Ethiopia has many UNESCO World Heritage Sites and many more places worth the trip. This page groups them by region. For a short list of the best-known sites see major tourist attractions, and for the UNESCO-listed sites see Ethiopia’s heritage sites.
Before you travel to any region, read your government’s current travel advice.
The north
- Aksum and its history: the ruins of the ancient capital, with giant carved stelae.
- Gondar: the castles of the royal enclosure and the painted church of Debre Berhan Selassie.
- The Simien Mountains: high-altitude trekking, geladas and the walia ibex.
- Bahir Dar and Lake Tana and the Blue Nile Falls.
- The rock-hewn churches of Tigray and Adwa.
- Inside an Ethiopian Orthodox church: how Lalibela’s churches and others work.
The east
- Harar: the walled city.
- Dire Dawa, Sof Omar and Dirre Sheikh Hussein.
- Awash National Park and the Danakil Depression.
The south and the Rift Valley
- The Omo Valley.
- Arba Minch and the Dorze villages, Hawassa, Lake Langano and Bishoftu.
- The Bale Mountains and the coffee-growing region of Gedeo.
Around Addis Ababa
- Things to do in Addis Ababa and the Merkato market.
- Wenchi Crater Lake, Debre Libanos and Sodere are easy day trips.
Nature and fossils
- National parks, nature and Ethiopia’s endemic animals.
- Lucy and Ethiopia’s human fossils explains the fossil sites of the Awash and the Omo.
The northern route is built around Lalibela, with its eleven rock-hewn churches.
