Discover the Land of Origins

Africa’s diplomatic capital: museums, cathedrals, markets and coffee.

• Addis Ababa & Surroundings
• 2,355 m
• Year-round
• 1 to 2 days

Lucy, imperial treasures and the story of one of the world’s oldest nations.

• Addis Ababa & Surroundings
• 2,355 m
• Year-round
• Half day to 1 day

Forested hills above the capital with views, history and fresh mountain air.

• Addis Ababa & Surroundings
• 2,600 to 3,100 m
• Year-round
• Half day

The grounds of Menelik II’s Grand Palace, opened to the public in 2019.

• Addis Ababa & Surroundings
• 2,355 m
• Year-round
• 2 to 3 hours

One of Africa’s oldest protected forests, just 45 kilometres from Addis Ababa.

• Addis Ababa & Surroundings
• 2,300 to 3,385 m
• October to May
• 1 day

An island monastery, hot springs and green hills inside an extinct volcano.

• Addis Ababa & Surroundings
• 2,800 to 3,386 m
• October to June
• 1 day

A historic monastery on the edge of a gorge, with gelada and the Portuguese Bridge.

• Addis Ababa & Surroundings
• 2,500 m
• September to May
• 1 day

Mysterious carved stelae and a rock-hewn church, an easy day from Addis Ababa.

• Addis Ababa & Surroundings
• 2,000 to 2,200 m
• Year-round
• 1 day

Eleven churches carved downward into living rock, still alive with prayer.

• Historic Northern Ethiopia
• 2,500 m
• September to July
• 2 to 3 days

The Camelot of Africa: castles, baths and painted ceilings of a highland empire.

• Historic Northern Ethiopia
• 2,133 m
• September to July
• 1 to 2 days

Island monasteries, papyrus boats and the source of the Blue Nile.

• Historic Northern Ethiopia
• 1,800 m
• September to July
• 1 to 2 days

Tis Issat, the “Smoking Water”, thundering into a basalt gorge.

• Historic Northern Ethiopia
• 1,700 m
• August to December
• Half day

Granite obelisks, royal tombs and the claimed resting place of the Ark.

• Historic Northern Ethiopia
• 2,131 m
• September to July
• 1 to 2 days

More than 120 rock-hewn churches, some reached only by climbing a cliff.

• Historic Northern Ethiopia
• 2,000 to 2,600 m
• September to April
• 2 to 3 days

A built church of wood and stone, hidden inside a cave above Lalibela.

• Historic Northern Ethiopia
• 2,700 m
• October to April
• Half day

Ethiopia’s oldest standing building: a 2,500-year-old temple near Axum.

• Historic Northern Ethiopia
• 2,100 m
• September to July
• Half day

Site of Africa’s first Muslim settlement and a symbol of religious coexistence.

• Historic Northern Ethiopia
• 2,000 m
• September to July
• 1 to 2 hours

A 4,284-metre massif above Lalibela with Ethiopian wolves and gelada.

• Historic Northern Ethiopia
• 3,000 to 4,284 m
• September to May
• 2 to 4 days

A cliff-top monastery above Lalibela with sweeping views of the Lasta mountains.

• Historic Northern Ethiopia
• 3,150 m
• October to April
• Half day

A living mosaic of peoples who have shaped this river valley for millennia.

• Southern Ethiopia & Omo Valley
• 400 to 1,500 m
• Year-round except April and May
• 5 to 9 days

Walled hilltop villages, stone terraces and carved wooden waka memorials.

• Southern Ethiopia & Omo Valley
• 1,650 m
• Year-round except April and May
• Half day to 1 day

Beehive-shaped bamboo houses and master weavers in the Guge highlands.

• Southern Ethiopia & Omo Valley
• 2,600 to 2,900 m
• Year-round
• Half day

The town of “Forty Springs”, between two lakes on the road to the Omo.

• Southern Ethiopia & Omo Valley
• 1,285 m
• Year-round
• 1 to 2 days

Giant crocodiles, hippos and rich birdlife on a Rift Valley lake beside Arba Minch.

• Southern Ethiopia & Omo Valley
• 1,110 m
• Year-round
• Half a day to 1 day

A relaxed lakeside city in the Rift Valley, known for its morning fish market.

• Southern Ethiopia & Omo Valley
• 1,708 m
• Year-round
• 1 to 2 days

Green hills, coffee gardens and Sidama culture in the quiet countryside south of Hawassa.

• Southern Ethiopia & Omo Valley
• 1,780 m
• Year-round; October to January for the coffee harvest
• 1 to 2 days

The green Gedeo highlands behind one of the world’s most celebrated coffees.

• Southern Ethiopia & Omo Valley
• 1,700 to 2,200 m
• October to January (harvest)
• 1 to 2 days

Cattle herders of Mago National Park, known for the clay lip plate.

• Southern Ethiopia & Omo Valley
• 500 to 1,500 m
• Year-round except April and May
• Half day

Ochre-braided hair, beaded leather, and the bull-jumping rite of passage.

• Southern Ethiopia & Omo Valley
• 900 to 1,500 m
• Year-round except April and May
• 1 to 2 days

Master body painters living on the banks of the Omo River.

• Southern Ethiopia & Omo Valley
• 400 to 500 m
• Year-round except April and May
• Half day

Highland neighbours of the Hamar, famous for stilt walking and beekeeping.

• Southern Ethiopia & Omo Valley
• 1,200 to 1,600 m
• Year-round except April and May
• Half day

Pastoralists of the dry plains near Lake Chew Bahir, with striking black headscarves.

• Southern Ethiopia & Omo Valley
• 500 m
• Year-round except April and May
• Half day

Farmers, potters and blacksmiths of the green highlands around Jinka.

• Southern Ethiopia & Omo Valley
• 1,500 m
• Year-round
• Half day

Semi-nomads of the Omo delta, near the northern shore of Lake Turkana.

• Southern Ethiopia & Omo Valley
• 370 m
• Year-round except April and May
• Half day

Nilotic pastoralists of the west bank, famous for their heavy bead collars.

• Southern Ethiopia & Omo Valley
• 400 to 500 m
• Year-round except April and May
• Half day to 1 day

Remote cattle herders of Kibish, known for body art, lip plates and Donga.

• Southern Ethiopia & Omo Valley
• 1,000 to 1,500 m
• November to March
• 2 to 3 days

Agro-pastoralists of the Weito valley, between Konso and the Hamar.

• Southern Ethiopia & Omo Valley
• 600 to 1,000 m
• Year-round except April and May
• Half day

A walled Muslim city of 82 mosques, colourful markets and the hyena men.

• Eastern Ethiopia
• 1,885 m
• October to March
• 2 days

Ethiopia’s railway city, founded where the line from Djibouti reached the hills.

• Eastern Ethiopia
• 1,200 m
• October to March
• Half day to 1 day

Ethiopia’s longest cave system, carved through limestone by the Weyib River.

• Eastern Ethiopia
• 1,300 m
• October to March
• 1 day

Dramatic rock formations and an elephant sanctuary on the road from Harar to Jijiga.

• Eastern Ethiopia
• 850 to 1,800 m
• October to March
• Half day to 1 day

Capital of Ethiopia’s Somali Region, with lively markets, camel herds and Somali hospitality.

• Eastern Ethiopia
• About 1,600 m
• October to March
• 1 to 2 days

A riverside town on the Baro, gateway to Ethiopia’s tropical west.

• Western Ethiopia
• About 500 m
• November to March
• 1 to 2 days

Ethiopia’s tropical west, with the great migration of the white-eared kob.

• Western Ethiopia
• 400 to 770 m
• December to April
• Expedition

Wild Arabica in the montane forests of the Kafa Biosphere Reserve.

• Western Ethiopia
• 1,700 to 2,300 m
• October to May
• 2 to 3 days

The old capital of the Kingdom of Jimma, at the heart of Ethiopia’s coffee country.

• Western Ethiopia
• About 1,780 m
• October to February
• 1 to 2 days

A green highland town among forests and coffee estates in Ethiopia’s far southwest.

• Western Ethiopia
• About 1,450 m
• November to February
• 1 to 2 days

Green forests, waterfalls and one of Ethiopia’s largest elephant herds.

• Western Ethiopia
• 600 to 2,000 m
• November to March
• 2 to 3 days

One of the hottest places on earth, painted in sulphur and salt.

• Nature & Wildlife
• -116 m
• November to March
• 3 to 4 days

The Roof of Africa, where gelada monkeys graze above a thousand-metre drop.

• Nature & Wildlife
• 3,200 to 4,550 m
• September to June
• 1 to 5 days

Afro-alpine moorland holding the rarest canid on earth: the Ethiopian wolf.

• Nature & Wildlife
• 2,500 to 4,377 m
• October to April
• 3 to 6 days

The “Smoking Mountain”: one of the few volcanoes on earth with a lava lake.

• Nature & Wildlife
• 613 m
• November to March
• 1 to 2 days

Oryx plains, hot springs and a waterfall, three hours east of the capital.

• Nature & Wildlife
• 750 to 2,007 m
• October to April
• 2 to 3 days

Two very different soda lakes, flamingos, pelicans and steaming hot springs.

• Nature & Wildlife
• 1,540 to 2,075 m
• September to May
• 1 to 2 days

Ziway, Langano and Hawassa: a chain of lakes alive with birds and fishermen.

• Nature & Wildlife
• 1,580 to 1,700 m
• September to May
• 1 to 3 days

Zebra plains and giant crocodiles between Lake Abaya and Lake Chamo.

• Nature & Wildlife
• 1,108 to 1,650 m
• October to March
• 1 to 2 days

Savannah and riverine forest on the Omo, home of the Mursi people.

• Nature & Wildlife
• 450 to 2,528 m
• Year-round except April and May
• 1 day

Ethiopia’s largest national park: true wilderness on the west bank of the Omo.

• Nature & Wildlife
• 400 to 1,500 m
• November to March
• Expedition

Ethiopia’s greatest festival: processions, holy water and joyful celebration.

• Festivals & Events
• 2,133 m (Gondar)
• 18 to 20 January
• 2 to 3 days

Bonfires, yellow daisies and songs to celebrate the discovery of the True Cross.

• Festivals & Events
• 2,355 m (Addis Ababa)
• 26 to 27 September
• 1 to 2 days

An all-night vigil among the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela on 7 January.

• Festivals & Events
• 2,500 m (Lalibela)
• 6 to 7 January
• 2 to 3 days

Candle-lit services and celebrations that end the 55-day Lenten fast.

• Festivals & Events
• 2,500 m (Lalibela)
• March to May (date varies)
• 2 to 3 days

Yellow flowers, songs and new beginnings as the rains end on 11 September.

• Festivals & Events
• Nationwide
• 11 September
• 1 day

A celebration of girls and young women in the towns of Tigray and Amhara.

• Festivals & Events
• 2,000 to 2,500 m
• Late August
• 2 to 3 days

The Feast of the Transfiguration: bonfires, bread and boys singing hoya hoye.

• Festivals & Events
• Nationwide
• 19 August
• 1 day

Thousands of pilgrims gather in Axum to honour Mary of Zion each November.

• Festivals & Events
• 2,131 m (Axum)
• 30 November
• 2 days

Communal prayers and family feasts marking the end of Ramadan.

• Festivals & Events
• Nationwide
• Date follows the lunar calendar
• 1 to 3 days

The Festival of Sacrifice, celebrated with prayers, sharing and community.

• Festivals & Events
• Nationwide
• Date follows the lunar calendar
• 1 to 4 days

Run 10 km at 2,400 metres with tens of thousands of Ethiopians each November.

• Festivals & Events
• 2,355 m (Addis Ababa)
• Mid to late November
• 1 day

Elephant country between the Tekeze River and the Eritrean border.

• Other Destinations & Experiences
• 550 to 1,000 m
• November to March
• Expedition