Ethiopian Experiences
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"Visit Ethiopia to see jagged mountains, vast highland plateaus,
the Blue Nile and fauna seen nowhere else in the world......
Explore remnants of the ancient Axumite Kingdom that sat alongside
the empires of Rome and Persia."
Trevor Jenner : Ethiopia, Travellers' Handbook
The wonders of
Ancient, Historic Ethiopia
Our classic, signature tour of this amazing country
See our Tours schedule page and newsletters for latest news
Join us on this awe-inspiring and magical tour of Amharic Ethiopia.
Twelve memorable days amidst mysterious castles, ancient monasteries, warm and welcoming people, and culminating in the eighth Wonder of the World, Lalibela, an unbelievable world of rock-hewn churches dating from the 12th century, a very special World Heritage site.
Twelve days of unmissable experiences for just
£2750
plus flights and visa
Everything else included - accommodation in comfortable and characterful hotels,
all meals and coffee stops throughout the trip,
all site tickets, guide fees and tips,
and all land transportation.
We surely should be able to run our wonderful signature tour again by the time next Easter is upon us. Surely we should!
Here are dates for what we hope will be our next group tour in the spring of 2025. We'd love you to join us.
Departure on an evening flight
15th Apr 2025
Return on daytime flight
28th Apr 2025
We would strongly encourage you to join one of our very friendly, small-group accompanied tours.
But if you'd prefer to travel alone, or as a couple, or as a group of friends, we can run this tour for you at any time of the year. You just need to get in touch and let's discuss your requirements.
Use the form at the bottom of this page.
The itinerary
🇪🇹 Day 0:
Evening flight
Heathrow to Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa
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🇪🇹 Day 1: After coffees and introductory chat, we check into our comfortable hotel base in Addis Ababa (see our January 2021 newsletter), followed by relaxation and recovery before lunch. A short transfer delivers us to the Amist Kilo area of the city to visit the National Museum for a couple of relaxed introductory hours. We sample some traditional Ethiopian coffee before returning to freshen up for dinner.
🇪🇹 Day 2: Our morning is spent in the central Piassa area of the city, and we soon reach the magnificent St George's Cathedral at the top of the square for the first of our guided tours, learning about the fine building itself and becoming acquainted with the Ethiopian Orthodox religion that is so visible in this part of the country. We have lunch at the oldest hotel in Ethiopia, the Taitu, followed by a drive up into the hills on the edge of the city to visit Entoto Park, a beautiful new development amid the mature eucalyptus forest. Downtime and a good dinner.
" Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into making the trip so memorable."
Bahir Dar
🇪🇹 Day 3: The only early start on this tour sees us flying to Bahir Dar (see our April 2021 newsletter) on the banks of Lake Tana and checking into our particularly comfortable hotel. We soon transfer to a private boat and are off for a guided visit of one of the finest painted monasteries in the country on the wooded promontory of Zege, walking up through ancient coffee plantations. Lunch is taken back in Bahir Dar on the banks of the lake in an idyllic spot before a saunter along the lakeside Millennium Walk, taking us back into the centre of this attractive town. Relaxation followed by dinner.
🇪🇹 Day 4: Joined by our comfortable Toyota High Roof and driver (with us for the next four days) we go out into the countryside to find the village of Tis Abay. A local guide takes us for a couple of hours hiking to see the Tississat Falls, meeting plenty of rural children along the way. Any guests not up for the hill-walking can opt for the shorter and flatter walk that lands up at the same place. But we are soon back to our hotel for rest and dinner.
Gondar
🇪🇹 Day 5: A morning road trip delivers us to the important city of Gondar, north of Lake Tana (see our July 2022 newsletter), leaving the lush fertility of the Bahir Dar area and climbing up into the picturesque mountains, and on to the cereal-growing lands around Gondar. We check in to another comfortable base for our three nights in this one-time capital city. After lunch, we are on our way to one of the most prestigious tourist sites of Ethiopia right in the centre of Gondar, the Castle Compound, which dates from the seventeenth century and contains nearly a dozen fine and varied historic buildings. An excellent local guide will show us round.
🇪🇹 Day 6: A two-and-a-half-hour drive to the north of Gondar brings us into an area of spectacular scenery in the Simien Mountains (see our May 2022 newsletter). Our guide will be keen to find for us some of the most extraordinary creatures on this planet, the endemic gelada baboons who live in large and complex family groups. If we are lucky, we shall experience some remarkably close (but totally unthreatening) encounters. A good picnic lunch, prepared by ourselves after breakfast, will be eaten in truly memorable surroundings before we drive back to our base. Dinner is planned in one of the two restaurants that vie for top place on Trip Advisor. Great food and, hopefully, rather special entertainment too.
🇪🇹 Day 7: We pass briefly through beautiful countryside just to the north-west of Gondar this morning for a real taste of rural Ethiopia - a village visit, a traditional coffee ceremony and a tour of a typical rural school. But we're back in Gondar for a specially-prepared buffet lunch when we'll do a little talking about Eyayaw's many years of charity support. After that we're off to another part of this small city to visit the iconic church of Debre Birhan Selassie, again a world-famous site of Ethiopia. We are once more in the hands of a very charming and knowledgeable local guide.
Axum
🇪🇹 Day 8: A farewell to Gondar and a shortish flight takes us to Axum (see our January 2022 newsletter), a very different part of Ethiopia and the ancient centre of the once powerful Axumite Empire. We'll be with our local guide for two full days here. He'll tell us of past greatness and show us remarkable stone stelae on the ancient site in the centre of town.
🇪🇹 Day 9: We'll start back in the centre of town today to visit the relatively modern and impressive cathedral of St Mary Zion and its museum of historic artefacts. But the Ark of the Covenant, reputedly being guarded just next door, will not be on display. On the edge of the city we shall visit the sites of some very ancient and important buildings and then, after lunch, we shall be off into the scenic countryside to visit the most ancient religious site in Ethiopia, the lofty pre-Christian temple of Yeha and its little museum, redolent of ancient culture and history.
" For us the highlights were the churches at Lalibela, the waterfall on the Blue Nile, the Simien Mountains, the Village at Jenda and the lovely countryside in general. Thank you for looking after us so well "
Lalibela
🇪🇹 Day 10: Another mid-morning flight is on the cards for today, but nothing will prepare you for our destination, the astounding and unbelievable rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, the fine climax of this very special tour. (see our July 2021 newsletter) We shall do this visit in two halves. Today, after a slightly delayed lunch, we visit the north-western cluster of churches with a suitably excellent guide to help us believe what we are seeing. We have a characterful and comfortable hotel for your two nights here.
🇪🇹 Day 11: The southern cluster of churches is the focus for our second morning, culminating in the greatest of all the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, the cruciform St George's. From here we'll be able to move to the large Saturday country market, perhaps the best of the markets that we visit on any of our tours. After this energetic morning, we shall make sure of a relaxing lunchtime and afternoon, with a brief teatime visit to a simple house outside the town. The evening will undoubtedly offer the most extraordinary venue for dinner that you'll ever have experienced !
🇪🇹 Day 12: A relaxed start to the day and a mid-morning flight back to the capital city allows us enough time to look back one last time at extraordinary Lalibela. We shall perhaps pick up some souvenirs in Addis in the afternoon before we say farewell to Ethiopia - at least for the time-being - by having a celebration drink at the Sheraton Hotel with its glorious gardens and almost unreal level of sophistication and comfort. We return to our hotel for a final dinner together.
🇪🇹 Day 13: A homeward daytime flight brings everyone gently back to some level of normality. But the memories will linger, we promise you!
Notes :
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We can never be sure of flight costs in advance but based on our recent experience and increases in international flight prices, the complete package of two international flights and four domestic flights may well come to something around £1250 per person.
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The cost of the one-month tourist visa at the present time is about £65.
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For other general information, see Our tours > All the tours information