Small-group tours for travellers who'd rather find the coffee, the courtyards and the unmarked wine bars than queue at another photo stop. Six people, maximum.
Where we don't go
That circuit is well run and you should probably do it once. Sanora is for the day after — when you've seen the monasteries and you'd like to know what people here actually do on a Thursday night. Everything we run is small, walkable where it can be, and led by someone who lives on the street you're standing on.
The tours
Each one runs with six people at most. Exact meeting addresses go out the day before — a few of these places genuinely have no sign on the door.
Five roasters in one morning, ending on the roastery floor of the one that supplies most of the others. The same Ethiopian pulled four ways, and the story of how Armenian coffee went from sand-brewed to specialty in about eight years.
Skip it if you don't drink caffeine.
Natural wine on Saryan, then off it — two basements and a courtyard bar you would walk straight past. Areni, Voskehat, and at least one bottle you can't buy outside the country. Ends late, deliberately.
Skip it if you're up early.
The one quarter that survived the rebuilding of Yerevan — stairs, improvised roofs, a mosque, laundry lines, and a great deal of local opinion about what should happen to it next. Led by someone who grew up inside it.
Skip it if stairs are difficult.
Soviet modernism, from the Chess House to the Rossiya cinema to the parts of the Cascade nobody finishes climbing. Buildings designed to argue for a future that never arrived, now half-loved and half-demolished.
Skip it if you want interiors.
A house, not a restaurant. You arrive at a working village home, help with whatever is already being made, eat far too much, and leave with a recipe you didn't ask for. The drive there is the second-best part.
Skip it if you need a fixed menu.
Areni without the coach park. Three small producers, one of whom still ferments in buried clay much as it was done six thousand years ago a few kilometres from where you'll be standing. We stop at the cave, briefly, because it earns it.
Skip it if you're not drinking.
Sample route
This is the real After Hours route, run most Thursdays and Saturdays. The last two stops change depending on who's pouring and what's open — that part is on purpose.
Take this oneSix people and one guide. No lanyard, no umbrella. We start with a glass standing up and a short argument about what counts as Armenian wine.
A room with eight seats where the owner also cooks. This is where most of the talking happens.
A courtyard, a stairwell, a basement. Nothing on the door. Open for eleven years.
Whatever the kitchen still has, which is usually more than it should be.
The group either goes home or doesn't. We'll walk you back either way.
Who you're with
Every route is led by whoever actually knows it best, and they lead the same one every week.
Two sentences: where they're from, what they did before this, and the one thing they'll definitely end up telling you about. Specific and a little personal beats polished.
Two sentences: where they're from, what they did before this, and the one thing they'll definitely end up telling you about. Specific and a little personal beats polished.
Two sentences: where they're from, what they did before this, and the one thing they'll definitely end up telling you about. Specific and a little personal beats polished.
Practical
Six people maximum on walking routes, seven on driven days. Book four or more and the route is yours alone at no extra cost.
A specific address in central Yerevan, sent the day before by message. Driven days include pickup anywhere in Kentron.
No deposit for groups under four. You confirm by message, we hold the place, and you pay in cash or by card on the day. Larger and private bookings take a 30% deposit.
After Hours and Underground are. Everything else isn't, and every route has a non-alcoholic version that costs the same and is genuinely as good. Just tell us when you book.
All six run year-round. Yerevan is better in the cold for at least three of them, and the village and wine days are quieter between November and March.
English and Russian on every route. Armenian and French on request with a few days' notice.
Plan a day
We answer within a few hours, usually less. No booking engine and no account — a message, a confirmation, and an address the night before.