Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan

Keep heading north via the Haghpat Monastery and you’ll enter Georgia. Tbilisi, the capital, is a five hour drive from Yerevan and provides a brilliant base exuding green space and cosmopolitan café culture. To the east of Tbilisi the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral and the 6th century Jvari Monastery can be found within the Holy City of Mtskheta. Three further hours east brings you to the former ancient capital, Kutaisi. A day trip to good old Batumi by the Black Sea is always welcome in the summer with Gelati Monastery, Khertvisi Fortress and Gori, the birthplace of Stalin, all to be found on the route back to Tbilisi – after picking up a few bottles of the local red in the Kakheti wine region, of course.

Once in Azerbaijan you’ll embrace ancient and modern contrasts, with one of the region’s oldest mosques, the Juma Mosque of Shamakhi, and the shimmering skyline of Baku on the Caspian Sea. The trading route from the city of Shaki in northwest Azerbaijan to Baku was one of the region’s most important, and a visit to Baku’s amazing Old Town – as opposed to its out-of-control oil boom expansion – reveals insight into the streets, temples and caravanserais of the past. This is a country of extremes where Islam meets capitalism on the confluence of Eastern Europe and Western Asia.

Armenia and Georgia will immerse you in the ancient traditions of Christianity. Religious beliefs aside, attending a candle-lit service in a cathedral or observing a traditional choral ceremony is extremely atmospheric. Some of the settings for the monasteries and churches are also incredible with Georgia's Gergeti Holy Trinity Church and the Khor Virap and Tatev monasteries in Armenia, definitely requiring hiking boots; the views are stunning.

Combining these countries with Azerbaijan adds an Islamic twist, in a country far more influenced by Persian and Ottoman Empires than by its westerly neighbours. Baku is the world’s lowest lying capital city, and the largest below sea level. It’s got a really eclectic and vibrant feel, with the Formula One Grand Prix and the 2020 European Football Championships competing with the UNESCO sites of the Maiden’s Tower and Palace of the Shirvanshahs, not to mention the Ateshgah (Fire Temple) of Baku on the Absheron Peninsula.

Another factor that distinguishes Azerbaijan from its neighbours is oil. From the first boom in the 1870s to Soviet times and WWII, the massive reserves of the Caspian Sea have helped to turn Baku into one of the most high-end cities in the Caucasus. The shimmering skyscrapers and towers are a world away from the post-Soviet structures of Yerevan.