Discover Armenia: Tbilisi- Akhpat-Dilijan-Sevan-Yerevan-Tbilisi

Wow, what a trip! First of all, our guide Sophie was truly exceptional 10/10. She is so knowledgeable about the region and answered every question asked, also, she is very professional and personal in a calm and respectful manner. She explained the border control procedures in a very clear and relaxed way. A very well structured tour with lovely stopping points and the best lunch stop I’ve ever had, the food court in Armenia was well worth the stop. A long and hot day, but thoroughly recommended, make sure you have a leisurely day afterwards with no early starts!!!

Spent one unforgettable day with guide Paat in Armenia – and it was beyond all expectations! Over 12 hours of busy travel, and not a single minute of boredom - just admiration, emotions and impressions that will be with us for a long time. From the morning until late in the evening, every moment was thought out to the smallest detail. We saw amazing places, enjoyed amazing nature, history, culture, tasted delicious food and wine. But the main highlight of the whole trip was certainly Paata. It's not just a guide - it's a person who knows how to turn a tour into a real adventure. He has a great knowledge of history, a great sense of humor, incredible charisma and a genuine desire to give you a better day. And he did it 200%! It felt like we were not just going with a guide, but with a friend who showed us Armenia with soul and love. We are absolutely thrilled to be on this trip! If you're thinking about going to Armenia for the day - definitely it is, and only with Paat! It will be a day you will remember with a smile for a long time to come.

To be sure, everything we saw on this tour was wonderful. I do not regret taking it. However, Ushba Travel needs a little work. The tour started out pretty awkwardly, as there were no greetings or introductions (a standard of day tours like this). The tour guide and driver seemed sleep deprived, which made the drive stressful towards the end of the day. There was definitely swerving that evening, and we even clipped a vehicle in Yerevan. One of the worst issues for me was the age of the 15-passenger van. It only had air conditioning vents in the very front, and was terribly hot in the passenger section for the roughly 10 to 12 hours we spent in the van. Armenia gets quite hot in August. Ushba would be well served to invest in a more modern form of transportation. Lastly, I might recommend breaking the tour into a Georgia portion and an Armenia portion, with two different guides on both sides of the border. The Georgia portion could deliver the travelers to the border, the travelers could walk through the border check points, and the Armenia tour guide and driver could pick us up on the other side (and in reverse at the end of the day). That way, all of the extra time waisted waiting on the van to pass through border control wouldn't be such a drag on time (we lost two additional hours on that). Understandably, because we only had a Georgian guide, we received a very Georgian perspective on Armenia. An Armenian guide would likely have provided more insightful cuisine recommendations and precise directions in Yerevan.