Goris comes as a relief after the open, treeless plateau of central Syunik. Tucked into a well-watered valley carved by the Goris River, it is the largest town in the southeast of Armenia and the natural base for exploring the province. The streets are lined with trees — rare enough in this part of the country to feel genuinely welcoming — and the town has a calm, provincial rhythm that contrasts with the drama of the surrounding landscape.
The town's most distinctive feature is the cluster of cone-shaped tufa rock pillars that rise from the hills on its eastern side. Eroded from soft volcanic rock into slender spires and honeycombed formations, some of these were once inhabited as cave dwellings — you can still make out the carved-out rooms and doorways in several of the formations. The old cave settlement is a short walk or drive from the centre and worth an hour of exploration; the tufa is soft enough that even relatively recent inhabitants cut new rooms with simple tools.
Goris serves well as a base for Tatev Monastery, Carahunge, and the road south toward the Iranian border. There are a handful of decent guesthouses and restaurants in town, and it is the last reliable place to stock up on supplies before heading into more remote parts of Syunik. The town was also, until recently, the staging point for the road through the Lachin corridor to Nagorno-Karabakh — a route that is now closed following Azerbaijan's 2023 military offensive and the displacement of the ethnic Armenian population of Karabakh.