reputable tour company?

Hello All,

I am an armenian american and I am trying to plan a trip to Armenia for May 2008 with my sister (ages 24 and 21). I have backpacked independently before for 8 months around Europe and Turkey, however, now i really would just like to go on a packaged tour (i am with my sister, and we will kill each other if it is just the two of us 24 hours a day).

Any suggests for a reputable tour agency? We would like to take a 2-3 week trip around the country including the area near Mt Ararat. We are most interested in architecture and the culture, meeting other armenians, nightlife, and history. We dont mind budget accomodations as long as they are clean, and we like a good combination of free time and arranged tours of preferably 15 people or less.

any help would be great

Thank you!

reputable tour company?

Yasas,

I%26#39;m not sure if you are looking for a tour operator out of the States or in Armenian however, my daughter will be travelling with her 8th Grade Saturday School classmates to Armenia this summer and will be staying at ';Parev Doon';. Check out their website at www.parev.am

TaloBalo

reputable tour company?

Hello

I have just returned from yerevan last week, My husband and I have been to Armenia 3 times since October 2006 and are returning again October this year. We always book with Hyurservice. Hyurservice can arrange day trips and also tailor made trips, however we have only ever been on the day trips which were extemely interesting and very cheap. They have a website where you can check out apartments etc. Another company is Menuatours, we have not had any dealings with them, so cannot recommend their company. I know that there is a new hostel opened in Cental Yerevan which is the Envoy Hostel that is apparently very clean and very reasonable priced. They also have their own website.

I hope you have a lovely time when you go I am sure you will find Armenians very warm and friendly as we did. Good Luck !

Kathy Allahverdi, Scotland UK

I happen to be in Armenia at this moment in time. After 5 visits over the past 5 years the Country is in motion to become one of the newest interactive cultural find in many years. Good point about a realiable tour operator. There are many but many are also really local travel agencies without experience in the inbound circuit. If you are looking for operators on the North American side there are but a few such as SIMA Tours and BELL TOURS in Canada. As to localized or online direct good ones are Armenian Explorer or Advantour as they are called, Sima Tours, Elitar Travel and in the north Shirak Tours in Gyumri. For an all round choice of experiences Armenian Explorer is noted as tops. You likely would not go wrong with any of these. They all have websites so check them out for the flavor that suits you.

Bob

thank you everyone, and Bob I will look at those websites! I cant wait!!!

Here are an e-mail address of a really professional inbound tour operator in Armenia:

incoming@rumea.am

Contact persons: Alla or Ashot

NJSteph24, we just got back from the area and maybe you%26#39;re there now :-) If anyone else is interested, I used Seven Days travel agency in Yerevan. We like to stay in guesthouses/3* and splurge on private car/driver and guide. This option probably won%26#39;t keep you from killing your sister, but it%26#39;s better than wanting to kill the other tour members and maybe you have to be a little more civilized in this more intimate setting of just four people :-)

You can contact them at www.welcomearmenia.com We had a wonderful, intelligent guide. They arranged their furnished apartment for us - cheaper than a hotel, in a great area, and, naturally, much bigger (kitchen, bedrooom, bathroom, living room). Several grocery stores and restaurants in the area. We had Karine arrange a car to the Georgian border (since we didn%26#39;t want to take the train). Our driver throughout our stay and for this 5-6 hour drive was just fantastic. He was one of the best drivers we%26#39;ve ever had; let%26#39;s just say that if everyone drove like he did, there would be a lot less road rage and far fewer accidents. The overall program was pretty good. You will probably find that it%26#39;s cheaper to book a private tour this way than a package tour through a US travel agency.

The best company for indivuale tours to Armenia it is Travel Club Armenia. But web page of Travel Club in russian, www.travelclub.am

I am from Moskow, and booking also 3 years by Travel Club.

Due to work and school, I ended up having to push my trip back to next year.. and I would like to add moscow and/or St. Petersburg in. So... does anyone know of joint armenia/russia tours? Thank you very much also any other advise of itineraries for 2-3 weeks in moscow/st. petersburg, armenia would be greatly appreciated

If you need a great B%26amp;B in Yerevan and in stepanavan, let me know.

wrinkles