Ethiopia holidays

Ethiopia has at last thrown off the vestiges of war and famine and, whilst still desperately poor, it is rapidly emerging as one of the most fascinating of all African countries. Once ruled by the Queen of Sheba and rich in culture and legend, Ethiopia is one of the oldest Christian countries in the world and reputedly home to the Ark of the Covenant. Any Ethiopia holiday should include the Historical Route in the north, which includes the dramatically beautiful Simien Mountains with their excellent trekking possibilities.

A circuitous journey will take you to Axum, with its 30m high monolithic stelae or stone pillars, to Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile, and of course to Lalibela, where you can visit the extraordinary rock cut churches, which stand as one of the wonders of the world. When planning an itinerary, it is worth trying to coincide a visit with one of the religious festivals which bring the local people onto the streets in their thousands.

Timket (Epiphany) is the best known festival but it is worth considering one of the others which are equally colourful and attract less foreigners. The south of the country is greener and more traditionally African with spectacular bird life around the lakes and abundant wildlife. The tribes which inhabit this area have little interest in modern conveniences and their lifestyle and culture, for the moment, remains largely unaltered.

To the east is Eritrea and, while tourism here is very much in its infancy, there are a few small, foreign-run, beach resorts and the archipelago off the coast offers some of the most spectacular and pristine diving in the world.








A visa is required by UK passport holders.

No mandatory vaccinations except Yellow Fever if arriving from/via an infected country

Time: GMT 3 hours

Ethiopia can be visited at any time of the year but arguably the best time is October to January.