Armenia Selim Pass and Lake Sevan Route

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Yerevan

   Yerevan is a pink city. The stone that built it is volcanic tuff, in shades from rose to apricot to grey, and when the evening light hits the apartment blocks and the opera house it glows as if lit from inside. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, founded as the fortress of Erebuni in 782 BC, and yet most of what you see was laid out in the Soviet years by the architect Alexander Tamanian, in a ring plan around a great central square. A little over a million people live here, about a third of the country, and the capital feels like the engine room of Armenia.

   Read the complete Yerevan write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Yerevan is where the day begins. Next is Noravank.

2. 2. Noravank

   The red cliffs of the Amaghu gorge close in around you for the last few kilometres, and then Noravank appears, a small honey-coloured church perched against a wall of rust-coloured rock. The name means new monastery, though it was founded in the thirteenth century, and it stands in the Vayots Dzor province in southern Armenia, in a dry, rocky country of canyons, vineyards and apricot orchards. The setting is a large part of the effect. Crimson cliffs rise on both sides, the stream runs far below, and the church looks as though it grew from the stone.

   Read the complete Noravank write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Noravank comes up 65 km in. Next is Selim Pass.

3. 3. Selim Pass

   At 2,410 metres, the Selim Pass is the high point of the old road between Lake Sevan and the Vayots Dzor valley, and it is a stern, beautiful place. The pass crosses the Vardenis range, a line of bare volcanic mountains, and the road climbs in long bends through rolling alpine meadows, where the grass is cropped short by sheep and the wind blows steadily. At the top, the scenery is open and empty, with no trees, only grass, rocks and sky, and the visibility on a clear day is enormous.

   Read the complete Selim Pass write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   131 km in you reach Selim Pass. Nothing on this route is higher. Next is Orbelian Caravanserai, mostly downhill.

4. 4. Orbelian Caravanserai

   Beside the road at the top of the pass, a squat building of dark basalt sits low in the grass, and it is one of the best-preserved caravanserais in Armenia. The Orbelian Caravanserai was built in 1332 by Prince Chesar Orbelian, who ruled the region, to give shelter to merchants crossing the mountains on the Silk Road. An inscription over the door records the date and the builder, in the Armenian of a prince who knew the value of being remembered. Travellers paid nothing, and the prince's purpose was as much pious as commercial.

   Read the complete Orbelian Caravanserai write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Orbelian Caravanserai, late in the day. Next is Lake Sevan.

5. 5. Lake Sevan

   Lake Sevan lies at about nineteen hundred metres above sea level, a vast sheet of blue in a ring of bare mountains, and it is the heart of Armenia in every sense. It is one of the largest high-altitude freshwater lakes in the world, and the water, clear and cold, changes colour with the sky, from slate grey to turquoise to deep blue. Little rain falls on the shores, and the hills are brown for most of the year, which makes the lake seem even bluer.

   Read the complete Lake Sevan write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Finish at Lake Sevan. That is the ride.