give it at least 2 days, but more is even better.
⭐ What is special in Yerevan? What is Yerevan known for?
Parks and monuments.
⭐ How do I spend a day in Yerevan?
Walking through parks, checking out monuments and watching the sunset from the top of Cascade Yerevan, the Memorial to the Soviet Armenian 50th Anniversary Monument Terrace or Mother Armenia.
🇦🇲 Yerevan Summary 🇦🇲
In a few words – Monuments and parks
Language – Armenian and Russian are the official languages, but English is widely spoken
Currency – Armenian Dram (AMD)
WiFi availability – 📶📶📶📶📶
If you’re looking for WiFi, it’s never hard to find
Transport – 🚗🚗🚗🚗🚗
🚕 Yandex Taxis are widely available in the city
🚐 🚍 Marshrutkas and buses are available to get around the city for 200 AMD (US$0.25)
Roads – 🛣🛣🛣🛣🛣
Most roads seem to be in quite good condition
Scenery – 🌲⛰️🌲🏞️🌲
Armenia is known for it’s greenery and mountains
Prices – 💰💰💰
Food and inner city transport is cheap. Intercity and international ground transport is a bit more expensive, but still doable on a budget
Border efficiency – 🛂🛂🛂🛂
Airport immigration was quick. The land border took a bit longer because there were only two officers to process over 100 people, but they processed each person relatively quickly
Overall – 👍👍👍👍👍
Thinking about a trip to Yerevan?
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10 Replies to “Free and Fun Things to Do in Yerevan Armenia”
Yerevan sounds awesome! The Cascade complex looks like an amazing place to visit. And everything looks so affordable!
It’s a great city in a great country!
I’ve never thought of Yerevan as a destination to visit, but I will now. Thanks for the inspiration.
It’s absolutely worth a visit.
I’ve never been, but I loved your recap of Yerevan! It has me thinking I should try and go!
You definitely should!
Yerevan looks amazing! Thank you for putting this place on my radar!
It’s a very underrated place that more people need to know about!
The memorials here look very interesting to visit – I’d love to explore more of Yerevan and learn about its history.
It has a very interesting history as an ex-Soviet republic.