Armenia: The Bradt Travel Guide Paperback – July 19, 2011

I have had this book when traveling in Armenia in June 2010. After having precise and clever Bradt guide in Etiopia I assumed that the editor guarantees the quality. Unfortunately not in this case. There is no question that the book is written with love for country described, its People, customs and culture. Another fine point is very detailed description of the churches and monasteris to be visited in Armenia.However Armenie is realy a wonderfull country, and it is much more then churches. Here guide misses the point -it properly presents limited possibilities of acomodation in smaller towns, however there are lots of nice places to stay outside Yerevan, which are nonexistent in the guide.Book is focused on travel in rented car, describing in detail when and where to turn. However with so cheap hire of car and driver, such description is not as necessary as precise information of possibilities to visit nice places, when one alredy arived to destination. I mean nature wonders of Armenia (and most of so precisely described churches ...), which has to be reached by foot. Such information in the guide is very uprecise and often missleading (f.e. mountains and monasteries around Dilijan, mountains, castles and monasteries around Yeghanodzor). If we have had worse weather, we could have big problems caused by wrong directions ... The author seems to underestimate southern Armenia (again Yeghanodzor) and seems that he is not a fun of hiking. Description of hiking possbilities in Pambak mountains or Iljevan mountains is very missliding, as overall impresion of what is on offer there(there is much, however one has to be prepared for some nuances not foreseen in the guide). Not mentioning such nicietes as permament presence of venomus snakes in the south (1,0 - 1,5 m long, however not very agressive), what makes long mountain boots a must there. Information about public transport (realy well developed) is also almost nonexistent in the guide. And why the autor forgotten to write about some very probably satanisctic features of more remote monasteris? Finding them out (when using Armenian magazine devoted to the topic) was exciting - much better then Da Vinci Code.Taking into account qualities of described Bradt as of Lonely Planet guide, somebody has to write a new, good guide to Armenia. This wonderful country deservs it!

I recently moved to Armenia and purchased this book right before leaving the USA. My interest was mainly to use it to find neat places to go in the countryside, and this book definitely fills that purpose. We live in Yerevan, the capital, which is fairly well documented by the book. Our second weekend in the country we decided to travel up one of the nearby mountains - wife and three young children - to go sledding in April - and not speaking ANY Armenian yet. All we had to go on was the region map on page 106 and the narative description on the authors travels. We made it to our destination (and two meter deep snow) easily. Just this past weekend we used the book again to visit an old (1000AD) castle ruins and some monestaries hidden in the forests of the Lori region. The narative in the book was once again precise in all details - our only issue was when we encountered a newly paved road that was described as being in poor condition in the book (time has passed since the writting). I specially commend the book for those interested in getting out and around to the more remote areas. The book would be considerably better with maps of every town that the main roads turn in and color pictures mixed in with the text (right now the pictures are all at the center of the book). Yerevan itself is changing rapidly and may not be quite as described, but the countryside is almost identical to when the author visited.

This is a good book to have if you are visiting Armenia for the first time, so, you get a sense of what everything is and where to go. Compared to some guides about Europe, it lacks the picture/entertaining part. Usually, people see pictures, are attracted to what they see, and therefore decide to visit that particular location. However, lack of pictures only gives history and people may miss out on some great location, city, monument or achitecture because they may not feel moved by only its history. Overall a good book to have, it can be better though.

Just Awesome, is full of small details that will make your trip to Armenian and Nagorno Karabagh a Dream come true

Enjoyed the guide, will say it accurately echos the other detailed reviews. I found the little section at the back with common phrases actually quite useful. Regarding the overall content you do need to read a lot to get to the good advice and I actually found myself reading the guide AFTER visiting the various places (which was actually quite enlightening at times).The guide does offer a sample itinery of places to go and times to do things, but lacks detailed enough maps and if you are driving you will be forced to buy at least one other map. I especially enjoyed it was written by an Electronic Engineer (takes a rational approach to guide writing)... but may I please add.. no matter how interesting he makes the Nuclear Power station sound.. DO NOT try and visit or take photos... it caused me a whole world of grief.. 3 hours of my life and 2 trucks full of soldiers later before I could leave!

Going to Yerevan only, I took this guide to help me find my way in the first few days. Although it gave me an initial insight and confidence, the guidebook did not provide any excitement or off-the-wall information that makes a place such as Armenia so interesting to visit. A bit more info on the public transport system would not go amiss either.

I have quoted preliminary review since I did not finished to "study" the bookguide. I will prefer to rate the book after returning from my visit to Armenia.I wiil return to you by the end of September.Best regardsRui

We bought this book before our trip to Armenia in order to learn more about the history, architecture, and art of this amazing country. Although the choice of books about Armenia it not too big (at least those I could find online), this one is definitely a good option, for those who have no idea, or just a little bit idea, about the country. I don’t know if ones looking for more detailed information would be satisfied, as it is more a quick journey through the history. Nevertheless, if you are not scientist preparing his research but a regular enthusiast on the country is it definitely a choice.This is already the 4th travel guide from Bradt that we used during our travels and as usually we love love it!!! Why Bradt? First of all you have an amazing insight into the history of the country, traditions, religion, and culture. You can read about the customs of Armenian wedding, the history, how Armenia became the first Christian country, about Armenian genocide, injustice and difficulties with the neighbors. The knowledge you get is priceless and will allow you to get closer too people.Second of all, this is one of few if not the only one travel guide, treating Armenia as a separate country and not as a Caucasus trinity with Georgia and Azerbaijan. And this is really the most logical way to do this knowing that about closed border between Armenia and Azerbaijan and difficult contact. It is as well an eye opener to all those who know knowing the difference between the countries.Third of all, openness and great communication with the readers. After coming from Armenia, ma husband contacted the author about the new procedures at the airport and she personally wrote us back thanking for advice.Strongly recommended for all, who want to travel consciously and get the information from authors really passionate about the country.

There is so much to do and see in Armenia.This is the perfect book to help you plan your trip!Really informative about the country and customs, food, people, landscape etc