Private sightseeing and walking tour in Yerevan

Yerevan is a walking city at its centre, and it is a young-looking one for a place this old — most of what you see was laid out in the twentieth century, on a plan, in stone quarried nearby. Two to three hours with a private guide is the right length to read it.

It makes sense to begin high. The Cascade is a vast stepped structure of terraces and sculpture climbing the slope at the top of the city, and from its upper flights the view runs back over the roofs and, on a clear day, out to Ararat — the mountain that dominates the Armenian horizon and sits just across a closed border, which is a good part of what your guide will have to explain.

From there the walk comes down. Freedom Square and the Opera sit at the foot of the Cascade, and Northern Avenue runs from there as a straight pedestrian line into the centre — a deliberate piece of recent city-making, and an argument about what Yerevan is becoming.

It ends at Republic Square, the centre of the plan. The square is a closed oval of civic buildings in that same stone, and its fountains are set to music in the evenings. Going downhill from the Cascade rather than up to it is what turns this from a climb into a stroll.

The first thing anyone notices is the colour. Yerevan is built largely of volcanic tuff, which comes out of the ground in pinks, roses and ochres, and the whole centre takes its colour from it — strongest at the beginning and end of the day, which is when the city photographs best.

It is a walk, so comfortable shoes — and there is climbing if you go up the Cascade’s steps rather than taking the escalators inside. Entrance fees to monuments and museums are not included, so the art galleries within the Cascade and anything ticketed are yours to decide on. Yerevan summers are hot and dry and winters are properly cold, so dress for the season. Ararat is often hidden in haze even on a fine day; mornings give the best chance of seeing it. The fountains on Republic Square run in the evening and in the warmer months.