Central
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia’s capital: museums, markets and the birthplace of many a coffee ceremony.
Private tours, group trips and travel planning from Addis Ababa
A country that should never have been forgotten
We’re a travel team in Addis Ababa. We plan your hotels, drivers and days, meet you at the airport, and answer every message within a day until you fly home.
Book a free call
Browse tours
A free 15-minute call with our team. There’s nothing to buy on the call.
A forgotten kingdom
Rome, Persia, China and Aksum
In the third century, a Persian prophet named the four great kingdoms of the world: Rome, Persia, China and Aksum. Aksum was Ethiopia. It minted gold coins, wrote in its own script and kept its own calendar, as Ethiopia still does today. Then the world moved on and mostly forgot about it.
We’d like to show you what it missed.
- 1,000+travellers guided across Ethiopia
- 10years guiding in Ethiopia
- 1partner who has sent us a group nearly every year for a decade
Featured tours
Where most of our travellers begin
Every trip starts and ends in Addis Ababa, whether you have six hours or sixteen days.
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Departs 21 Nov
Popular 6 days, 5 nights AdventureAddis Ababa
Great Ethiopian Run and Thanksgiving
Run or walk Africa’s biggest road race at 2,350 m on Sunday, then end the week at a Thanksgiving table in Addis Ababa.
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Departs 17 Jan
Popular 4 days, 3 nights CulturalAddis Ababa
Timket in Addis Ababa
Walk beside the tabots to Jan Meda on the eve, then stand in the crowd at dawn as the blessed water falls.
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Length 04 days
Popular CulturalOmo Valley
Omo Valley
Four days in the Lower Omo, from Ari farms around Jinka to the Karo village on its bluff above the river.
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Length 02 days
Popular CulturalHarar
Harar Overnight
A walled Muslim city of painted houses and narrow lanes, explored with a Harari guide, and wild hyenas fed by hand at dusk.
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Departs 01 Nov
Popular 1 day, about 8 hours HistoricalAddis Ababa
Addis Ababa Full-Day City Tour
The city often called Africa’s capital, in one easy day: the emperor’s tomb, the hammering lanes of Merkato and the hill where Addis began.
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Length 06 days
CulturalOmo Valley
Lower Omo by River (Mago)
Three nights in a tented camp on a bend of the Omo, with boat days to riverside communities few travellers reach by road.
What most people don’t know about Ethiopia
Six things the guidebooks skip
Most visitors arrive knowing about the churches and the coffee. Here is some of what they find out once they are here.
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It’s where we come from
Lucy, a 3.2-million-year-old human ancestor, was found in Ethiopia’s Afar region in 1974. You can see her in the National Museum in Addis Ababa.
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It runs on its own time
Ethiopia keeps a 13-month calendar, seven to eight years behind the one you know. The clock starts at sunrise, so 7 a.m. is called “one o’clock”.
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It won
In 1896 at Adwa, Ethiopia defeated an Italian army sent to colonise it. Its green, yellow and red were later taken up by flags across Africa.
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It has its own sound
In the 1970s, Mulatu Astatke mixed Ethiopian scales with jazz and created Ethio-jazz. You can still hear it live in Addis most nights.
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It has animals found nowhere else
The Ethiopian wolf, one of the rarest carnivores on earth, hunts on the high plateau of the Bale Mountains.
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It made marathon history
In 1960, Abebe Bikila won the Olympic marathon in Rome running barefoot. Ethiopia has produced champions ever since.
Why travel with us
Easy to fall for, hard to plan from abroad
Reliable information online is thin, and much of it is years out of date. Hotels that look fine on a booking site can sit in the wrong part of town, and drivers often quote visitors several times the local price. Most independent travellers work it out by their second week, usually the week they fly home.
We remove that first week of guesswork. You arrive knowing where you are staying, who is driving you, what everything should cost and what is worth your time.
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One team, start to finish
The people who plan your trip are the people who meet you at the airport.
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Every price up front
Each tour lists its price, what is included and the cancellation terms before you book.
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The right vehicle
A car for one or two, Land Cruisers for families, 22-seat coasters for groups.
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Guides from the region
We pair you with guides who live where you are travelling and know it well.
Our founder, Dejene Hodes, was born in Ethiopia and educated in the United States. We understand what international travellers need, and we know how things actually get done here.
About usThree ways to start
Start the way that suits you
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Free
A free 15-minute call
Tell us your dates and interests. We will tell you what is realistic, what it costs and what we would skip.
Book a free call -
From $110 per person
Your first day in Addis
A full day in the capital: Lucy at the National Museum, Haile Selassie’s tomb, Merkato market, the view from Entoto and a coffee ceremony. Hotel pickup included.
See the city tours -
From $1,195 per person
A group trip
Join one of our small-group departures, or bring a group of six or more and we will plan around you.
See group trips
Prefer to have the whole trip planned for you? Plan your trip with us
Group departures
Small-group trips this season
For solo travellers, couples and friends: join a small group on a fixed date, at a fixed price.
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Addis Ababa
Great Ethiopian Run and Thanksgiving
- Next date
- Nov 21, 2026
- Length
- 6 days, 5 nights
- From
- USD 1,495
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Addis Ababa
Christmas and New Year in Ethiopia
- Next date
- Dec 26, 2026
- Length
- 9 days, 8 nights
- From
- USD 2,295
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Addis Ababa
Genna in Addis Ababa
- Next date
- Jan 05, 2027
- Length
- 4 days, 3 nights
- From
- USD 1,195
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Addis Ababa
Timket in Addis Ababa
- Next date
- Jan 17, 2027
- Length
- 4 days, 3 nights
- From
- USD 1,295
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Addis Ababa
Fasika: Ethiopian Easter
- Next date
- Apr 29, 2027
- Length
- 4 days, 3 nights
- From
- USD 1,195
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Addis Ababa
Enkutatash: Ethiopian New Year
- Next date
- Sep 09, 2027
- Length
- 5 days, 4 nights
- From
- USD 1,095
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Addis Ababa
Meskel in Addis Ababa
- Next date
- Sep 25, 2027
- Length
- 5 days, 4 nights
- From
- USD 1,295
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Bishoftu
Irreecha
- Next date
- Oct 01, 2027
- Length
- 3 days, 2 nights
- From
- USD 795
See all group departures
Leading a group? Request a group quote
Destinations
Where you can go
Central
Northern
Lalibela
Eleven medieval churches carved down into solid rock, and still in use today.
Northern
Gondar
The royal enclosure of Fasil Ghebbi, with castles built from the 17th century.
Northern
Axum
An ancient capital, known for its towering carved stelae and its churches.
Northern
Simien Mountains
A high plateau of sheer escarpments, gelada baboons and long-distance trails.
Northern
Bahir Dar & Lake Tana
A lakeside town close to island monasteries and the Blue Nile Falls.
Safety
Is Ethiopia safe to visit right now?
It is the first thing most people ask us, so here is a straight answer. Ethiopia is roughly the size of Texas and California combined, and conditions differ a great deal from one region to the next. Some areas, including parts of the north, are under official travel warnings. Addis Ababa and the places we currently run tours are open and going about normal life.
Tell us your dates and where you would like to go. Before you pay anything, we will send you a briefing for that route, including what the US and UK governments advise. If conditions change, we change the plan.
How it works
From idea to departure in four steps
01
Browse tours
Look through tours by destination, length and style.
Step 1 of 4
02
Choose your dates
Pick a scheduled departure, or a date that suits you for a private tour.
Step 2 of 4
03
Book online
Enter your details, review the price and the cancellation terms, then confirm.
Step 3 of 4
04
Travel with support
Get your booking details by email and reach us whenever you have a question.
Step 4 of 4
Plan with us
Fifteen minutes is enough to start
Tell us when you are thinking of coming and what interests you. We will tell you honestly what is possible, what it will cost and how we would plan it.
- No payment is needed to enquire
- Prices and cancellation terms are shown before you book
- Full refund if we cancel a tour
- A real person answers your questions