HISTORIC ROUTE
1: ITINERARY
01. SAT. Arrival in Addis Ababa. Transfer to the chosen hotel. Have a free morning. Afternoon (1400 hrs from the hotel) tour of the capital: visit Entoto mountain with views over the capital, the National & the Ethnographic museums, St George church and the Mercato, biggest open air market in Africa.
Meals free. ON (overnight) hotel.
02. Transfer from the hotel to the airport for the flight to Axum, 2 hrs before the flight time (meet your driver at your hotel). Ones in Axum transfer to the hotel for check-in.
Visit the steles, St Mary of Tsion church (where legend says the Ark of Covenant is deposited), the bath and the palace of Queen of Sheba, and archeological sites.
Breakfast can be at the airport or in Axum. Lunch and dinner at the hotel in Axum (Yeha or Remhay or Consolar)
03. Leave your hotel at 08am to drive to Hawsen. On the way make very interesting visits, as Yeha pre-Christian temple, DebreDamo monastery (where to reach the monastery men have to climb 16 meters by ropes) and Wikro Cherkos church.
Lunch on the way. Dinner & ON Gheralta lodge (if not available, proceed to Mekele and ON at the Axum or other hotel)
04. Day for the visit of the very interesting Tigray region churches, with also spectacular views. Visit Micael Imba, Debre Selam Atsbi and Micael Barka churches. (otherwise can also be Abreha Atsbeha, Degum Selassie and TecleHaimanot Hawsen)
Lunch on the way. Dinner at a traditional restaurant in town. ON hotel in Mekele
05. Leave your hotel at 07am to drive to Lalibela, crossing sites as Ambalagi, Alamata, Dild & the Tekeze river, with very nice views and admiring the Tigray, Azebo/ Raya, Afar (with luck around Woldya) & Wollo people on the way.
Spot also the endemic Gelada Baboons around Dild.
Lunch on the way; dinner & ON hotel
06. Full day visit of the rock-hewn churches in Lalibela, defined as the 8th wonder in the world. Churches built in the 12th century; the African Jerusalem.
And late afternoon take part of the coffee ceremony in a traditional house or the hotel.
Meals & ON at your hotel
07. Leave your hotel at 07am to drive to Gondar, the city of castes and churches, defined the African Camelot, admiring very nice views over the Semien mountains.
Lunch on the way; dinner in a restaurant in town. ON hotel in Gondar (Taye Belay or Florida International or Goha or Quara or Lammergeyer)
08. Morning visit of Gondar: the castles, Debre Birhan Sellasie church (light of Trinity) with wonderful murals, King Fasiladas bath and Qusquam monastery.
Afternoon drive to Bahirdar, with views at lake Tana and Amhara people villages. Have lunch at the hotel in Gondar. Dinner and ON hotel in Bahirdar (Abayminch or Tana hotel. With supplement you can choose the Kuriftu lodge)
09. Leave your hotel at 07:30 am to drive to admire the Blue Nile falls. Then need a 15-20 mts walk. Admire these spectacular views. Drive back then to Bahirdar
Afternoon have a boat excursion on lake Tana to admire some monasteries over the lake’s islands, as Asua Mariam and Ura Kidane Mehret, with also visits of an Amhara people village & coffee plantations.
Have your lunch at the hotel. Dinner in a restaurant in town. ON hotel in Bahirdar
10. SUN. Fly to Addis Ababa & have your free afternoon. Lunch free. Dinner invited in a traditional restaurant with folkloristic dances. Then transfer to the airport for departure
