Traveler’s Feedback

Dear Syuzanna;

The tour was very good. Perhaps a few less churches, but the service was overall very good Chris.

Hello Liana,

With this message, I wanted to share our feelings on this trip. we have many loved our journey in armenie. The Armenians are warm and welcoming. our guide was exciting from start to finish, it has a knowledge of his extraordinary country and is very resourceful. we loved Parandzem. The driver is more discreet, language barrier forces, but it is well appreciated. The waterfall hotel was very good, ideally positioned, the small lunch very correct. the staff always had a smile. the hotel has goris was good, beautiful spacious rooms, hotel .I was somewhat handicapped by the heavy work at the hotel but nothing serious. for Hotel Nairi has Jermuk, the remote host Aete, clean rooms, but the small non-existent breakfast, no fruit, no fruit juice, ice tea, some dishes seemed not first freshness. for the band ba dilidjean, and friendly rooms well, small royal breakfast, to recommend.

Liana we were very happy to meet you, see where you work. I recommend Arara tower for its thoroughness and listening. a suggestion in Jermuk stage has dilijean n hesitate to propose sevenhavank and hairivank, these two monasteries are beautiful.

Bernard and Claire

Overall both Usha and I very much enjoyed our holiday to Armenia & Georgia. Both are beautiful countries with much to offer the visitor and we are recommending both countries to many of our family and friends. We thought that the tour price offered good value for money.

Excellent. Be it in Armenia or in Georgia, we were pleased with the level of organisation.

In our opinion the hotel in Yerevan (Opera Suite) was a more pleasant experience than theTbilisi Inn. Although both 4 star hotels, the quality of the room in the hotel in Tbilisi was definitely inferior to that of the Opera Suite hotel.

Vardan is a very personable guy who was friendly and very very helpful. We believe, however, he should offer more information.

All too often we needed to ask him  Mike (guide in Georgia) was great. Again he was super helpful and extremely knowledgable and volunteered all the information (and more) we needed. Toko (driver in Georgia) was also great. He was very good at his job and very polite. In conclusion, thank you Liana for your help in making our holiday so memorable and we will definitely be thinking about a possible South Armenia / Iran holiday.

Anthony & Usha

Guide: Arthur is a professional, personable and knowledgeable guide who was always happy to answer our many questions with clear well thought out responses, and he speaks excellent English.

Driver: Arthur was our driver and guide. He  drove safely and knew where to go for the itinerary and accommodation.

Car: The car was very comfortable,clean and Arthur negotiated some of the more challenging roads very well.

Hotels: The Cascade Hotel in Yerevan was excellent and ideally located near one of Yerevan's main attractions and the main city centre. We were delighted with this choice. All of the accommodation was interesting, comfortable and appropriate standard and value for the cost of the tour. The accommodation was also nicely varied, recognizing that the further away you are from tourist centres the less choice one has.

What did you like best about your trip? Armenia has some of the most spectacular scenery we have seen and we were fortunate to walk in some beautiful areas. The visit to the history museum in Yerevan was excellent and could ideally have some more time allocated.

What didn't you like about your trip? We realize that fortresses and monasteries are major attractions, but it would have been better if there were other, more varied attractions to visit  as well. As it was a walking tour the time in the countryside and mountains was excellent, but without the walking the tour would have become a little monotonous. Day 4 walking from Cristal Lake through the forest and mud was not a good choice of walking terrain. The forest is too closed and dark to enjoy, and the ground is too muddy to bother with, given other non doubt better altefnatives elsewhere.

What would you add to your trip? Not so much add to the trip but suggestions for improvements. The written itinerary for the first day out of Yerevan (Day 2), if followed as detailed, would have seen us finish at sundown, and seen us walking in the hotter and stormier part of the afternoon, and resulted in a very short next day. Arthur sensibly had us do that first days walk at the beginning of the second day, thus balancing the two days and we benefited from walking in the cooler and more weatger-stable part of the day.

The itinerary on Day 7 which includes a hike to the southern peak of Mt Aragats is is totally unreasonable considering other points in the itinerary, the 3-4 hours drive to get to the start and the following 2 hours to get back to Yerevan. We did not do the walk thaf day due to weather but if we had we would have finished after 10pm!

Suggestion: do not pretend that walkjng up Mt Aragats is feasible. It is not. The weather will almost always prevengbit happening, if is too long a day, and should onlhh be attemoted by well prepared and experienced walkers, rather than casually. An alternative less elevated walk should be substituted.

Another suggestion: if Mt Aragats remains in the itinerary, put in an altednative (2-3 hours) that is reasonable on the last day.

Another suggestion: If clients could or should bring proper walking boots, walking poles and good wet weathef gear, put that explicitlh jn the tour notes, ratheff than leave it to chance.

Would you recommend our company to your friends? Yes we would.

Overall we were very happy with the tour and the value for money.

Dear Lusine,

Gary Bengier has asked me to say a few words about our tour. I will gladly post some praise and observations on the platforms you suggest. As I write this I am listening to your compatriot, Lusine Zakaryan as she sings "Aravot Luso." Her music sustained me during my last few days in Armenia. Her voice seems to capture the archaic poignancy that we experienced everywhere. Our guide, Ara, thoroughly informed us about the spiritual and historical traditions that support and have sustained Armenian culture. Zakaryan transfers that light, the "luso" in her song from the window behind the altar to her audience, in this case to me and my friends, Gary, Ed, Don and Paul. In the same spirit I express our gratitude to you and your group, most especially to Ara, that most excellent guide.

Jack Darrow

Guide: Rima was an excellent guide, she demonstration good knowledge about the places we went and made the trip fun. Her English skills were very good. The guides in the three museums we visited also had good English and it was nice to get a personalised guide of the museums.

Driver: Very skilled driver; Punctual; Polite

Car: Comfortable! Good size

Hotels: The Cascade Hotel was lovely, it was a small hotel with comfortable beds. We were lucky to have the room with a terrace. Breakfast was adequate and the lady also made us coffee. The second hotel, Astoria in Georgia was ok. When we arrived, the receptionist was a bit cold towards us. She did not have our names on the system and so it took us a while to check in as we were not on the system

What did you like best in your trip? It was not too packed, and we were allowed enough time to walk around the sites and enough time to see the city etc when we got back from our excursions. The food suggestions in Armenia were very good. Wine tasting was nice, although a different winery may be a bit more lively, maybe because we are used to the European type tours and Armenian wineries are slightly smaller.

What didn't you like in your trip? One of the people who joined us on the trip was an older gentleman. He was a bit difficult at times, but I think the Georgian tour guide managed him well. Otherwise I feel the trip went well.

Would you recommend our company to your friends? Yes definitely

Guide: our guide was Haykuhi, very nice person, friendly and kind, very explicit (English at high level)and clear on the information, good knowledge on all sites. She was on time every day, as per our schedule. We will be glad to have her on our future trip to Georgia.

Driver: our driver was Aram(don't remember the exact name), very nice person and good driver. he took care of our luggage with kindness and calm. he was on time every day as per our schedule.

Car: 5

Hotels: All hotels were very nice and clean and the breakfasts were delicious. every day same idea, but something new.

What did you like best in your trip? The beautiful landscapes of Armenia, the people who are very warm and nice, the great food and once again, the landscapes. The itinerary was wonderful.

What didn't you like in trip? The roads must be improved and the advertising, must be on the first place of improvement. nothing to do with your company. just to pass over to the proper offices.

What would you add to your trip? nothing, just Thank You!!

Would you recommend our company to your friends? Definitely we'll recommend your company to our families and friends. We also, will  like to book our future trip to Georgia with Arara.

Dear Liana,

I’d like to let you know how pleased I was with my recent tour. I was impressed by the service and arrangements. Parandzem was an excellent guide, full of information and anecdotes about Armenia andI have learned a lot about the country, it’s history and its people. I am now going through my photos and trying to put them in order. The accommodation was comfortable and the places chosen to eat were interesting. Arshak was a good driver and I always felt safe with his driving.
All in all I had a wonderful time and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Arara Tours as a company and Armenia as a fascinating place to visit. As I mentioned when I visited you, I would be interested in your trips to Iran, so if you could pass on my details, I’d be grateful. Once again, thank you to Yourself, Parandzem and Arshak for a memorable holiday in Armenia.

The owner and manager of "Ornitour",

This has been the first birding tour I arranged in the southeasternmost tip of the Western Palearctic, where some of the most sought after birds of WP live and breed.

Well, birds are not at all as monuments and churches (some finest example of which we saw as well during this marvelous trip), and their sightings are never guaranteed. But the fabulous mix of our guide Vasil’s experience and knowledge about the country ornithofauna (but not only: for any question about reptiles, mammals, amphibians, insects, plants and flowers we got from Vasil a prompt and exhaustive answer) and the perfect organization of Arara Tours, our ground tour operator, led to an amazingly successful adventure, both from the naturalistic side of the tour and the services provided.

Hotels were carefully chosen according to their level and convenience for closeness to the main birding areas (the latter a very important aspect in a birding tour), all the people working there proved to be friendly and helpful, food was excellent.

Our driver did a great job (driving a van full of birders screaming to the appearance of this and that bird, asking to stop for a photo and for an observation is not an easy task!) and, again, Vasil was absolutely excellent. I recommend Arara Tours for any birding (and not only) tour in the fantastic land of Armenia, which I’ll sure visit again next year.

Hi Lusine,

Now that our holiday is over and we have settled back at our home in Australia we would like to take the time to thank you for the wonderful holiday in Armenia you organised for us.

The accommodation was excellent, as was the driver and especially your guide Haykuhi. Armenia is indeed a beautiful and interesting country with its culture and history delivered so well and with a pleasant mixture of knowledge, enthusiasm and pride by your guide. Haykuhi was always on time and proved to be pleasant company whilst sightseeing.

Your driver was courteous and with a great dry sense of humour (much appreciated by Australians). We would recommend your tourist company to any Australians or Westerners travelling to Armenia.

Karmel & Barry Wallace

Guide: Our guide Haykuhi, was an excellent guide. She has such a warm personality and a truly knowledgable guide. She explains the history with such ease that you are able to enjoy it, she also makes sure that you are able to do what what we wanted (more time to shop for souvenirs) without sacrificing to see the necessary tourist spots. Haykuhi had such a wonderful personality and it was fun having her with us on our vacation, also to factor in the unimaginable of the circumstance of the revolution at that time. Her calm and enthusiastic made our trip such a wonderful experience.

Driver: he was a very good driver and helpful too

Car: the first car was newer and better than the second one in Armenia but overall, it was wonderful and comfortable

Hotels: the hotels were great especially the space and locations of the hotels. except the first hotel in Yerevan was quite small and there was an issue with the air condition

What did you like best in your trip? Experiencing the wonderful culture and seeing the monasteries.

What didn't you like in trip? I actually enjoyed the whole trip.

What would you add to your trip? I wouldve adding being able to go to the places we have missed due to the roads that were blocked.

Would you recommend our company to your friends? 100% would recommend it, Lusine was wonderful with the travel arrangements and coming up with back up plans during the revolution where we were left with no choice.

Hi Lusine,

We arrived home almost a week ago. We immensely enjoyed the tour. It’s always wonderful to experience the culture and to be with people of other countries.

Thank you for arranging our family vacation. Everything was perfect except for our border crossing. We’ve been crossing borders several times in the past but we have never crossed the same way we did. We always crossed with our luggages with us in a vehicle. I hope this will be fixed with other travelers. Other than that, we have no complaints.

Gina