Armenia
Armenia is in the Caucasus along with Georgia and Azerbaijan. Its former Soviet heritage is quite evident in the obvious Russian cultural vibe and the food, although it definitely has a strong and unique cultural tradition of its own. Armenia is one of the oldest Christian countries in the world, and has a wealth of beautiful old churches, monuments and artifacts. Armenians are friendly and curious about foreign affairs, and the country has some fascinating old sights as well as a beautiful natural landscape with forest and mountains. The climate varies from cold desert to tundra.
Our Experience
Most visitors to Armenia get six months on arrival, and since Armenia is such a small country and easy to see in a relatively short amount of time, you won't need that long. Armenia doesn't have a huge variety of sights to see geographically but what it does have is definitely worth seeing. It's easy to fall in love with smaller towns like Dilijan, where one can wile away the day sipping coffee at a quaint cafe overlooking the water, surrounded by a national forest. Gyumri is the second largest city in Armenia, and yet it has a lovely small town feel. The people are friendly, and spending a few days there makes the visitor feel like a bonified member of the community. Gyumri was definitely our favorite stop in Armenia. It has unique architecture, and a sort of gothic historical feeling that we really enjoyed. Gyumri is also fairly convenient for expats but it is small and some expats might find it to be a bit boring after a while. Yerevan, the capital of Armenia is where most expats live for the obvious reasons of convenience and access to other expats. Yerevan is also a really nice city. Nice in the sense of being well-planned, clean, easy to navigate and interesting in regard to sights and things to do. Armenia is steadily becoming what could be described as a true cosmopolitan city. The people are anxious to progress, and are very proud of their capital-and rightly so. It's one of the nicest cities I've ever been to. It's loaded with parks and well-maintained public spaces, and extremely walkable.
The weather in Armenia is cool in the summer at higher elevations, and ferociously hot in Yerevan. I would recommend spending summers in Dilijan or Gyumri, and then descending back into Yerevan for the winter, where it's much milder. Spring and fall are probably the two nicest times of the year, with a short rainy season in each, and very liveable temperatures.
Armenian food is naturally good, with lots of herbs, spices and fresh vegetables with high quality meat. There are also some great desserts here, and an interestingly high availability of croissants because of the Armenian love of all things French.
It's easy to stay short term in Armenia, and also relatively easy to get residency, provided you're willing to start a business in the country. This is an affordable option for most people but there are some rules in regard to tax reporting and actually keeping the business alive and maintaining residency. I've linked the website of a popular lawyer in Yerevan for further information. Keep in mind that there are many people in Yerevan that offer foreigners assistance with obtaining residency status, and some are more expensive than others. We suggest asking around and doing your due diligence before committing and funds or hiring someone. Most lawyers give a free consultation, so take advantage.