Your guide will meet you on arrival and transfer you to the Ellily International Hotel to drop your luggage before setting out into the city.

Addis Ababa is a city of genuine substance. Founded in 1886 by Emperor Menelik II, it sits at 2,500 metres above sea level at the base of the Entoto Mountains and serves today as both the capital of Ethiopia and the headquarters of the African Union. With a population of over five million, it ranks among the largest cities on the continent. Wide avenues lined with jacaranda trees, a temperate climate year-round, and a pace that balances the ancient with the modern make it a compelling introduction to the country.

Your first stop is the National Museum of Ethiopia, home to one of Africa’s most significant archaeological collections. The centrepiece is Lucy — known locally as Dinknesh, meaning “wonderful” — a 3.2-million-year-old hominid fossil discovered in the Afar region in 1974 and among the most complete early human remains ever found. The museum’s broader collection traces Ethiopia’s history from prehistoric times through to the imperial era, providing strong context for everything you will encounter in the days ahead.

From there you visit Holy Trinity Cathedral, built on the orders of Emperor Haile Selassie I in the 1940s and one of the most important Ethiopian Orthodox churches in the country. Its architecture blends baroque European influence with Ethiopian ecclesiastical tradition in a way that is rare anywhere on the continent. Inside, stained glass windows depict scenes from the Old and New Testament, Greek-sculpted statues line the interior, and the ornate tombs of Emperor Haile Selassie I and Empress Menen are housed within the grounds.

The afternoon takes you to Ensira Pottery, where a collective of Ethiopian women continue a craft tradition passed down through generations. Working by hand, they produce jugs, storage vessels, and decorative pieces using techniques largely unchanged for centuries. It is an honest and unhurried visit — less a demonstration than a genuine look at daily creative work — and the courtyard showroom offers an excellent opportunity to bring home something made with real skill and meaning.

Your day concludes with return transfer to the Ellily International Hotel. Located in the Bole district close to the international airport, the Ellily is a well-regarded full-service hotel with comfortable, modern rooms, multiple dining options, and reliable amenities. It is a practical and pleasant base for your first night in Addis Ababa.

After breakfast at the Ellily International Hotel, you transfer to the airport for your flight north to Lalibela. On arrival, your guide will meet you and transfer you into town to check in to the Maribela Hotel. Sitting at an elevation of roughly 2,500 metres in the Lasta highlands, the Maribela is widely considered the best accommodation in Lalibela. It is a comfortable, well-run three-star property with warm hospitality, reliable amenities, and views that set the tone for what lies ahead. Take a moment to settle in before the afternoon begins.

Lalibela is one of the most significant religious and historical sites in Africa and in the broader Christian world. The town sits in the Lasta region of northern Ethiopia, where eleven rock-hewn churches of extraordinary craftsmanship are found within a single compact area. Carved directly from the volcanic rock during the reign of King Lalibela in the 12th and 13th centuries, when the town was known as Roha and served as the capital of the Zagwe dynasty, they are regularly described as the eighth wonder of the world. Legend holds that King Lalibela, having spent time in Jerusalem, returned to Ethiopia with the intention of building a New Jerusalem on home soil. How exactly the churches were constructed remains debated — theories range from an enormous organised labour force to, depending on who is telling the story, angels and the Knights Templar.

Your first afternoon is spent with the northwestern group of churches, which collectively represent the earthly Jerusalem. The visit begins with Bete Medhane Alem, the Church of the Saviour of the World. Standing approximately 11 metres tall and supported by 72 pillars, it is the largest monolithic rock-hewn church in the world — an extraordinary opening to the complex. The group also includes Bete Maryam, Bete Denagel, Bete Meskal, and Debre Sina. The afternoon concludes at Bete Golgotha, which houses some of the finest early Christian relief carvings in Ethiopia, a form of sacred art rarely encountered elsewhere in the country.

You return to the Maribela Hotel for dinner and overnight.

After breakfast at the Maribela Hotel, your guide collects you for the second and final group of Lalibela’s rock-hewn churches, which represent the heavenly Jerusalem. The morning takes you through Bete Gabriel and Raphael, Bete Merquorios, and Bete Emmanuel before concluding at Bete Abba Libanos, each one a testament to the sustained ambition and skill of the Zagwe craftsmen who carved them from living rock centuries ago.

The visit ends at Bete Giorgis, the Church of Saint George, and for many visitors it proves the most memorable of all eleven churches. Carved in the form of a perfect Greek cross and descending some 15 metres into the earth, it stands apart from the rest of the complex both in its geometry and its condition. The interior is dominated by depictions of Saint George slaying the dragon, and the church is traditionally associated with the symbolism of Noah’s ark. It is a fitting conclusion to two days among one of the world’s great concentrations of sacred architecture.

The afternoon shifts to something quieter and equally rewarding. You visit a local household in Lalibela for an introduction to Ethiopian cooking traditions. Your hosts walk you through the preparation of a traditional meal — injera flatbread, spiced lentil and vegetable stews, and slow-simmered meats — with a full demonstration and the opportunity to try your hand in the kitchen yourself. Ethiopian cuisine is deeply communal and rooted in the landscape of the Rift Valley, a region historically known as the Land of Bread and Honey, and sharing a meal prepared this way offers a perspective on daily life in Lalibela that the churches alone cannot provide.

You return to the Maribela Hotel for your final dinner and overnight in Lalibela.

After breakfast at the Maribela Hotel, you depart at 9am and transfer to Lalibela airport for your flight west to Gondar. On arrival your guide will meet you and transfer you to the Goha Hotel for check-in.

The Goha sits on a hillside overlooking Gondar and is widely regarded as the best-positioned hotel in the city. Its elevated setting provides sweeping views across the rooftops and surrounding highlands, and the property offers comfortable rooms, attentive service, and a relaxed atmosphere that makes it a genuine pleasure to return to each evening. After settling in, head out to a local restaurant for lunch before the afternoon’s exploration begins.

Gondar served as the capital of Ethiopia from the 17th to the 19th century and the city’s legacy from that era is immediately visible. Your first stop is the Royal Enclosure, a UNESCO World Heritage Site enclosed within a 90-metre wall and containing a remarkable concentration of imperial architecture. The oldest and most commanding structure within the compound is the two-storey palace of Emperor Fasiladas, constructed from solid basalt in the 1640s and still largely intact. Surrounding it are the library of Emperor Yohannes I, the House of Song where royal ceremonies were held, the elegant banquet hall of Emperor Bakaffa, and the palace of the queen. Each structure reflects the distinct ambitions of the emperor who built it, and taken together they offer a vivid portrait of Ethiopian imperial life across more than two centuries.

From the enclosure you visit the Bath of Fasiladas, a large stone pool and pavilion used today during the annual Timkat festival, Ethiopia’s celebration of Epiphany, when it is filled with water and blessed by priests in a ceremony that draws pilgrims from across the country. The day concludes at the Church of Debre Birhan Selassie, one of the most celebrated churches in Ethiopia, known above all for its remarkable painted ceiling depicting rows of watchful angels — an image that has become one of the defining icons of Ethiopian Orthodox art.

You return to the Goha Hotel for dinner and your first overnight in Gondar.

After breakfast at the Goha Hotel, you depart for a full-day excursion into the Simien Mountains National Park, passing through rural villages and crossing high mountain passes with sweeping views at every turn.

The Simien Mountains are among the most dramatic landscapes in Africa. The national park covers 180 square kilometres and spans an elevation range of roughly 1,900 to 4,430 metres, creating a striking variety of terrain and vegetation across its breadth. The higher reaches transition into afro-alpine meadow, where the flora is sparse but distinctive — endemic species such as the giant lobelia, everlasting Helichrysum flowers, and the vivid red-flowered Kniphofia foliosa grow in conditions found almost nowhere else on the continent. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Ethiopia’s most rewarding natural destinations.

The day is spent following century-old footpaths through a landscape of eroded pinnacles, deep valleys, and sheer escarpments that drop away to the lowlands far below. The routes offer some of the finest high-altitude walking in East Africa, and the scale of the scenery — particularly along the cliff edges — is genuinely arresting. Keep a close eye on the surrounding grasslands for Gelada baboons, a species found only in the Ethiopian highlands. Large troops are commonly encountered here, grazing the alpine meadows with a relaxed indifference to visitors that makes for exceptional wildlife viewing.

You return to Gondar in the late afternoon for your final dinner and overnight at the Goha Hotel.

After breakfast at the Goha Hotel, you depart Gondar for the drive south to Bahir Dar, approximately 180 kilometres and three hours through the Ethiopian highlands. The road offers fine views of the surrounding countryside and passes through small towns and rural villages that give a genuine sense of life in this part of the country.

On arrival in Bahir Dar, you board a private boat and head out onto Lake Tana, the largest lake in Ethiopia and the source of the Blue Nile. The lake is home to a number of ancient island and peninsula monasteries, and the boat journey itself is a pleasure — watch for a variety of waterbirds along the shoreline and the traditional papyrus tankwa boats still used by local fishermen crossing the open water.

Your destination is the Zege Peninsula, reached after a short hike through local villages and coffee farms that have been cultivated here for generations. The first monastery you visit is Ura Kidane Meret, one of the most important in the region. Founded in the 16th century, it houses a remarkable collection of ceremonial crosses and crowns, and its circular painted interior — the maqdas — is covered in vivid, well-preserved murals depicting Ethiopian saints and biblical scenes in a style entirely distinct from anything you will have seen elsewhere on the journey. The second stop is Azwa Maryam, a smaller and more intimate site set among peaceful gardens, offering a quieter contrast to the grandeur of Ura Kidane Meret.

You return to Bahir Dar in the late afternoon and transfer to the airport for your flight to Addis Ababa, where you connect to your onward international departure. It has been a privilege to travel with you through one of Africa’s most extraordinary countries.