How Much Does It Cost to Travel Armenia?

According to the handy travel app I use to track my spending, Armenia is the cheapest country I travelled in this year.

Hard to say exactly, because I only started using this great travel app to track my spending this year, but I’m tentatively going to say Armenia is up there with the cheapest countries I’ve ever travelled.

Yup, right alongside Egypt, Turkey and Ukraine as the best ever budget travel destinations, my daily spending across the 8 days I spent in Armenia totalled just £28 per day.

And it could have been a lot of lower if I was really trying!

So read on to learn all about how much it costs to really travel in this country and how it could be your next budget backpacker destination.

Oh and the travel app I use?

It’s called Travelspend by the way, there’s a free version, it’s awesome and no, this is not sponsored!

 

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Related Posts:

• 18 Things to Know Before You Travel Armenia
• The Perfect Armenia Itinerary: 2 Days to 2 Weeks
• Top 10 Things to Do in Armenia

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This budget is based on the trip I made to Armenia, with all prices correct at this time.

This page contains affiliate links meaning Big World Small Pockets may receive a small commission on any purchases at no extra cost to you.

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Intro to this Armenia Travel Budget

Writing posts that look at how much it costs to travel in certain countries are fickle things.

On one hand, it’s usually very helpful to get specifics in terms of costs and prices.

I know, because lots of people email me asking this very question and because I seek out this information before I travel too.

But on the hand, posts that go into depth about precise travel costs are also always going to be flawed.

For starters, there’s a myriad of costs that can vary wildly from traveller to traveller, affected as they are, by factors such as how much you like to eat and drink, or how fancy a hotel you need to stay in!

Secondly, prices change quickly, especially in up-and-coming destinations like Armenia.

As I’ve said above, all the prices I’ve listed here were correct during my trip to Armenia in June 2019 and so while I hope this post will prove extremely helpful to you, just bear in mind things are always going to vary slightly.

And with that disclaimer out the way, it’s onto the real details about what it costs to travel in Armenia as a budget backpacker…

 

 

#1 Accommodation Costs

First up, I thought I’d tackle the expense that will probably make up the majority of your Armenia travel costs, and that is accommodation.

In the main tourist destinations in Armenia (such as Yerevan and Lake Seven) you will find some hostels, but outside of these places, accommodation is far more likely to be in simple, family-run guesthouses or camping.

Despite this, accommodation costs in Armenia actually formed over 50% of my total budget in Armenia, which just shows you a) how cheap everything else is and b) how much more accommodation services are in relation to locally-priced items / services, because they are aimed at tourists.

In Armenia’s accommodation defence, although I used hostels / budget guesthouses throughout the country, I did spend every night in a private room.

This was mostly because my time in Armenia was at the end of a hectic 6 months of travel and I was too exhausted to risk any bad nights of sleep in a dorm!

… but I digress …

The main point I’m making here is that your accommodation in Armenia could be much cheaper if you stick to dorm beds or camping when you travel here.

As an example, a single private room in a good hostel in Armenia’s capital of Yerevan, such as the highly recommended MGA Hostel, costs around £15 / $19 USD.

While a dorm at MGA Hostel is just £7 / $10 USD.

In Goght, which is near the must-visit locations of Garni and Geghard, the wonderful 3G’s camping and guesthouse has beautiful double private rooms for £30 / $38 USD, while camping here costs just £11 / $15 USD.

 

#2 Transport Costs

Getting around Armenia really is a cultural experience and ensuring that you move beyond the capital, Yerevan, to get a bit of a flavour for the whole country, is definitely one of the things I’d advise most when you travel in Armenia.

Aside from private taxis (which you may use to get to tourist spots, but more about this in #4 of this article), you’re basically going to be using 2 main forms of transport in Armenia.

The first form are marshrutkas – essentially creaky old minivans that rattle their way around the country, normally at an alarming speed!

Most routes covered by the marshrutkas connect in the capital, so you’re likely to have to head into the city and then out again if you’re wanting to get around Armenia this way.

And, to add to the enjoyment level, there are 6 stations around Yerevan, from which the marshrutkas leave regularly.

The information about which station which marshrutka leaves from is always changing, so the best way to find out the most recent details is to ask either where you are staying or check out this website which had the most up-to-date information online I could find.

The second most common form of transport in Armenia is hitchhiking… no joke.

It’s totally normal here, especially in more rural areas and often you’ll be picked up without even having to stick your thumb out!

In terms of expenses, transport accounted for around 15% of my total costs of travelling in Armenia, with private taxis fares making up the vast majority of this.

Indeed, the 2 marshrutkas that got me to Goght from Yerevan, for example, cost me just 60p – yep about $1 for 2 rides!

In Yerevan, it’s worth pointing out that you can also get around via the metro-system (literally costs next to nothing for a ticket) as well as ride-shares, which are cheap taxi services administered through apps such as Yandex – perfect for navigating the language barrier and the tourist tax!

 

#3 Food & Drink Costs

Armenia certainly is the land of plenty when it comes to food and drink and, if you like your produce fresh, local, cheap and delicious, you’ve come to the right spot!

Food is so cheap in Armenia, that generally, I ate out most days and still restaurants only accounted for just over 10% of my budget!

If you add in the times I bought groceries, or prepared picnic lunches etc, my food budget still only came to just over 20% of my total spend in Armenia, a figure roughly equating to £50 / $60 USD.

For a week of food and drink, including restaurants most evenings and wine, I thought this was pretty good!

Add about £5 / $6 to factor in the coffees!

Local wine is cheap and good in Armenia, so stick to this if you want to keep costs down.

Tap water (and the water that bubbles out of all the public drinking fountains across the country) is potable and therefore free.

Eating locally produced snacks (such as fruit, nuts, sweetbreads and cakes), dining in local cafes or buying a load of fresh vegetables and cooking them up in your hostel kitchen is an amazing and delicious way to eat well on a budget in Armenia.

 

#4 Tours & Activity Costs

And next, we move onto tours and activities.

In Armenia, this essentially comprises of day trips to monasteries and areas of natural beauty around the country and to a few other associated attractions like wine production areas or cable cars.

The expenses are limited, especially if you don’t take a lot of tours.

Honestly, tours aren’t necessary in Armenia as long as you are happy to dart in and out of Yerevan on marshrutkas (or hitchhike) in order to get to the destinations you want to see.

Otherwise, if you’re short on time or a little nervous about setting off alone, then taxis can provide day trips to many of the most famous attractions – often these are combined into handy day-long itineraries.

For example, Areni, Khor Virab & Noravank are usually combined into a day trip from Yerevan, as are Lake Sevan, Dilijan and the Haghartsin Monastery Complex.

If you can collect a group of up to 4 people together, this will make a shared taxi tour cheaper, with one of the above options costing around £15 / $20 USD each as a result.

Hiking trips don’t require guides or fees either, (just download maps.me or use the free resource HikeArmenia beforehand) so really the travel costs for Armenian tours and activities are incredibly low.

 

#5 Attraction & Guids Fees

Also very low are the fees for attractions and guides when it comes to Armenia travel costs.

All monasteries across the country are free to enter and visit, so it’s only a few dollars for a cable ride or a set of ruins that you’ll have to shell out for.

Viewing how traditional products, such as wine and lavosh bread, are made is free in areas of Armenia that specialise in these practices, as is entrance to the sobering Armenia Genocide Memorial.

And nowhere in the country do you need a guide.

In fact, the only money I spent outside of the cable car rides were around £2 / $3 USD to enter Zvartnots Cathedral near Yerevan and £2.50 / $3.50 for the entrance to Garni Temple.

Basically nothing!

 

#6 Other Armenia Travel Costs

And finally, we come to the miscellanies expenses involved when working out what travel in Armenia costs.

Additional prices you might want to consider include:

• International Flight Fares into Yerevan (check out Skyscanner to find the cheapest rates)
• Travel Insurance
• Visa Costs (most people don’t need a visa for Armenia, but always best to check with your foreign office)
• SIM Card & Data (it costs me £10 / $15 USD for a SIM card +10GB of data at the airport in Yerevan)
• Laundry (which costs about £1 / $1.50 USD a load!)

 

Total Budget Breakdown for Travel in Armenia

There’s no doubt Armenia is one of the cheapest travel destinations around.

Even spending over a week here, staying in private rooms and sightseeing around most of the country, I still spent under £30 / $38 USD a day.

If you chose to stay in dorms and / or could share the costs of a private room with someone, this would be even lower!

For my week in Armenia, here’s a rough breakdown of what it cost me:

– Total Accommodation Spend was roughly £110 / $140 USD

– Total Transport Spend not inc intentional flights was roughly £30 / $38 USD

– Total Food & Drink Spend inc Alcohol and Coffee was roughly £55 / $70 USD

– Tours & Activities Spend was roughly £15 / $20 USD

– Attractions & Guides Spend was roughly £9 / $11.50 USD

– SIM Card, Data and Laundry Expenses came to roughly £11 / $14 USD

The total amount cost of my 8 days travelling in Armenia was around £230 / $295 USD

This equates to around £28 / $35 USD per day.

 

 

Mini Travel Guide to Armenia

When to Visit Armenia?

Winters in Armenia can be fiercely cold with snow and freezing temperatures not uncommon across the country, especially in the mountainous areas. At this time, many roads become impassable and travelling difficult.

As such, I would definitely visit Armenia during their summer months, when the climate is wonderfully warm and the skies are almost always blue.

The summer season here runs roughly from May to September, however July & August can be super hot (like 40 degrees hot), so do bear this in mind if you’re not a fan of the heat and want to enjoy some hiking.

I visited Armenia in June and the weather was perfect – very warm and clear days, with loads of wildflowers around and perfect hiking conditions.

Based on this, I would suggest the shoulder season months of May, June and September as the ideal times to visit this country when the weather is good enough to enjoy getting outdoors and sightseeing, but not too hot that you’ll worry about burning and dehydrating!

 

How Long to Spend There?

I’d suggest at least 1 week in Armenia to ensure you have the chance to tick most of the major sights off your list.

Travelling around this country is not always the easiest so, even though it small, you’ll need to factor in driving or irregular bus times

 

Recommended Tours in Armenia

Check out these fantastic tours of Armenia, which will help you see the best of this country.

 

5 Packing Essentials for Armenia

#1 Caucasus Lonely Planet – Still my go-to when it comes to guidebooks, the Caucasus Lonely Planet packs in a huge amount of information about travelling in Armenia, Georgia & Azerbaijan and will likely save you the cost of a guide in many of this country’s fabulous historical attractions.

#2 Good Camera – From the mountain landscapes to the village life, you’ll want a good travel camera to capture the best of Armenia and the Sony A6000 mirrorless ticks my box every time!

#3 Headscarf – If you’re heading to see any monasteries in Armenia, ladies will need to come prepared with a headscarf to enter, as well as a long skirt or pair of pants and a long-sleeved top.

#4 Hiking Shoes – No trip to Armenia would be complete without spending at least a day or two hiking in this country’s untouched rural landscape. Coming prepared with a pair of good walking shoes is essential therefore and Keen Targhee’s II always get my vote!

#5 Rain Jacket – I visited Armenia in June, technically the start of summer and the high season, but was amazed how storms suddenly blew in across this high altitude country. Having my North Face lightweight, windproof and waterproof jacket therefore saved my life!

 

Travel Insurance for Armenia

World Nomads offers simple and flexible travel insurance. Buy at home or while travelling and claim online from anywhere in the world.

Alternatively, if you’re a long-term traveller, digital nomad or frequent remote worker seeking travel health cover, check out Safetywing’s Nomad Insurance policies.

 

PIN IT TO PINTEREST!

 

And there you have it folks, my full breakdown of the costs of travelling in Armenia.

Hoping you find this post useful and that I’ve managed to show you how little it costs to travel in this wonderful country.

Have I convinced you to visit yet?

After all, Armenia won’t stay off the beaten track forever!