Ultimate Historical Exploration of North Ethiopia

In the morning, you will take a city tour of the vibrant capital. You will first start your visit with the Selassie (Trinity) Cathedral - the final resting place of Haile Selassie. Then continue to the nearby National Museum - home of Lucy’s 3.2 million years old remains. After the visit, proceed to the Ethnographical Museum found in the Addis Ababa University campus displaying Ethiopia’s diverse cultures. After lunch, you will head north to Entoto Mountain. On the way, you can stop at Shiro Meda to visit the colorful market of traditional clothes. Entoto provides a panoramic view of Addis. Here you will also visit the Entoto Maryam church and museum. The return drive will be via Piazza with en-route visit to St. George Church and Menelik II Square. Finish your day at the largest open-air market, Merkato.

Early in the morning, start your drive to Bahir Dar. En-route, visit Blue-Nile Gorge and Debre Libanos Monastery. Situated 210 km north of Addis Ababa and about one mile wide and deep, the Blue Nile Gorge is one of the most spectacular gorges in the world. And after a 100 km drive lies the renowned monastery of Debre Libanos, founded in the 13th century in a magnificent 700m-deep canyon.

In the morning, take a boat trip on Lake Tana. Lake Tana has 37 islands and 32 of them have churches and monasteries of considerable historical and cultural interest. Today, we will visit the monastery of Ura Kidane Mihret which is the best known of the monasteries and has an important collection of religious icons from the 16th to 18th centuries A.D. In the afternoon, you will drive to the Blue Nile Falls. This is locally known as Tissisat (smoking waterfall). The water plunges for 45m, giving rise to steam clouds and rainbows. After the visit, drive back to Bahir Dar to finish the day watching a lovely sunset over Lake Tana.

In the morning take a drive to Gondar (3 hrs). You will pass through the beautiful landscape to finally reach the home of the Royal Enclosure - a UNESCO world heritage site. After lunch, start your tour of Gondar. Gondar is most known for its castles built by various emperors over the course of 236 years. We will first visit Fasiladas’ Palace, probably the most impressive of all the castles found in the area and the oldest one! After also visiting other nearby castles, we will proceed to the Church of Debre Berhan Selassie (Light of the Trinity) known for its famous ceiling. The interior of this church is decorated with beautiful cherubs and paintings. Debre Berhan Selassie is rumored to once have been the proposed final resting-place of the Ark of the Covenant of the Ethiopian Empire.

After an early breakfast, take a day trip to the Simien Mountains National Park. After handling park fees in Debark, we will drive to Sankaber which has a breathtaking view of the area. From here, you will go for an easy hike to the Geech Abyss, where you will see a large waterfall plunging into the abyss. This area is also a great place for viewing the endemic gelada baboon, also known as the ‘bleeding heart baboon’ due to the red patch of skin on its chest. Drive back to Debark late afternoon.

A further 24km takes you to the Chennek campsite, passing through the Kurbet Metaya viewpoint (500m before the campsite). Once you pass Kurbet Metaya, keep your eyes peeled for the Walia ibex. Continue 2km to one of the highest peaks in the Simien Massif: Mount Bwahit at 4,200m. Drive along the foothills through a valley crossed by wild streams. The road then descends from the plateau passing through spectacular scenery. Look for the Walia ibex and Ethiopian wolf.

Here you will enjoy driving across Simien Mountains National Park and the fascinating river basin of Tekeze, one of the biggest rivers in Ethiopia. After lunch in Axum, you will have a city tour including the UNESCO World Heritage Site - the Axum Stelae. Legends narrate in the Kebra Nagast (Book of Kings) how the city of Axum as early as the 10th century B.C. was already the city where the Queen of Sheba resided. It is told that the son of Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, Menelik, brought the Ark of the Covenant from Jerusalem to Axum and it remains there to this day, preserved in a sanctuary. Axum was the capital of the long Axumite reign, one of the oldest African empires and represented a crucial trade connecting-point between Africa and Asia for almost a thousand years. Visit the granite stone Stelae of Axum, the tombs of King Kaleb and his son King G/Meskel, Ezana’s stone inscriptions, Queen of Sheba’s palace and swimming pool, and the Church of Zion, the final resting place of the True Ark of the Covenant.

The rock-hewn Ethiopian orthodox churches of Lalibela are one of the eighth wonders of the world. The town of Lalibela contains 11 monolithic churches built in the 12th century with beautifully painted walls inside. It is a collection of churches, some connected by fascinating internal channels. You will first visit the northwestern cluster churches including Bet Medhane Alem - the largest monolithic church and five other churches.
After lunch, continue with the southeastern churches of Lalibela. You will finally visit the most famous Bet-Giyorgis. In the evening, you will visit cultural houses and enjoy Ethiopian traditional music. You can also taste Ethiopian honey wine.

After breakfast, a few miles drive will take you to a nearby church called Genete Mariam. This church is one of the most interesting outlying churches, a large monolith carved into a pink-tinged outcrop near the source of the Tekeze River. Supported by pillars, the church is very different from any of the excavation in Lalibela that it is not hidden within a trench, but carved openly on a rocky hilltop. History tells us that Genete Mariam was excavated during the reign of Yekuno Amlak in the early 13th century.
On your way back to Lalibela, you will have a stop at a local village for an authentic experience with the residents. During the visit, you can see how injera is made and local beer is brewed. You will also attend a coffee ceremony which is a day-to-day experience for many Ethiopians.

Early in the morning, start walking from Lalibela town to make use of the cooler morning hours for the 2 - 3 hours (depending on your fitness) walk up to the plateau where the Hudad Lodge is situated. Once you reach Hudad, you are going to be rewarded with splendid views of the landscape. After lunch, it's time to relax and go for a walk near the lodge to meet the local farmers and enjoy the mountain scenery.

Mekina Medhane Alem is a built up cave church; the decorated interior displays geometric patterns and many old paintings. The church was built in the 6th century. Although an example of Axumite wood and stone construction, the church exhibits a unique modification: polished wall sections of leveled-off rubble between layers of dressed blocks of reddish tuff. You can admire the portrayals of saints as well as the sun and the moon symbols above the main entrance.

You will have a leisure evening at your hotel upon arrival in Lalibela from your last community trek Mekina Medhane Alem.
.

After breakfast at your hotel, you will be transferred to Lalibela Airport for your flight back to Addis Ababa. Based on your interests and international departure time, we can arrange for a quick tour and shopping session in the capital. The tour ends with a drop off at Bole International Airport for your international departure.