Ethiopia was carved downwards. Start at the edge and look in.
Which Danakil operator runs the three-day loop properly. What a full day in Addis Ababa costs. Whether Lalibela is worth the internal flight. Reviews of every tour you can book in Ethiopia.
A first Ethiopian itinerary hangs off four days.
The capital, the gorge north of it, the churches, and the descent into the Danakil. What each costs and what the people who booked it say.
01The first eveningTaste of EthiopiaInjera off a shared platter, the wots that go on it, and coffee roasted at the table. The gentlest possible first night at 2,355 metres.
02The gorge dayAddis Ababa: Debre Libanos, Blue Nile Gorge, and Cave TourDebre Libanos, the Portuguese Bridge and the drop into the Blue Nile Gorge. Geladas on the cliff edge, eight hours door to door.
03The churchesLalibela Rock Churches Guided TourEleven churches cut down into red rock and still in daily use. Book the guide with it; unaccompanied the plan of the place stays hidden.
04The three-day one3 Days Danakil Depression TourDown to 125 metres below sea level for the sulphur springs at Dallol and the salt flats. Everything about this trip is arranged in advance.
Addis Ababa sits at 2,355 metres, and every road out of it drops.
Most Ethiopian itineraries start and end at Bole, so the capital gets two days by default. Three ways to spend them, what each costs to board, and how long you are actually out.
Six Ethiopian towns, and the best day out of each.
A capital in the highlands, a church town cut into rock, a castle town on the Simien approach, a lake with island monasteries, the Rift Valley lakes in the south, and the desert road east. Pick a base and the days follow.
The Danakil is the hottest place anyone lives, and you go anyway.
Dallol boils yellow and green over a salt dome 125 metres below the sea. Erta Ale holds one of the few lava lakes on earth that never goes out. Camel trains still cut and carry the salt. This is a three-day convoy with permits, not a day trip.
Lalibela: eleven churches, and not one of them was built.
Everything in Lalibela →
Masons cut down into the tuff in the twelfth century and left churches standing in their own pits, joined by tunnels and trenches. Priests still hold services in them at four in the morning. Go with a guide who can read the plan, and go early.
- 112 Days SIMIEN MOUNTAIN-LALIBELA-DANAKIL-TIGRAY CHURCHESfrom $1,641
- 2Visiting Lalibela churchesfrom $200
- 3Visit the rock hewn churchesfrom $165
All eleven, in one circuit
The northern cluster, the tunnel across to the eastern group, and Bete Giyorgis last, which is the one carved as a cross and the one everybody pictures. Shoes come off at every door.
The Tigray cliff churches
Gheralta’s churches sit in the sandstone above the plain, and a few are reached on hands and feet up a bare rock face. Abuna Yemata Guh is the famous one. No head for heights, no visit.
Gonder, Axum, Bahir Dar
The castles at Gonder, the stelae field at Axum, the monasteries out on Lake Tana. Sold as one loop because that is how the roads and the internal flights run.
The Simien escarpment falls away for a thousand metres.
Lava built a plateau and then most of it eroded off, leaving pinnacles standing in open air above the lowlands. Walking here is a ridge walk with a scout, past gelada troops and, if the day goes well, walia ibex on the crags.
Every Simien trek →
A day out in the highlands rarely comes in under $50.
Every tour on the site, grouped by price. Cheap days exist here but they are rare, and the trips people fly in for are multi-day and priced accordingly.
City walks in Addis Ababa, a coffee morning, a museum run, a short layover tour out of Bole.
The Blue Nile Gorge, Debre Libanos, Wenchi crater and a Lalibela church circuit.
The Danakil convoy, Simien and Bale treks, the Omo Valley run, and the whole northern loop.
- 13 Days Danakil Depression Tourfrom $450
- 23 Days Danakil Depression Tours Via Semerafrom $420
- 312 Days SIMIEN MOUNTAIN-LALIBELA-DANAKIL-TIGRAY CHURCHESfrom $1,641
Three things that happen in Ethiopia and nowhere else.
Old churches and high mountains are everywhere. Churches quarried downwards out of solid rock, a monkey that lives on grass at 3,000 metres, and the plant that coffee came from are not.
The Churches of Lalibela
Eleven churches were quarried down out of the volcanic tuff around the turn of the thirteenth century, each one freed from the rock on all four sides and hollowed out from the roof down. They stand in their own open pits, linked by trenches and a tunnel, and they have never stopped being parish churches. Services run before dawn and shoes come off at every threshold.
- 112 Days SIMIEN MOUNTAIN-LALIBELA-DANAKIL-TIGRAY CHURCHES★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 45 reviews
- 2Visiting Lalibela churches★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 40 reviews
- 3Visit the rock hewn churches★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 39 reviews
The Geladas of the Simiens
Geladas live nowhere but the Ethiopian highlands, in troops that can run to several hundred, and they are the only primates left that live mostly on grass. They sleep on the cliff faces and come up onto the escarpment at first light to feed, which is why Simien treks start early and why the animals let walkers get close.
- 112 Days SIMIEN MOUNTAIN-LALIBELA-DANAKIL-TIGRAY CHURCHES★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 45 reviews
- 26 Days tour Package (Simien Mountains, Lalibela, and Danakil Depression)★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 32 reviews
- 35-Day Northern Ethiopia Tour : 3D Simien Mountains Trek & Axum.★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 9 reviews
The Coffee Ceremony
Coffee is native to the Ethiopian forests and it is still served the long way: green beans roasted over coals in front of you, ground by hand, brewed in a clay jebena and poured from a height into small cups. Three rounds are served, abol, tona and baraka, and leaving after the first is the one thing you should not do.
- 1Ethiopian Culinary Tour – Market, Food, Coffee Ceremony & more★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 65 reviews
- 2Market Tour and Cooking Class with a Coffee Ceremony at a Home in Addis Ababa★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 32 reviews
- 3Vintage Coffee Shops, Restaurants, Sightseeing in Addis Ababa★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 17 reviews
Four Ethiopian trips that will not wait.
Plenty of this country can be arranged over breakfast the day before. These four run on permits, park scouts, a festival calendar and a season that closes.
- 013 Days Danakil Depression TourThe convoy runs roughly October to March. Outside that window the Depression is too hot to work in, and every departure needs permits arranged in advance.
- 0212 Days SIMIEN MOUNTAIN-LALIBELA-DANAKIL-TIGRAY CHURCHESThe park will not let you walk in alone. An armed scout and a guide are compulsory, arranged at the entrance gate, which is a long way from anywhere you can fix it on the day.
- 03Visiting Lalibela churchesGenna on 7 January and Timkat on 19 January fill the town completely. Beds and flights in that fortnight go months out.
- 04Lalibela, Axum, Danakil and Omo Valley 8 DAYSThe south is a several-day drive on its own roads. There is no version of this that starts tomorrow morning.
Thirteen months, one long rain, and a country that turns yellow after it.
The kiremt rains fall from late June into September and take the mountain tracks with them. Then the highlands come up in Meskel daisies, the calendar turns over on 11 September, and the good months run through to the following May. The Danakil is the exception at both ends: it only works in the cool half of the year.
Addis Ababa day tours out-book everything else in Ethiopia.
Every Ethiopian tour we have reviewed →City days in the capital, coffee ceremonies and the monastery run north of it. What each one costs.
1
Full Day Tour of Addis Ababa with Hotel Pickup and Drop-off
Review of Addis Ababa’s full-day tour with Lucy, Mercato, Entoto views, museums, churches, lunch, and hotel pickup for $69.99.
From · $69
Read our review →
2
Taste of Ethiopia
from $102
3
Day Trip From Addis Ababa See Historical Monastery,Stunning Nature,Animals,Birds
from $90
4
Addis Ababa: Debre Libanos, Blue Nile Gorge, and Cave Tour
from $94
5
Addis Ababa Guided City Tour With Airport & Hotel Pick Up
from $55
6
Breathtaking Nature, Wildlife and Cave Church Tour – Free Pickups
from $80
7
Full-Day Private City Tour of Addis Ababa
8
3 Days Danakil Depression Tour
from $450
Gonder’s castles, Axum’s stelae, and the churches in between.
The north is one road and three centuries of building on it. Take it in the order the flights run, or drive it and stop at the monasteries on Lake Tana on the way through.
Addis Ababa, Bahir Dar, Gonder, the Simiens, Axum, Lalibela: the run almost everybody does first.
Addis Ababa
Bahir Dar
Gonder
The Simiens
LalibelaHighlands, lakes and the desert east
Recently reviewed, from Addis Ababa out to the salt flats.
The rest of the new ones →
5 days Exploring North Ethiopia’s Rich History and Culture
Read our review →
Private Ethiopian Home Cooking Class in Addis Ababa with Transfer
Read our review →
Addis Ababa: Entoto hill and Mercato Market layover tour
Read our review →
4 Days Trekking to Simien Mountain National Park
Read our review →
3 Days Desert Adventure: Discover Danakil’s Hidden Wonders!
Read our review →
