National Museum of Ethiopia

The National Museum of Ethiopia is the first stop for most visitors to Addis Ababa, largely because of one famous resident. Lucy, the partial skeleton of an Australopithecus afarensis found in Ethiopia in 1974, is displayed here, and the museum has become shorthand for the country's claim to be one of the cradles of humankind. The institution grew out of the Institute of Archaeology, founded in 1958 to support French-led excavations in northern Ethiopia, and took on its national role after the Ethiopian Cultural Heritage Administration was created in 1976.

The collection is arranged over four levels, and it pays to work through them in order. The basement covers archaeology and palaeoanthropology, with early hominid fossils including Lucy and Selam, a juvenile specimen found between 2000 and 2004 and estimated at around 3.3 million years old. The first floor moves on to ancient and medieval objects, with regalia and memorabilia of former rulers, including Emperor Haile Selassie. Look out for the stone statue from Addi-Galamo in Tigray, dated to the sixth or fifth century BCE and carrying a South Arabian inscription.

Upstairs, the second floor is given over to Ethiopian art arranged chronologically, from traditional religious painting to contemporary work. Afewerk Tekle's large painting African Heritage is one of the highlights, alongside a depiction of the meeting of Solomon and Sheba, a story central to Ethiopian royal tradition. The same floor shows secular crafts such as weapons, jewellery, household utensils, clothing and musical instruments. The third floor closes the visit with an ethnographic overview of the many peoples who make up modern Ethiopia.

The museum suits anyone with an interest in human origins, and it works well for families with older children who have studied evolution at school. Displays are compact rather than vast, so allow around one and a half to two hours. Labelling can be brief, so a guide or a good background read before you go adds a lot. Published listings show it closed on Mondays; check the day before you go, especially around public holidays.

The museum sits on King George VI Street near the graduate school of Addis Ababa University. Lucy Lounge and Restaurant, a garden restaurant next door, is the usual place for lunch afterwards. The Ethnological Museum on the main university campus is a short taxi ride away, and the two together make a good half-day introduction to Ethiopian history and culture.