ETHIOPIA · THE HORN OF AFRICA
Rock-hewn churches, lava lakes, ancient highlands.
From the rock churches of Lalibela to the salt flats of the Danakil, the Simien peaks and the cultures of the Omo Valley. The whole country, region by region.
Only in Ethiopia
Three things you won’t find anywhere else.
Plenty of countries have mountains, markets and old churches. These three are different. Rock cut downward into churches, a desert that glows, a valley of living cultures. Build the trip around them.
Carved from the rock
The churches of Lalibela
Eleven churches cut straight down into solid volcanic rock eight centuries ago, and still in daily use today. Pilgrims in white move through the tunnels and trenches between them. No bricks, no blocks, each one carved from a single piece of stone. There is nothing else quite like it on earth.
- 1 12 Days SIMIEN MOUNTAIN-LALIBELA-DANAKIL-TIGRAY CHURCHES
- 2 Visiting Lalibela churches
- 3 Visit the rock hewn churches
Below sea level
The Danakil and Dallol
One of the hottest, lowest places on the planet. Erta Ale holds a lava lake that glows after dark, and Dallol turns the ground acid yellow and electric green with sulphur. Camel caravans still carry slabs of salt out of the basin the way they have for centuries.
- 1 3 Days Danakil Depression Tour
- 2 3 Days Danakil Depression Tours Via Semera
- 3 3 Day Danakil Depression Ertale and Dallol Tours
The deep south
The peoples of the Omo
A dozen distinct cultures live along the lower Omo, each with its own language, body art and ceremonies. Saturday markets, Mursi clay, Hamer bull-jumping. It is one of the most culturally diverse corners of Africa, and a world away from the highlands further north.
- 1 6 Days Omo Valley Tribes Tours From Addis Ababa
- 2 Lalibela, Axum, Danakil and Omo Valley 8 DAYS
- 3 3 Days Omo Valley Tour
Plan the trip
Ethiopia is three trips in one.
Few people see it all on a single visit. Most pick a region and go deep. Here is how the country divides, and how long each part takes.
Start here
The one most trips begin with.
New to Ethiopia? This is the day travellers book first. Get your bearings in the capital, then head for the highlands.
The classics
Ethiopia's Most Popular Tours
Lalibela, the Danakil, the Simien peaks and the Omo Valley. The trips travellers come to Ethiopia for.
By region
Pick a region.
Each one is its own trip. Lalibela for the rock churches. The Danakil for the volcano and the salt. The Simien for the highlands. The Omo Valley for the cultures of the south.
By experience
Or pick how you want to travel.
City tours if you are short on time. The Historic Circuit for the churches and the castles. Trekking for the highlands, an expedition for the Danakil, a coffee ceremony for the heart of it.
Where it all began
The birthplace of coffee.
Coffee was discovered here, in the forests of the Kaffa highlands. The ceremony that grew up around it, green beans roasted, ground and brewed in front of you over coals, is still the heart of Ethiopian hospitality. Sit down for one and the afternoon disappears.
Find a coffee ceremony →The capital
A day in Addis Ababa.
Lucy at the National Museum, the sprawl of the Merkato, coffee up on Entoto. The best ways to see Africa's diplomatic capital before you fly out to the regions.
Off the road
Into the highlands.
Gelada troops on the Simien escarpment, Ethiopian wolves on the Bale plateau, hot springs and wildlife out in the rift. Three trips for travellers who came to walk.
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