Stand on Republic Square in the early evening, when the Singing Fountains begin to dance and froth to classical and contemporary music, and you get Yerevan in one frame: Soviet-era grandeur, a fountain show, and locals out for the promenade. Walk a few minutes north up Northern Avenue and the city shifts again, to a pedestrian shopping street connecting the two hubs of central Yerevan.
Yerevan suits travellers who like their cities walkable and layered: churches open from early morning until very late evening with no entrance fee, a manuscript collection dug into a hillside, and a white stairway that climbs toward a view of Mount Ararat. It rewards slow days on foot more than checklist tourism.
This guide covers the sights and experiences in the city, with practical notes on what to combine and when to go. Everything below comes from the places named in our sources.
Top things to do in Yerevan
1. The Cascades, Sculpture Park and Cafesjian Museum
A massive white stairway up a hillside of central Yerevan, decorated with green stretches, fountains and waterfalls, with the Cafesjian Museum housed inside it. The Sculpture Park just north of the Opera is decorated with sculptures from Botero and other artists of international fame, and the higher levels of the Cascades give a spectacular view of Mount Ararat and the panorama of central Yerevan with its multi-colour roofs.
Time your visit for the upper levels late in the day for the clearest light on Ararat. The first floor and bookstore of the museum, and the indoor escalators to the top of the Cascades, are free of charge.
2. Matenadaran
Houses the world's largest collection of Armenian illuminated manuscripts, and one of the largest such collections of any kind in the world. A display room shows a sampling of some of the finest works, and the additional cost of the guided tour is worthwhile. The building is dug into the hill, and the white stone statue in front is of Mesrop Mashtots teaching the Armenian alphabet to a rapt disciple, looking down at the street of his name.
It sits on Mashtots avenue, so combine it with the other buildings worth attention along the same avenue: the covered market and the Blue Mosque.
3. Republic Square
The city's main square is a grand example of Soviet public architecture. The early buildings, including the Houses of Government, the Ministry of Communications and the Marriott Hotel, are Neo-Classical with Armenian hints; the later buildings, the Foreign Ministry and Art Gallery, are Modernist imitations.
Come in the evening between April and October, when the Singing Fountains within the square perform most evenings, dancing to classical and contemporary music.
4. Erebuni Fortress
The excavations, recreations and museum of the nearly 3,000-year-old fortress that established Yerevan, and a fairly well-preserved fortress of the Urartian period in Armenia. The cuneiform inscription found here records Argishti, son of Menua, building the stronghold and proclaiming it Erebuni.
It is reached by metro to Sasuntsi David station, which puts you at the Train Station and Sasuntsi David Statue square, so pair the two in one outing.
5. Saint Sarkis Cathedral
Set at the border of the city centre on a picturesque gorge of the Hrazdan River. The church is always crowded, and there are usually many young people, as St Sargis is the patron saint of young people and of lovers.
For a beautiful view of the church and its surroundings, look from the Victory Bridge, or alternatively from the Brandy Factory building.
6. Katoghike
A tiny structure constructed in typical Armenian style at the corner of Sayat-Nova Ave. and Abovian St. Katoghike means "cathedral"; the original 13th-century church had a much larger basilica attached in the 17th century, but that addition was demolished in 1936. In 2015 a new and much larger separate church was built next to it, the cream-colored St. Anna church.
It is a short walk from Yeritasardakan metro, which also puts you at the top of Abovian street.
7. Katoghike Tsiranavor Church of Avan
The city's oldest surviving church, completed in the 6th century, later renamed Surp Hovhannes. It sits in the Avan district.
Because it lies outside the centre, treat it as a dedicated trip rather than something to fold into a walking loop.
8. St Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral
Completed in 2001 to commemorate the 1700th anniversary of Armenia as a Christian nation, and the largest Armenian cathedral in the world. The holy relics of St Gregory the Armenian were given back to the Armenian Church by the Vatican in 2001 and placed here. As opposed to all other churches in Yerevan, the cathedral is full of light and does not carry any stand for candles; the candle-house is a separate structure next door.
Note that the complex is vastly and visibly unfinished. It is on Yervand Kochar St, near Zoravar Andranik metro.
9. Blue Mosque
An 18th-century Shia Islamic mosque, and one of the few surviving structures of a once prospering Muslim community of Yerevan before Soviet secularisation. It stands at 12 Mesrop Mashtots Ave.
It is one of the three buildings on Mashtots avenue well worth attention, alongside Matenadaran and the covered market, so walk the avenue and take in all three.
10. Northern Avenue
The pedestrian avenue opened in 2008 connecting Opera with Republic Square, the two hubs of central Yerevan, and a post-modern response to post-World War II Soviet Yerevan architecture. It is emerging as the shopping district, together with Sayat-Nova ave., Terian st., Tumanian st. and Abovian st.
Use it as your walking spine between the Opera area and Republic Square rather than a destination in itself.
11. Freedom (or Theatrical) Square
Bordered on the north by the Opera House, followed by a park with a lake and full of open-air cafés on the east, and on the south by Northern Avenue.
The cafés make this a natural pause between the Opera and the Cascades.
12. Abovian street
Home to very few remaining Belle Époque period structures of Republican Armenia. Some gems of Art Nouveau, early Modern (constructivist and the like), and Moorish Revival style can be found in the backyards of Abovian, Nalbandian and Hanrapetutian streets, most often in a very poor condition due to neglect.
Hanrapetutian st. might get special attention if you are not time constrained. The street is in the Kentron district, at Yeritasardakan metro.
13. Mashtots avenue
The 8-lane highway of the city which somehow also accommodates pedestrian zones on the sides, a result of standard Soviet planning of main prospekts. It is overly noisy because of the heavy traffic, mostly unorganised public transportation, but the parts close to the Opera are a favourite hangout place for the locals.
Walk it for the three buildings worth attention: Matenadaran, the covered market, whose interior is now a modern supermarket and mall but whose highly decorated original exterior survives, and the Blue Mosque.
14. Train Station and Sasuntsi David Statue
A beautiful square and train station with Soviet classical architecture at 71 Tigran Mets Ave, and one of Armenia's most famous monuments: the soaring statue of Sasuntsi David, often used as a symbol of the city.
Take the metro to Sasuntsi David station, and combine it with Erebuni Fortress, which is reached from the same station.
15. Cascade Memorial to the Victims of Soviet Repression
A monument dedicated to the memory of the victims of Soviet-era murders and deportations, atop the Yerevan Cascade, next to the obelisk that commemorates 50 years of Soviet Armenia. Inside the large concrete structure, a memorial slab is inscribed "To All Your Souls on Fire", from the poem "Frenzied Masses" by Yeghishe Charents, who himself fell victim to the repressions in 1937.
It sits on the top platform of the Cascade staircase, so visit it as the final stop of your climb up the Cascades. The monument has often been neglected, but it connects to a major part of Armenia's recent history.
If you only have one day
Morning: Start at Matenadaran for the manuscript display and the guided tour, then walk Mashtots avenue to take in the covered market's surviving exterior and the Blue Mosque. Continue to Katoghike at the corner of Sayat-Nova Ave. and Abovian St, and if you have time, follow Abovian street for its remaining Belle Époque structures.
Afternoon: Head to Freedom (or Theatrical) Square by the Opera House, then walk the Sculpture Park and begin the climb up the Cascades, riding the free indoor escalators if you prefer. At the top platform, stop at the Cascade Memorial to the Victims of Soviet Repression before taking in the view of Mount Ararat.
Evening: Walk down Northern Avenue to Republic Square, and time your arrival for the Singing Fountains, which perform most evenings April to October. If you have energy left, take the metro to Sasuntsi David station for the Train Station and Sasuntsi David Statue square.
Frequently asked questions
Do Yerevan's churches charge an entrance fee?
No. Churches in Yerevan are open from early morning until very late evening and there is no entrance fee ever charged. If you find the priest, you can ask him to bless you and any object of non-violent usage that belongs to you.
When do the Singing Fountains perform?
They perform most evenings from April to October, dancing and frothing to classical and contemporary music within Republic Square.
Is any part of the Cascades free?
Yes. The first floor and the bookstore of the museum, as well as the indoor escalators to the top of the Cascades, are free of charge. The museum itself charges admission, with children under 12 free.
Which sights can I combine with a metro stop?
Several. Yeritasardakan serves Katoghike and the top of Abovian street. Sasuntsi David serves both the Train Station and Sasuntsi David Statue and Erebuni Fortress. Zoravar Andranik serves St Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral, and Hanrapetutyan Hraparak serves Republic Square, Northern Avenue and the Blue Mosque.
Pick your dates, sketch the walking loops above onto a map of the centre, and you have enough to start planning a trip to Yerevan.