Lake Sevan
A high mountain lake at nineteen hundred metres, Armenia's only beaches, and a ninth-century monastery on a peninsula that was an island until the water fell.
- Arrival
- Zvartnots International · EVN
- To the lake
- About 90 minutes by car
- Private jets
- Zvartnots, 3,849 m runway, VIP terminal
- Best time
- July to August
The city
Water at nineteen hundred metres.
Sevan covers 1,242 square kilometres at about 1,900 metres, the largest body of water in the Caucasus. In the Soviet years irrigation and power stations drew it down by some twenty metres, and the island of Sevanavank became the peninsula it is today; the shores have been a national park since 1978.
Its northern shore holds Armenia's only beaches, and summer is brief at this height: July and August bring highs near twenty degrees. Round the lake stand the monastery of Hayravank on the western shore and, to the south, the cross-stones of Noratus.
- Sevanavank A ninth-century monastery with two churches, on the peninsula about three kilometres east of Sevan town.
- Noratus A field of about nine hundred carved cross-stones near the southern shore.
- Hayravank A monastery standing above the western shore of the lake.
Arriving
A climb from the capital.
Every arrival comes through Zvartnots, west of Yerevan; the lake shore at Sevan is about seventy-eight kilometres and an hour and a half away by road, climbing to nearly two thousand metres.
- Amman 2 h 00
- Kuwait City 2 h 00
- Athens 2 h 45
- Seoul 9 h 05 long-range jet
- Cape Town 11 h 35 long-range jet
When to go
July to August.
Even in July and August, the warmest months, highs stay around twenty degrees, and May and June are the wettest. From December to February daytime temperatures stay below zero.
- -3° J 21
- -2° F 27
- 1° M 46
- 7° A 71
- 12° M 93
- 16° J 82
- 19° J 65
- 20° A 39
- 17° S 38
- 12° O 48
- 6° N 34
- 0° D 20
Where to stay
On the shore and in the Dilijan forest.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- Best Western Bohemian Resort Twenty-five rooms on a beach of the lake, a few minutes' drive from Sevanavank, with an outdoor pool and a restaurant on the water.
-
Dilijan Resort & Spa Seventy rooms in the forest, looking over Dilijan National Park, with an indoor pool.
-
Best Western Plus Paradise Dilijan Seventy-two rooms, each with a balcony, a winter garden and pools indoors and out.
Elsewhere in Armenia
More reasons to come.
Flying to Lake Sevan?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.