The Historic Route and Simien Mountains

Shared transfer airport – hotel Addis Ababa (SIC)
On arrival at Bole International Airport, you will meet our representatives and be transfered to the hotel.
Standard check-in time: 14:00

Half day city tour of Addis Ababa (PVT)
After some rest you will take a half day city tour of Addis Ababa including a drive to Mount Entoto for the panoramic view and old palace, National Museum which is the resting place of our famous Lucy, Trinity Cathedral and Merkato, the biggest market in Addis Ababa.

Dinner
Enjoy dinner at hotel’s restaurant.

Breakfast
Enjoy breakfast at hotel’s restaurant.

Transfer hotel – airport Addis Ababa (SIC)
After the breakfast you will be transferred to the airport in Addis Ababa, for you morning flight to Bahir Dar.

Domestic flight Addis Ababa – Bahir Dar

Transfer airport – hotel Bahir Dar (PVT)
On arrival to Bahir Dar, you will be transferred to the hotel.

Boat trip Lake Tana (SIC)
A boat trip will take you over Lake Tana to the Zege Peninsula to visit the beautifully painted churches that are found hidden in the small forest. First you will visit Azuwa Maryam Monastery which impresses with the colorful frescoes and it’s positioning, offering spectacular views of the surrounding area. The official language of the church is Geez, the language spoken by the Queen of Saba.
Your second stop will be at the Bete Maryam Monastery which means “The House of Mary” as it is one of the oldest and most spectacular monasteries on the peninsula. The monastery is a round wooden structure with mud and straw walls. There is an outer room, middle circular room and the central room for priests only. The outer ring has little decoration but the inner ring has floor to ceiling paintings depicting the bible stories.

Visit the Blue Nile Falls (SIC)
After lunch, you will visit the Blue Nile Falls. Located 30 km from Lake Tana, the waterfall is one of Ethiopia’s most important tourist attractions. Spectacular water falls have a height of between 37 and 45 m, and their ecosystem separates the two biogeographical entities of Lake Tana and the Nile River.
Be informed that you will walk about 30 minutes to arrive near to the water falls on Blue Nile.

Dinner
Enjoy dinner at hotel’s restaurant.

Breakfast
Enjoy breakfast at hotel’s restaurant.

Transfer Bahir Dar – Gondar (PVT)
After breakfast you will be transferred to Gondar. On the way you will visit Guzara Castle, and admire the wonderful landscape and view.

Half day city tour in Gondar (PVT)
This afternoon you will visit the city of Gondar. The city dates back to the 17th century and is known as the center of Ethiopian Orthodoxy or Camelot of Africa. You will admire the oldest and most impressive palace in the city, built by Emperor Fasilidas and the exceptional wall paintings of the Debre Berhan Selassie Church and the King Fasilidas bath where the pilgrims still bath during the Timket holiday.

Dinner
Enjoy dinner at hotel’s restaurant.

Breakfast
Enjoy buffet breakfast at lodge’s restaurant.

Transfer Gondar – Simien Mountains National Park – Debark (PVT)
You will travel to Debark, where you will have a wonderful view of the Simien Mountains, belonging to the National Park of the same name, included in UNESCO’s patrimony since 1978. The spectacular scenery offered by the mountain range, reaching up to 4500 m altitude, were often compared to those of the US Grand Canyon. Five kilometers from Gondar you will see the old village of the black Jewish.
Take a walk in nature from Sankaber (3250 m) and reach the impressive Jinbar Waterfall. On the way you will be able to see gelada baboon colonies, endemic species on Ethiopia’s high plateaus.

Dinner
Enjoy dinner at hotel’s restaurant.

Breakfast
Enjoy breakfast at lodge’s restaurant.

Transfer Debark – Axum (PVT)
Today you will admire the beautiful scenery of the Simien Mountains and drive to Axum. You will enjoy the western side of the dramatic Simien Mountain, pass through Limalimo, the most challenging road in Ethiopia but with awesome landscape, cross the Tekeze Valley and arrive in Axum.

Dinner
Enjoy dinner at hotel’s restaurant.

Breakfast
Enjoy breakfast at lodge’s restaurant.

Full day city tour in Axum (PVT)
You will take a city tour in Axum and admire the St. Mary of Sion Church and the Stele Park with the famous obelisk, the ruins of the former palace of Queen of Sheba (Dungur Palace) and the ruins of the former tombs of King Kaleb and his successor, King Gebre Meskel.
Church of St Mary of Sion was built in the fourth century by King Ezana (320-360), the first Christian leader of Ethiopia. The place became the cathedral of the city and the most important church in the kingdom. Over time, the edifice served as the coronation site of the Ethiopian monarchs. According to the Ethiopian tradition, in a chapel in the courtyard of the old church is the Ark of the Covenant, which contains the Tablets of the Law entrusted by God to Moses on Mount Sinai.

Dinner
Enjoy dinner at hotel’s restaurant.

Breakfast
Enjoy breakfast at hotel’s restaurant.

Transfer Axum – Gheralta (PVT)
After breakfast you will be transferrd to Gheralta and on your way, you will admire the Adwa Mountains, which was the battle place where the Ethiopians defeated the Italians in 1896. You will visit pre-Axumite Temple of Yeha, the oldest standing structure in Ethiopia.

Dinner
Enjoy dinner at hotel’s restaurant.

Breakfast
Enjoy breakfast at hotel’s restaurant.

Transfer Gheralta – Mekele (PVT)
Early in the morning you will be transferred to Mekele and on the way you will visit Medhane Alem Adi Kesho which is one of the awesome churches in the Gheralta area. You will visit also some of the Tigray rock hewn churches like Abreha and Atsebeha and Wukro Chircos.

Dinner
Enjoy dinner at hotel’s restaurant.

Breakfast
Enjoy breakfast at hotel’s restaurant.

Transfer Mekele – Lalibela (PVT)
After breakfast you will visit the Mekele Salt Market and then you will transferred to Lalibela through Ambalage Chains of Mountain.

Dinner
Enjoy dinner at hotel’s restaurant.

Breakfast
Enjoy breakfast at hotel’s restaurant.

Full day guided city tour in Lalibela (PVT)
Today you will visit one of the most important religious sites in the world, the churches dug into granite blocks at Lalibela. Their construction was ordered by King Lalibela who wanted the city to be a second Holy Land, a place of prayer for the pilgrims who could not reach Jerusalem. That is why many names of the churches here also have names that are found in the Holy City. Each cult site has numerous courtyards, interconnected by a series of tunnels and rock cuts.
You you visit Biete Medhane Alem (The Chapel of Holy Savior), the largest Orthodox underground monolith rock-cut church in the world, impressive for its size and majesty; Biete Maryam (Chapel of Mary) whereyou can ses three aisled with mural paintings and a covered pillar containing inscriptions about the end of the world according to the gadl (act)of saintly king. Further visit of Bieta Denagel (Chapel of the Virgins), Bieta Meskel (Chapel of the cross) and finally, the “double – church” of Debre Sina and Bieta Golghotha (women are not allowed in the latter since it’s where the remains of King Lalibela are and also because it contains the tabernacle of the Holy Trinity).

Dinner
Enjoy dinner at hotel’s restaurant.

Breakfast
Enjoy breakfast at lodge’s restaurant.

Transfer hotel – airport in Lalibela (PVT)
After the breakfast, you will be transferred for the flight back to Lalibela.

Internal flight Lalibela – Addis Ababa

Visit Ethnological Museum (PVT)
On arrival in Addis Ababa, you will visit the Ethnological Museum which is the collection place of Ethiopia’s cultural and social history.

Dinner at local restaurant
Enjoy evening fare well dinner at one of the city’s best traditional restaurants to taste a variety of Ethiopian cuisines and watch traditional dancing.

Transfer restaurant – airport in Addis Ababa (SIC)
After the dinner, you will be transfered to Bole International Airport for the flight back home.

Breakfast
Enjoy breakfast at hotel’s restaurant.

Half day city tour Kuala Lumpur (PVT)
Visit the National Mosque or in Malay the Masjid Negara, which is the most distinguished mosque in KL. You will also pass the Moorish-styled Federal Court, the old Railway station which is a striking piece of Mohammedan architecture, the Tudor-styled Cricket Club and Independence Square.

Transfer hotel – airport in Kuala Lumpur
You will be transferred to the Kuala Lumpur airport for your flight home.