Town centre
First-timersAround the main road and the square: guesthouses, the marshrutka stop, shops and restaurants.
Dilijan city guide
Things To Do In Dilijan
Forested, cool and green in a country that mostly is not, with two medieval monasteries in the trees and a national park around it. Armenia calls it Little Switzerland.
5
Hostels in the city
9.5
Average, from 91 reviews
1,500m
Altitude, and ten degrees cooler than Yerevan
2
Monasteries in the forest
€0.50
A marshrutka across town
The green corner of a dry country
Dilijan sits at 1,500 metres in forested hills in the north, and it is where Armenians go when Yerevan hits 35 degrees. The national park around it is beech and oak forest with walking trails, springs and two of the country's best monasteries hidden in it.
Haghartsin and Goshavank are both twelfth and thirteenth century, both still in use, and both set among trees rather than on the bare hillsides where most Armenian monasteries stand — which makes them feel entirely different.
The town itself is small, with a restored old street of craft workshops and a Soviet sanatorium legacy that explains the mineral water everywhere. The international school on the hill has brought money and a certain polish.
Two days: one for the monasteries, one for the walking.
Where to stay
A small town on a hillside. The centre, the old street, or out in the forest.
Sharambeyan street
AtmosphereThe restored old street of wooden balconies and craft workshops, five minutes from the centre.
Forest edge
Walking and quietGuesthouses on the slopes above town, closer to the trailheads and cooler again in summer.
Orange labels are neighbourhoods, dots are the 5 top-rated hostels. Map © MapTiler © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Things to do
Things to do in Dilijan
Haghartsin is the one to see first: a thirteenth-century monastery complex in a wooded valley, restored a decade ago, with a walnut tree in the courtyard and almost nobody there on a weekday. A taxi is €10 to €15 return with waiting time.
Goshavank, twenty minutes the other way, is less restored and holds a khachkar — a carved cross-stone — that is considered the finest in Armenia, which is saying something in a country with thousands of them.
The Transcaucasian Trail runs through the national park, and the Dilijan section is waymarked and walkable in day sections. The route between Haghartsin and Goshavank through the forest is the classic, at about four hours.
Sharambeyan street in town is a restored block of nineteenth-century houses with workshops in them, and it takes twenty minutes.
Free things
Free things to do in Dilijan
The monasteries are free to enter — only the taxi costs anything.
The national park's trails are free and waymarked, including the forest route between Haghartsin and Goshavank and the shorter loops to Lake Parz.
Mineral springs run throughout the town from Soviet-era fountains, and the water is drinkable and free.
Sharambeyan street costs nothing to walk, and the forest starts at the edge of the town in every direction.
Food and drink
Eating and drinking in Dilijan
Guesthouse cooking is the best food here, as it usually is in small Armenian towns: home-made preserves, fresh cheese, herbs from the garden and bread from a neighbour's oven, generally €5 to €10 for dinner.
In town, khorovats and Armenian staples run €5 to €9 a plate.
The forest means mushrooms and berries in season, and jams made from cornelian cherry, walnut and rose petals are a local speciality sold on the road.
Dilijan mineral water has been bottled here since Soviet times and is on every table.
Nightlife
Going out in Dilijan
There is essentially none, and that is the reason people come.
A handful of cafés and bars in the centre stay open in the evening, and the newer places around the school serve wine and coffee to a mixed crowd of teachers and visitors.
A beer is €1.50 to €2.50.
Evenings here are a guesthouse table, home-made fruit vodka that someone will produce, and an early start for the trail. If you want a night out, Yerevan is two hours away.
Getting around
Getting around Dilijan
Marshrutkas from Yerevan's northern bus station take about two hours and cost €3, running several times a day. The same road continues to Ijevan and the Georgian border.
Within town, everything is walkable, though the town is spread along a hillside and the walk back up from the old street is a climb.
The monasteries need a taxi: €10 to €15 return to Haghartsin with waiting, a little more for both in one trip. Drivers wait at the square and the price is negotiated.
Lake Sevan is 40 minutes away over the pass, which makes it easy to combine Dilijan and the lake on the way back to the capital.
Costs
What Dilijan costs
Cheap, with guesthouses as the standard. Dorms and guesthouse beds run €8 to €20, dinner €5 to €10, and a beer €1.50 to €2.50.
A day is €22 to €35.
The taxis to the monasteries at €10 to €15 are the main cost, and splitting one with other guests is normal and halves it. The trails and the monasteries themselves are free.
Cash. There are ATMs in the centre but not everywhere takes cards, particularly guesthouses.
Safety
Staying safe in Dilijan
Dilijan is safe and quiet, and the risks are entirely about being in forest and mountains.
Trails in the national park are waymarked but signal is patchy, weather changes with altitude, and the forest is genuinely large. Tell your guesthouse where you are going and take more water than you expect to need.
There are bears and wolves in the park. Encounters with visitors are very rare, and making noise on the trail is the standard precaution.
Winter brings real snow and the pass towards Sevan can close. Emergency number is 911.
Day trips from Dilijan
Monasteries in the forest, a lake over the pass, and the road to Georgia.
Haghartsin
A thirteenth-century monastery complex in a wooded valley, restored and usually almost empty on weekdays.
Lake Sevan
The vast alpine lake, with the Sevanavank monastery on its peninsula and swimming in August.
What's on
What is on while you are there
A quiet calendar. The forest and the monasteries are the reason to be here.
June to September
Summer season
Townwide
When Yerevan empties into the hills and every guesthouse is full.
October
Autumn colour
National park
The beech forest turns, and it is the best month to look at the place.
July
Vardavar
Townwide
The national water festival, observed here as everywhere in Armenia.
September and October
Mushroom season
The forest
Foraging is a local pursuit and guesthouses cook what comes in.
Various
Monastery feast days
Haghartsin and Goshavank
Both are working monasteries and hold services on saints' days.
Hostels
Where to stay in Dilijan
Family guesthouses are the standard here and the best way to eat. Live from Hostelworld.
When to go
Summer, when it is the coolest place in Armenia, and autumn for the forest colour.
Jan
Snow, quiet and cold. Some guesthouses close
Feb
Deep winter in the forest
Mar
Thawing. Trails muddy
Apr
Spring. Green and wet
May
Excellent. Wildflowers and everything open
Jun
The best month. Warm, green and the trails are dry
Jul
Peak, and the coolest place in the country
Aug
Armenians arrive from Yerevan in numbers. Book ahead
Sep
Superb. Warm days, cool nights, mushrooms in the forest
Oct
Autumn colour in the beech forest. The best of the year to look at
Nov
Cold and wet. Quiet
Dec
Snow arriving
Bar height is temperature. Colour is how busy it gets:
quiet
busy
peak
Average highs. Dilijan sits at 1,500m in forest and runs about ten degrees cooler than Yerevan, which is exactly why Armenians come here in July and August.
What your trip will cost
Pick how you travel. Per person per night, in euros.
Guesthouse dinners are usually €5–10 and better than eating out. Monastery taxis at €10–15 are the main variable.
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Dilijan travel questions
The ones we get asked most.
Why is Dilijan called Little Switzerland?
Because it is forested, green and cool at 1,500 metres in a country that is mostly dry and bare. It was a Soviet spa town for the same reason, and Armenians still come here when Yerevan is at 35 degrees.
How long do you need?
Two days. One for Haghartsin and Goshavank, one for the walking in the national park. Many people combine it with Lake Sevan, forty minutes over the pass.
How do I reach the monasteries?
Taxi from the square, €10 to €15 return to Haghartsin with waiting time, a bit more to do both. Sharing with other guesthouse guests halves it. There is also a four-hour forest walk between them.
Is there much hiking?
Yes. The Transcaucasian Trail runs through the national park with waymarked day sections, and there are shorter loops to Lake Parz and through the beech forest. Tell your guesthouse where you are going — signal is patchy.
When should I visit?
June and September are the best. July and August are busy with Armenians escaping the heat, and October has the beech forest turning, which is the most beautiful the place gets.
Is it cheap?
Yes. Guesthouse beds €8 to €20, dinner €5 to €10, and a day around €22 to €35. Bring cash — guesthouses often do not take cards.
Are there bears?
Brown bears and wolves live in the national park. Encounters with walkers are very rare, and making noise on the trail is the usual precaution.
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