Joel Balsam is a travel journalist and editor whose work has appeared in TIME, National Geographic Travel, The Guardian, BBC Travel, American Airlines, Travel + Leisure and more. He is the Lonely Planet guidebook author for Armenia, Morocco and France.
- Distance: Approx. 14.5km
- Duration: Four to five hours
- Start point: Dilijan
- End point: Parz Lake
- Difficulty: Mild
This is my favourite hike in Dilijan National Park. Come in spring to hike through valleys teeming with millions of wildflowers that can be plucked to make tea.
Starting from Dilijan’s helpful tourist information centre where you can rent hiking gear such as poles and sleeping bags, walk out of town to the south and up the mountain until you’re looking down on Dilijan. Follow the signs that indicate the Transcaucasian Trail (TCT), a 3,000km network of paths throughout the region, until you reach Parz Lake where you’ll find accommodation, a khoravats barbecue restaurant, a mini-rope park, paddle boats for rent and an hour-long 2km trail around the lake. You can spend the night here or have the info centre in Dilijan organise a cab to take you back to town. If you’re keen to hike some more, you can continue along the TCT another four hours (7.1km) to the 12th-century Goshavank Monastery and to Gosh Lake, which will take an extra hour (4.2km)
At a glance
Destinations
Dilijan National Park
Activity
Adventure, Hiking & Trekking, Active, WalkingPhysical Level
Mild
Duration
1 day
