Attraction
National Museum of Ethiopia
Ethiopia's national collection, home to the Lucy and Selam hominid fossils plus royal regalia, Ethiopian art from traditional to modern, and ethnographic displays.
Ethiopia is one of the oldest independent nations in Africa and a country of high plateaus, deep gorges and ancient faith. Addis Ababa, the capital and home of the African Union, is the gateway for most visitors and the hub of Ethiopian Airlines. Beyond it lie the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, the obelisks of Axum, the castles of Gondar, the walled city of Harar and the Simien and Bale mountains. Ethiopia has its own calendar, its own script and an Orthodox Christian tradition marked by colourful festivals such as Timket and Meskel, alongside large Muslim communities. It is also the birthplace of coffee, and its cuisine of injera and spiced stews is unlike any other in Africa.
Attraction
Ethiopia's national collection, home to the Lucy and Selam hominid fossils plus royal regalia, Ethiopian art from traditional to modern, and ethnographic displays.
Attraction
Park inside the National Palace compound, opened in 2019, combining Emperor Menelik's palace complex, historic artefacts, a zoo, gardens, cafes and shops.
Attraction
Addis Ababa's highest-ranking Orthodox cathedral, finished in 1942, where Emperor Haile Selassie, Empress Menen and Sylvia Pankhurst are buried.
Attraction
Octagonal cathedral at the top of Churchill Road, built in 1911, where Empress Zewditu and Haile Selassie were crowned, with a museum of imperial relics.
Attraction
Memorial museum opened in 2010 that documents the victims of the Derg's Red Terror through photographs, personal belongings, remains and guided tours.
Attraction
University museum inside Haile Selassie's former palace, showing Ethiopian ethnography, music, religious art and the emperor's private rooms.
Café
Addis Ababa's best-known coffee house, roasting its own beans, with the original standing bar on Wavel Street in Piazza and several newer branches.
Café
Spacious speciality coffee house in Jackross with an upstairs art gallery and craft shop, all-day breakfast and cascara tea, plus four other branches.
Café
Cosy roaster-cafe opened in 1998 by Aster Mengesha, serving macchiato and spris and selling Ethiopian single-origin beans roasted on site.
Café
Woman-owned speciality cafe in Kera with an all-women barista team, known for careful design, vegan pastries and Ethiopian beans sold abroad.
Café
Ethiopian-born coffee company with four Addis Ababa cafes, best known for its Bole Medhanialem branch and its tsom macchiato made without milk.
Hotel
Five-star Luxury Collection hotel on Taitu Street, open since 1998, with 295 rooms and suites, outdoor pools, a spa and eleven restaurants and lounges.
Hotel
Hyatt's first hotel in Ethiopia, opened in 2019 on Meskel Square, with 188 rooms, an outdoor pool, spa, Cascara coffee bar and live music in the…
Hotel
Ethiopian Airlines' five-star hotel beside Bole International Airport, with 1,024 rooms, indoor and outdoor pools, a spa and many restaurants and bars.
Hotel
Business hotel in the Kazanchis district with 212 rooms, a French-inspired restaurant, a rooftop terrace bar, a Tomoca cafe and a day spa.
Hotel
Imperial-era hotel in large gardens beside the Jubilee Palace, with a big pool fed by a mineral spring, villa apartments, bars and a jazz club.
Hotel
Ethiopia's first hotel, founded in 1905 by Empress Taitu in Piazza, now a budget hotel with a restaurant, a jazz lounge and simple rooms.
Bar
The city's best-known azmari house and cultural centre, led by dancer Melaku Belay, with nightly traditional music and dance and regular Ethio-jazz nights.
Bar
Mulatu Astatke's jazz club in the basement of the historic Ghion Hotel, where a resident band plays Ethio-jazz on Thursday nights.
Bar
Long-running tej house behind the Axum Hotel, named after its owner Tobia Mamuye, with garden seating, murals of tej drinkers, honey wine and kitfo.
Restaurant
Large Ethiopian cultural restaurant near Bole airport serving over 40 traditional dishes, with a coffee ceremony and live music and dance from across the country.
Restaurant
Popular Ethiopian restaurant group, founded in 2008, known for coffee roasted on site, fasting platters, shiro and breakfast dishes such as chechebsa.
Restaurant
Bole cultural restaurant where diners share Ethiopian platters around woven mesob tables while dancers in traditional dress perform from 20:00.
Restaurant
Gerji restaurant with a Gurage name, best known for kitfo, serving Ethiopian and European dishes with tej, a coffee ceremony and live band and dancers.
Restaurant
Seafood-focused modern Ethiopian restaurant from James Beard Award-winning chef Yohanis Gebreyesus, built around the fish of Ethiopia's lakes.
Restaurant
Gourmet Italian restaurant inside the Sheraton Addis, known for its antipasto bar, regional Italian dishes and city views.
Thing to do
Huge open-air market west of Piazza, often called Africa's largest, with sections for coffee, spices, grain, clothing, household goods and recycled metal.
Thing to do
Large recreation park on the forested Entoto mountain above the city, opened in 2020, with viewpoints, trails, horse riding, cafes and restaurants.
Thing to do
Artist-founded museum and garden in Mekanisa built from mud and straw, combining contemporary Ethiopian art, an organic garden, a cafe and a restaurant.
Tour operator
Addis Ababa tour operator founded in 2007 that runs full-day city tours, day trips and short overnight trips from the capital, alongside longer itineraries.
Tour operator
Addis Ababa-based community tourism operator, set up in 2010, running village treks and homestays in the highlands and tailor-made tours across Ethiopia.
Tour operator
Long-established Addis Ababa operator offering a full-day trip to the Blue Nile Gorge and Debre Libanos Monastery plus longer tours across Ethiopia.
Distances are long and roads slow, so most visitors combine domestic flights on Ethiopian Airlines with a driver and guide for touring by road.
October to May is the drier season and the most popular time, with festivals such as Meskel in late September and Timket in January drawing many visitors.
Lalibela for its rock-hewn churches, Gondar for its castles, Axum for its obelisks, Lake Tana and the Blue Nile Falls, Harar's old walled city, and the Simien Mountains for trekking.