Well, not quite – I still needed to get from the airport to the city proper. Fortunately this went entirely to plan, unlike in Dubai…

I hadn’t been able to obtain any Armenian Dram prior to my arrival, so I was relieved to spot a number of ATMs in the terminal. Despite my visit coinciding with the UK’s brief, disastrous Trussonomics experiment, I still received about 440 AMD to the £. This does present a slight challenge for first-time visitors: on requesting 20,000AMD to get started, this was dispensed as a single crisp note – completely useless for the mere 300 dram bus fare! A second request, for just 1000 dram, seemed more appropriate, but ultimately proved too much, with the driver only able to offer 500 in change. Still obviously a bargain!

The airport express, route 201, is a minibus service operating every half an hour during the day. The main thing to know is that you pay when you leave, not when you board – so at the airport, just take a seat unless you need your luggage stowed. Express is the right word – the sliding side door would be flung open on the approach to each stop, and we’d set off again as soon as passengers were (mostly) aboard.

The bumpy ride into the capital takes about half an hour, depending on where you decide to disembark. Now that I know the city better, I’d have bailed out at the Blue Mosque, a short walk from my chosen hotel, the DoubleTree. But instead I continued to a different landmark, Yeritasardakan station, where I backtracked a couple of stops on the metro. This is even more of a bargain, at 100 dram / ride: you just need to exchange cash for a plastic token to operate the turnstiles.

I had had no trouble getting data service on a cheap e-sim I’d arranged in advance, but perhaps I should have navigated in a more analogue fashion, for google maps will send you on a bizarre route from Zoravar Andranik station to the DoubleTree. On the plus side, I met a varied cast of street cats as I dragged my luggage along some worse-for-wear side streets.

I ditched my AmEx platinum as soon as I was furloughed back in 2020, yet somehow the Hilton gold status I received from it has been repeatedly extended into a third year. Today that translated into a high level room, and an enormous bag of welcome gifts – although no DoubleTree cookie included! It also granted me free breakfast, which turned out to be excellent – the buffet seemingly designed to cover pretty much any cuisine from around the world.

Five nights in a king guest room came to almost exactly £500: although with the local price of 226,012 AMD reading like a phone number I had to triple check I had understood the exchange rate correctly! Cheaper pre-paid rates were available, but I wanted the flexibility to be able to cancel if my flight to Dubai had fallen through. Anyway, I was happy with what I received for the money: plenty of space; kitted out to a high standard, particularly the bathroom; and a view of Mount Ararat.