Norq Garden GalleryGuidesWeekend
Our garden is open from Friday to Sunday, so this is the weekend we know best. Three days built around what is actually open on each day, with long lunches and evenings outdoors.
Yerevan's museums keep their own hours, and many close on Monday. The Matenadaran is open only from Tuesday to Saturday. Megerian Carpet closes on Sunday. The Genocide Museum keeps short Sunday hours. That is why the days below are in this order. Opening times change, so check before you go.
Open Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 to 17:50
Tickets 2,000 dram. Foreign-language guide 5,000 dram for up to 10 people
The repository of ancient Armenian manuscripts, at the top of Mashtots Avenue. Tens of thousands of manuscripts, illuminated gospels, scientific and medical texts. Take the guide. It is the difference between looking at old books and understanding them. A new exhibition, One Year of Eternity, opened in July 2026.
Blue Mosque Usually 10:00 to 13:00 and 15:00 to 18:00. Free
Kond Open streets, daylight is best
Walk down Mashtots Avenue to the Blue Mosque, built in 1765 and 1766, and sit for a while in its courtyard. Then cross to Kond, the oldest surviving quarter of the city: narrow lanes, stone houses and murals on a hill a few minutes from Republic Square. People live here, so walk as a guest.
Check the programme at the Komitas Chamber Music Hall, a 300-seat hall from 1977 with a Dutch-built organ. Afterwards, go down to Ulikhanyan, the basement jazz club on Sayat-Nova Avenue, open until late every night. Or skip the centre and come up to Old Nork. Our garden is open until 23:00 on Fridays, with candles on the tables, Armenian wine, and music from Armenian jazz to Japanese city pop.
GUM 35 Movses Khorenatsi Street. Mornings are best
Vernissage Next to Republic Square. Fullest at weekends
Start at the GUM market with dried apricots, sujukh and whatever the traders press into your hand. Then walk to the Vernissage, the open-air market of carpets, woodwork, Soviet badges and paintings. On weekdays many stalls stay empty. Saturday is the day.
Megerian Saturday 10:00 to 16:00, closed Sunday
Parajanov Museum Daily 10:00 to 17:30
Saturday is your last chance this weekend to watch the weavers at Megerian Carpet. If you prefer art, the Sergei Parajanov Museum is open every day, with around 700 of the film director's collages and assemblages above the Hrazdan Gorge. Brandy lovers can book a Saturday cellar tour at Noy or Ararat instead.
Getting there 10 to 20 minutes by taxi from the centre. Ask for 54 Sero Khanzadyan Street and walk to No. 94
Museum Saturday 12:00 to 21:00
Garden Saturday until 23:00
Take a taxi up to Old Nork, the village quarter on the hill. Walk through our family museum on your own: the vaulted cellar more than 170 years old, documents from the 1800s, photographs of five generations. If you booked ahead, the grandmother of the family leads the Heritage Tour and Tasting, ending with five Armenian wines in the cellar.
Then stay. The candles come out at dusk. Order the Apricot Spritz, made with apricots from the tree above you, and grandmother's warm tolma. The pakhlava comes later. Leave room.
Open Sunday 11:00 to 15:00. Free. Closed Monday
The Armenian Genocide Memorial and Museum on the hill west of the centre. Give it an hour, and go on Sunday morning, because on Sunday it closes at 15:00. It is the most important hour you will spend in Yerevan.
Levon's Divine Underground Arinj village. A private home, so call ahead. By donation
Take a taxi to Arinj, just outside the city, and climb down into Levon's Divine Underground, the cave one man dug by hand for 23 years. On the way back, stop at Avan Cathedral, built around 591 to 602, the oldest surviving church in Yerevan. Both are a short ride from Old Nork.
Garden Sunday 10:00 to 21:00
Museum Sunday 12:00 to 21:00
End the weekend the way Armenian families end a Sunday. At a table in a garden, with coffee and something sweet. Try the Old Nork coffee with crushed walnuts and the 19th century pakhlava. Stay as long as you like. On Sunday we close at 21:00.
The centre is walkable. For everything else, use the GG or Yandex Go taxi apps, which show the price before you book. The metro has a single line, running from the northwest through the centre to the south, and its Soviet stations are worth a look. Old Nork is about 4.4 km from Republic Square by road, uphill all the way.
For the city itself, yes, if you plan around opening days. Add a day for a trip out to Garni and Geghard, or two for the wine villages of Vayots Dzor.
The Parajanov Museum, the Genocide Museum from 11:00 to 15:00, Erebuni, the Vernissage, and Norq Garden Gallery in Old Nork from 10:00 to 21:00. The Matenadaran and Megerian Carpet are closed.
Hear a concert at the Komitas Chamber Music Hall, go down to Ulikhanyan, the basement jazz club on Sayat-Nova Avenue, or drink Armenian wine to Armenian jazz and Japanese city pop in the garden at Norq Garden Gallery in Old Nork, open until 23:00.