The Armenian community (aka "Little Armenia") in Los Angeles supports a small travel industry for its 200,000 Armenian expatriates. Bus tours offered by Armenian-run travel agencies are not numerous, but the ones that exist are popular and usually cover trips within the United States. These L.A.-based agencies also offer travel, including plane tickets to and bus tours of the Armenian homeland and elsewhere.
Hambik's is well-known in Little Armenia for its reasonably priced tours leaving from L.A. Affiliated with Royal America Tours, it offers buses to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite and Santa Barbara; these are mostly three-day/two-night tours with double occupancy. The tours are in Armenian, with some English.
Hambik also offers casino day tours to the local-to-L.A. casinos such as Fantasy Springs, Chumash and Agua Caliente resorts. Many of these tours include travel deals, including a $30 refund for your $20 bus ticket to the Spotlight 29 Casino in Coachella and a $20 refund for your $20 bus ticket to Harrah's Rincon in Valley Center.
Hambik also offers a two-week tour of Armenia and neighboring Kharabakh in September.
Hambik's Tours
815 S. Central Ave., #12
Glendale, CA 91204
888-240-4690 TEL
818-240-4742 FAX
hambikstours.com
Levon Travel is popular with Armenians wanting to return home; it specializes in travel to Armenia, Moldova, Karabakh and Georgia.
In the United States, it is affiliated with Globus Tours and offers bus tours to Los Angeles and other parts of California. It also tours the country, including trips to the national parks, New Orleans, Boston, New York City and Washington, D.C.; these tours depart from the city of choice. Levon also offers themed tours, including of Tennessee music sites (Nashville, Memphis, Elvis Presley's home) and tours of music city Branson, Mo. These U.S.-based tours are in English.
Levon also offers Christian-themed tours.
Levon Travel
1132 N. Brand Blvd.
Glendale, CA 91202
800-445-3866
Fax: 818-552-7701
[email protected]
levontravel.com
Sidon Travel also specializes in travel to Armenia and Karabakh; it also offers reasonable package tours to places like Egypt for under $400.
Its bus tours include tours of Los Angeles (part of its "Golden West Adventure" that travels to San Franciso, Las Vegas and other locales) and European countries such as France, Italy, Germany and Spain. These tours are offered through Cosmos Tours and are in English.
Sidon Travel
428 S. Central Ave.
Glendale, CA 91204
818-553-0777
Fax: 818-553-0779
sidontravel.com
