Jermuk gets all the attention, but it is one of at least five mineral-water towns that Soviet Armenia built a spa industry around. Arzni, 23 km north of Yerevan in the Hrazdan gorge, still has one working sanatorium and two of the country’s grandest abandoned ones. Hankavan, high in the Marmarik valley, has warm springs you can sit in. Bjni is the village behind the green-labelled bottle on every Yerevan table, and Dilijan has had a bottling plant since 1947. Here is what each of them actually offers a visitor in 2026, and which are worth the drive.
How Armenia became a Soviet spa country
The raw material was always there. Armenia’s geology museum counts more than 700 mineral springs and boreholes across the country, with temperatures from cold to 83°C, the product of a volcanic landscape that loads groundwater with carbon dioxide, iodine, bromine and lithium. The Soviet period added the system: sanatoriums where workers were sent for two or three weeks of doctor-supervised bathing, drinking and rest.
Arzni came first. The Armenian Travel Bureau’s resort history records a chemical analysis by Professor G. Struve in 1861, a first bathing building in 1925 with patients lodged in the village school and driven down to the gorge by carriage, and resort-of-national-importance status in 1933. Jermuk’s first sanatorium followed in 1936 and it was declared an all-Union resort in 1945 (Zaruhi Hayryan, National Academy of Sciences, “Health clusters of the Republic of Armenia as a tourist brand”). Dilijan’s water went into bottles from 1947. After 1991 the funding vanished; most buildings closed, a few were privatised and survived. That split, working versus abandoned, is the whole story of visiting them today.
Arzni: one working resort, two ruins, and a gorge
Arzni is an Assyrian village above the Hrazdan gorge at roughly 1,250 to 1,340 m, 23 km from Yerevan; the springs are down in the gorge north of it. Armenia’s geology museum lists them as carbonated chloride-bicarbonate sodium water at about 20°C with 6 to 14 g/l of dissolved minerals, and compares them to Wiesbaden in Germany. The resort lists cardiovascular rehabilitation, gastritis and diabetes as its specialities; treat that as its own claim, not medical advice.
What is open
Arzni Health Resort CJSC is the one sanatorium still operating, as the Russian travel portal Tonkosti confirms. It is a classic Soviet-style stay: a doctor writes a treatment card on arrival and books you into baths, Charcot showers, inhalations and paraffin wraps. According to the resort’s published 2026 tariff (via Armenia Discovery), a standard double runs 35,000 AMD a night in low season (November to April) and 44,000 AMD in high season (May to September), including three buffet meals and treatments; half-luxe doubles are 43,000 to 54,000 AMD. Day passes are listed from 8,000 AMD (treatments only) to 15,000 AMD with meals. Tonkosti quotes packages from 50,000 AMD per day with a six-day minimum, so confirm by phone. The 65 Yandex Maps reviews agree: kind staff, good food, two pools, and a visibly Soviet building with rooms that need refurbishment.
The abandoned ones
The architecture is the reason to come even if you never take a bath. The Lazarev Sanatorium, documented by the Dutch urbex archive Urbex.nl, was begun in 1934 to a design by Samvel Safaryan, one of the leading architects of Soviet Armenia. Only the ground floor was finished when the war started; the shell served as a military hospital, and after 1945 German prisoners of war completed it. It was named after S. M. Lazarev, Soviet Armenia’s first People’s Commissar of Health, and it closed in 1992. Huge terraces built to catch sun and mountain air, monumental staircases and decorative stonework are all still there, roofless in places. A second building, known online as “Sanatorium Arzni 3”, stands empty nearby.
Drinking at source
The honest caveat: I could not confirm that Arzni has a public drinking gallery of the kind Jermuk has. Drinking the water is listed as part of the sanatorium’s treatment programme, and the oldest bottling firm in Armenia, Arzni Group, dates its start to 1925, with a small plant at nearby Byureghavan. If you want to drink Arzni water at the spring, ask at the resort reception; otherwise buy the bottle. The gorge itself is free to walk, and the village has a 6th-century church.
Hankavan: warm springs in the Marmarik valley
Hankavan is the mountain option: a village of about 50 Greek families, descended from settlers who came from the Ottoman Empire in 1827, at roughly 1,900 to 1,990 m in the upper Marmarik valley below the Pambak range. The state tourism portal puts it 85 km north of Yerevan; in practice it is about 1.5 hours by car. July averages 16 to 18°C, January about -7°C.
The water is different from Arzni’s. The geology museum records chloride-bicarbonate sodium springs with 8 to 9 g/l mineralisation and temperatures from 12 to 32°C, comparable to Yessentuki in Russia. The springs fed a Soviet sanatorium industry and a string of summer camps; most of that is gone. What exists now is a cluster of outdoor pools fed by three springs, with private cabins for four to six people, operated commercially; a Yerevan day-tour operator (Sputnik8) lists an extra hour in the pools at about 5,000 AMD per person and says the water reaches 42°C, which is warmer than the museum’s published figures, so either a deeper borehole is used or the number is optimistic. Confirm temperature and prices on the day. Hotels such as Ani Resort offer indoor pools and full board, not medical treatment.
Access is the catch. There is no direct marshrutka from Yerevan. The realistic options are a bus to Aparan or Hrazdan and a taxi for the last stretch. The asphalt ends at the old summer-camp area in the village. With your own car it is an easy pairing with Tsaghkadzor, 25 km back down the valley; see the Tsaghkadzor guide.
Bjni: the spring behind the bottle
Bjni is not a spa town and never was. It is a village under a 10th-century Pahlavuni fortress in the Hrazdan gorge, and its claim is the water. The Bjni-Arzakan springs, spread along both banks of the Hrazdan, are chloride-bicarbonate sodium-calcium water at 14 to 15°C with 4 to 6 g/l of minerals; the geology museum compares them to Vichy and Borjomi. The bottling plant is not in the village: RRR Mineral Waters Plant (Bjni and Noy Company) is in Charentsavan, founded in 1977 and re-established in 2010.
You can taste it for free. The Best Western Aghveran hotel’s area guide notes a strong mineral spring on the road from Hrazdan into Bjni, inside a protected water zone, and hiking-route sites log a short walk from the village to the springs. Expect a cold, sharp, salty-sour water with natural fizz. Five minutes away in Arzakan are commercial hot-spring pools rented by the hour at 5,000 to 12,000 AMD per pool, which is the cheapest warm soak within half an hour of Yerevan. The fortress, the 11th-century church and the gorge are covered in the separate Bjni village and fortress guide.
Dilijan and the others
Dilijan’s water is more famous than its spa. The 1977 film Mimino has a character insist Dilijan water is second only to San Francisco’s, and the town square now has a fountain statue of the three leads filling glasses. The bottling plant dates from 1947 and still runs; Hayryan’s paper says the “Dilijan” and “Dilijan Frolova” waters are iron-rich carbonate waters with chloride-sodium-calcium salts, again compared with Vichy and Borjomi. Two large sanatoriums survive, the Soviet-built “Mountain Armenia” and “Dilijan Olympia” (around 280 rooms), and tour operators count nearly 20 springs around the town. Dilijan is a forest and hiking destination first; read the Dilijan travel guide for that side.
Vanadzor and Lichk also have springs, but I found no working public facility at either. Jermuk, with its drinking gallery of five jugs at 33 to 56°C and the only true spa-town atmosphere in the country, has its own article.
Comparison table
| Town | From Yerevan | Water (geology museum data) | What is open | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arzni | 23 km, 30–40 min | Carbonated chloride-bicarbonate sodium, ~20°C, 6–14 g/l | 1 sanatorium (Arzni Health Resort), 2+ abandoned, gorge walks | Soviet architecture, a cheap treatment stay |
| Hankavan | 80–85 km, 1.5 h | Chloride-bicarbonate sodium, 12–32°C, 8–9 g/l | Outdoor warm pools, resort hotels; no medical sanatorium confirmed | A soak with a mountain view, combined with Tsaghkadzor |
| Bjni / Arzakan | 40 km, 45 min | Chloride-bicarbonate sodium-calcium, 14–15°C, 4–6 g/l | Roadside spring, rentable hot pools in Arzakan, fortress | Tasting at source, a half-day out |
| Dilijan | 95 km, 1.5–2 h | Iron-rich carbonate, chloride-sodium-calcium (Hayryan) | 2 sanatoriums, 1947 plant, springs in and around town | Forest stay with water as a side note |
| Jermuk | 170 km, 3 h | Bicarbonate-sulphate, 40–58°C, 4–5 g/l | Drinking gallery, several sanatoriums, hotels | The full spa-town experience |
How to visit each from Yerevan
- Arzni: minibus 253 from Yerevan to Nor Hachn runs roughly every 15 minutes and takes about 40 minutes; the resort is 5 km beyond Nor Hachn, so finish by taxi or on foot. A taxi all the way from central Yerevan is a few thousand dram. Easy half-day.
- Hankavan: car or taxi is realistic; public transport means a bus to Aparan or Hrazdan plus a taxi. Budget a full day and pair it with Tsaghkadzor.
- Bjni and Arzakan: minibuses towards Charentsavan or Hrazdan drop you on the main road; a taxi from Yerevan is around 45 minutes. Combine with Kecharis monastery in Tsaghkadzor.
- Dilijan: about two hours by minibus; better as an overnight.
Arzni, Bjni and Arzakan all fit the pattern in the day trips from Yerevan guide; for Hankavan a rental car is the difference between a comfortable day and a long one, see renting and driving in Armenia.
Drinking the water: etiquette and honest expectations
Armenian mineral water at source is cold (except at Jermuk and the Hankavan and Arzakan baths), heavily carbonated and salty. Bjni and Arzni water sit at 4 to 14 g/l of dissolved minerals; for comparison, most European table waters are under 1 g/l. A small glass is pleasant; a litre is not, which is why sanatorium doctors dose it. Bring your own cup. Do not expect a working sanatorium to let walk-ins use treatment rooms without a day pass. The abandoned buildings at Arzni are unsecured ruins with missing floors; you enter at your own risk.
Practical notes
- Sanatorium stays are booked directly or through Yerevan agencies; English on the phone is hit and miss, Russian always works.
- Arzni is open year-round with a cheaper November to April tariff; January averages about -5°C.
- Hankavan is at nearly 2,000 m. The road can be snowbound from December to March; check before driving up.
- Carry cash; pool rentals and village taxis are dram-only. Prices here come from operators’ 2026 listings and agency pages, so confirm them.
Last verified: October 2026.
Which one should you pick?
If you want the Soviet-sanatorium experience without a three-hour drive, Arzni is the answer: one night in the working resort, an afternoon in the Lazarev ruin, and you have seen both halves of the story for under 50,000 AMD. If you just want to sit in warm water, Arzakan near Bjni is closer and cheaper than Hankavan, and the Bjni fortress is on the way. Hankavan is for people with a car who want the mountain setting and are already going to Tsaghkadzor. Dilijan is a forest town that happens to have good water. And if the drinking gallery is the point, none of them replaces Jermuk.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Arzni sanatorium still open?
Yes. Arzni Health Resort CJSC, 23 km north of Yerevan, is the one working sanatorium in Arzni; its 2026 tariff lists standard doubles at 35,000 to 44,000 AMD a night including meals and treatments, and day passes from 8,000 AMD. The larger Lazarev Sanatorium next to it has been abandoned since 1992.
Can you drink Bjni mineral water at the source?
Yes, for free. There is a strong spring on the road from Hrazdan into Bjni village, inside a protected water zone, and short hiking routes lead to springs in the gorge. The water is cold, fizzy and salty; the bottling plant itself is in Charentsavan, not the village.
Does Hankavan have hot springs you can swim in?
Hankavan has warm mineral springs feeding outdoor pools with private cabins, run commercially rather than as a medical sanatorium. Tour operators quote about 5,000 AMD per extra hour; confirm prices and water temperature before you go, and note there is no direct bus from Yerevan.
Which mineral-water town is the easiest day trip from Yerevan?
Arzni, 30 to 40 minutes away by minibus 253 to Nor Hachn plus a short taxi. Bjni and the Arzakan hot pools are about 45 minutes by car. Hankavan and Dilijan each need a full day or an overnight.
Featured image: vahemart, CC BY-SA 3.0 — via Wikimedia Commons.
