You could be forgiven for thinking that you'd been transported to the Bernese Alps of Switzerland when you wake to fling open the windows of your chalet-style bed and breakfast in Dilijan. Flower-strewn homes clad in wood and rough stone pepper the center, clinging to hair-pinning streets that are in a bowl of green mountains. Thick forests of fir and oak and willow trees erupt on all sides, while summits dashed with white snow and ice mark the horizon.

But this is Armenia, and it is the breathtaking location that keeps travelers of all sorts coming back to Dilijan. Some will be on the hunt for folk art and crafts – the town is a center for traditional wood carving, painting, and even poetry, with more galleries and workshops than you can shake a stick at. Others pine after glimpses of mystical medieval monasteries – the hills host the 13^th-century Haghartsin Monastery, and the Goshavank Monastery, with its stone-carved doors and candlelit septs, to name just two.

Dilijan tour guides also cater to adventurers who want to explore the valleys and peaks of the Lesser Caucasus. They can help you plan hiking expeditions up to Parz Litsh, hidden in the yew groves around Areguni Mountain. Lake Tzrka is another possible trekking destination, and so are the ancient walls of Mantash Fortress, or the wildflower meadows, babbling rivers, and lynx-stalked forests of the Dilijan National Park.