Africa Guide
Link to this trip
View all trips in Ethiopia print

Itinerary: The Best of Ethiopia

The Best of Ethiopia

In the south visit the tribal groups of the Omo Valley, some of Africa's most traditional people. While in the north discover incredible historic monuments, the rock churches of Lalibela, the castles of Gondar and hike in the breathtaking Simien Mountains.

Operator rating 5/5 from 1 review
add to wish list on wish listx
The Best of Ethiopia

Day 1 - Addis Ababa
Arrive in Addis Ababa. After some time to freshen up explore some of the sights of this fascinating city. Overnight Caravan Hotel or similar.

Day 2 - Arba Minch
Morning flight to Arba Minch. In the afternoon travel to the lands of the Dorze people, whose villages are characterized by their beehive shaped huts. Overnight Paradise Lodge or similar. (BLD)

Day 3 - Jinka
This morning we take a boat trip on Lake Chamo to look for hippos – also to be found here are large concentrations of Nile crocodiles. We then drive to Jinka, passing through lands inhabited by the Benna, Tsemay and Ari tribal groups and visit the weekly Key Afer market, allowing us a good opportunity to appreciate the differences between these people. Overnight Jinka Resort or similar. (BLD)

Day 4 - Mago National Park
We head into Mago National Park, home to the fascinating Mursi people, known for their lip plates – perhaps the most striking of Ethiopia’s tribal groups. After spending time here learning about their customs we return to Jinka for the night. Overnight Jinka Resort or similar. (BLD)

Day 5 - Turmi
Drive to Turmi. Turmi is a major settlement for the Hamer people and we visit the weekly Dimeka market to meet them. Overnight Paradise Lodge or similar. (BLD)

Day 6 - Koricho
We drive this morning to Koricho, a settlement of the Karo people, known for their extraordinary body painting – the men also shave their hair into elaborate styles and often sport ostrich feathers. Overnight Paradise Lodge or similar. (BLD)

Day 7 - Omorate
Drive to Omorate to visit the Dassenach people, a cattle herding group whose lands extend all the way to Lake Turkana. We then return to Turmi to explore the weekly market, an important meeting place for the various tribal groups that live here. Overnight Paradise Lodge or similar. (BLD)

Day 8 - Arba Minch
This morning we visit a village belonging to the Konso people, renowned as excellent farmers. From here we return to Arba Minch. Overnight Paradise Lodge or similar. (BLD)

Day 9 - Lake Langano
We leave the Omo Valley behind and head north to Lake Langano. This is a beautiful part of the Rift Valley and the lake is a great place for birds – hippos and crocodiles also make their homes here. Overnight Sabanna Beach Resort or similar. (BLD)

Day 10 - Addis Ababa
Drive back to Addis Ababa. On the way we stop at the Tiya stelae, a mysterious collection of large standing stones, and Adadi Maryam, a 12th-century rock-cut church reminiscent of those further north at Lalibela. Overnight Caravan Hotel or similar. (BLD)

Day 11 - Bahir Dar
Fly north to Bahir Dar, situated on the shores of Lake Tana. Upon arrival we head out onto the lake to visit some of the impressive monasteries tucked away on islands here. In the afternoon continue to the Blue Nile Falls, Africa’s second largest waterfall, and explore the area on foot. Overnight Avanti Blue Nile Hotel or similar. (BLD)

Day 12 - Gondar
Drive to Gondar and explore its remarkable collection of medieval buildings including the castle of King Fasiladas. Overnight Goha Hotel or similar. (BLD)

Days 13-14 - Simien Mountains[
Head into the wild landscapes of the Simien Mountains, one of Africa’s most beautiful landscapes and home to a rich variety of wildlife. We explore this area on foot, looking out for the large troops of gelada baboons which live here, as well as Walia ibex if we’re lucky. Overnight Simien Lodge or similar. (BLD)

Day 15 - Gondar
After a last morning in the mountains return to Gondar. This afternoon visit the church of Debre Berhan Selassie with its beautiful frescoes and learn how the local honey wine, tej, is made in the company of a traditional brewer. Overnight Goha Hotel or similar. (BLD)

Days 16-17 - Lalibela
Fly to Lalibela. We spend our time here discovering the stunning collection of rock-cut churches, which date back to the 11th century, hewn from the surrounding mountains. We explore those both within the town itself and in the surrounding countryside. While we’re here, we also have the chance to learn how to make traditional Ethiopian food including injera, the unique bread found here. Overnight Mountain View Hotel or similar. (BLD)

Day 18 - Addis Ababa
Fly back to Addis. In the evening head out to a traditional restaurant for a farewell dinner, before transferring to the airport for your flight home. (BLD)

Please note that if you are not arriving internationally with Ethiopian Airlines there is a supplement for this tour. This is because the domestic flights are significantly less expensive for travellers who use Ethiopian Airlines for their outbound international flights. The flight must be operated by and purchased through Ethiopian Airlines, and cannot be part of a ‘codeshare arrangement’ with other airlines.As most of our travellers fly with Ethiopian, the tour price is based on this. Please enquire for further details.

What's included:
Airport transfers - We include arrival and departure transfers regardless of whether you book flights yourself, or we book them for you. If you're booking them yourself, then please let us know the details so that we can arrange the transfers.

Accommodation - Accommodation as listed in the dossier. The nature of the destinations that we operate may sometimes mean that we need to change hotels, but we'll always endeavour to keep the same standards. Please be aware that as we operate in many countries where tourism is in its infancy, hotel standards may not be the same as you're used to elsewhere.

Guides - In most cases you will be accompanied by one guide from start to finish. However there may be occasions when this is not practical, for example if your trip covers a number of different countries. In these cases it often makes more sense to include different guides for each place, to take advantage of their specific knowledge of the destination.

Meals - As listed within the itinerary / dossier (B-Breakfast, L-Lunch, D-Dinner). These will vary from trip to trip - in some areas it makes sense to include all meals while in others there is a good choice of restaurants and we feel people might like to 'do their own thing' now and again.

Entrance fees - Entrance fees are listed for those sites that we mention within the itinerary. If there are any other sites that you'd like to see, these would be at your own expense.

What's not included:
Visas - We don't arrange visas for our travellers, but if an invitation letter is necessary then we will arrange this for you. If you need any advice with visas then let us know.

Airport taxes - If there are any departure taxes to pay that are not included within the cost of your ticket, you'll need to pay these yourself.

International flights - Many of our travellers arrive from different destinations and so we don't include international flights in the cost of our tours. If however you would like us to book flights for you, then just let us know and we'll be happy to discuss your options.

Travel Insurance - If you need any assistance with this, then let us know - although we can't arrange it ourselves we can point you in the direction of a reputable provider that can assist.

To receive the full details of this trip via email please complete our enquiry form below, we will be happy to answer any questions you may have and will provide you with all neccessary booking information to peruse at your leisure. Please complete our enquiry form below, we will be happy to answer any questions you may have and will provide you with all neccessary booking information.

Ooops! Please correct the errors below

Are you a travel agent? Yes No
Your name:
Your email address:
Your country of residence:
Number travelling: Anyone under 16 years? Yes
Under 16's ages:
Date travelling:
A specific date or an idea of when you would like to go
Additional information: Any extra travel or tour related services you may need.
If you would like a brochure please include your postal address here.

 
sending...

Similar Trips

Ethiopia Encompassed
Ethiopia Encompassed

14 days
$5,412
pp in USD
Mobile Friendly https://www.africaguide.com
Privacy Policy • Copyright 2024. All Rights Reserved.
site mapTour Operator Log In

TOP

About Our Reviews

Our reviews are Fully Qualified

We do not take reviews from unqualified sources

Since 1996 we have been working with the best tour operators in Africa. Our unique relationship with those operators ensures only people who have participated in a trip after making an enquiry for it at AfricaGuide.com can leave a review.

The email we send you when you make an enquiry has full instructions for registering a booking and leaving a review - both are free services.

Feel free to read through the reviews for any trip you like the look of.

Trips with no reviews are usually new to AfricaGuide.com but are normally operated by a tour operator who is established here and has gained operator reviews for you to read.

Thanks for visiting, happy travels and don't forget to send us your reviews...

Travel Team
Africa Guide

About our trip providers and reviews

Our Trip Providers

We carry out extensive company checks on all our providers, over 20 years we have built strong personal relationships with each of them, which assures you of an unparalleled service, great value and the trip of a lifetime.
We have participated in many of the trips found here (we have a nice job) and make our own independent assessments of the services provided, ensuring they meet with our own high standards.

All the trips are supplied by the end provider of that trip.
You may find the same or similar trips elsewhere, usually these are offered by an agent.
We prefer to give you direct access to the trip provider for reasons outlined below:

  1. Best price.
    The price you see here is the direct trip price set by the provider, the same price as purchasing directly with them (which is how it works), there are no added commissions.
    This means you are not paying an agents commission and the provider is receiving their fully budgeted trip cost.
    (agents can demand discounts from providers as well as adding commissions to the providers trip price)
  2. Easy customisation.
    By booking directly with the end provider, making changes is quick and easy.
  3. Fast problem solving.
    On the rare occasion that an issue may arise before or during your trip, by dealing directly with the end provider, problem solving is quick and efficient.
  4. Helping Africa help itself.
    The most straightforward way to assist the economic opportunities and conditions for local people across Africa, is by direct financial interaction with people in Africa. In a nutshell "Tourism".
    This kind of direct tourism gives opportunity to local people.

We limit the number of providers we work with in order to strike a balance between a good choice of trips and to be sure we can honestly recommend the service and validity of each provider.
Because the majority of trips can be customised by the providers, the choice of trip configurations is in the tens of thousands.

Our Reviews

We have 3,000+ reviews for our trips and providers.
All our reviews are fully qualified, we do not take unqualified reviews.
We show all reviews, the good and the critical (very few). Our providers have the ability to respond to reviews and those responses are shown alongside the review.
Acquiring genuine reviews is actually very hard, for our genuine travellers we make this an easy process but many people although satisfied with the service they received do not leave a review.

Many reviews on the internet can be left by an open process with little or no checks.
At best unqualified reviews are worthless, at worst they are misleading. We never take unqualified reviews.

We hope you find a trip to your liking and we are here to assist.

Wishing you happy travels...

Travel Team
Africa Guide

close

The Best of Ethiopia

Links make the web work

If you like this trip please feel free to place a link to it at your website.

The html code below is ready to go:

select code (select code then ctrl+A to copy)