9-Day Ethiopia Heritage Tour from Addis Ababa to Lalibela and Aksum

• Transfer to the hotel.
• Visit the National Archaeological Museum, where the 3.2 million-year-old bones of Lucy, a female Australopithecus afarensis skeleton, reside, followed by the Ethnographic Museum and Holy Trinity Cathedral, renowned for its stunning stained-glass windows.
• If you have a full day, you may also have the chance to see Merkato, the biggest market in Africa.

Overnight stay at Sidra International Hotel.

• Fly to Bahir Dar, located on the southern shore of Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile.
• Visit the Blue Nile Falls, also known as "great smoke" in Amharic.
• After lunch, take a city tour and drive up to Bazawit Hill for spectacular evening views.
• Drive past the 1960s palace of Emperor Haile Selassie and continue to the open-air market, one of the largest in Northern Ethiopia.

Overnight stay in Kuriftu Resort.

• In the morning, take a boat trip on Lake Tana to visit the nearby monastery of the Zeghie Peninsula, known for its 14th-century round, grass-roofed churches and their magnificent murals.
• Then drive to Gondar, the capital and commercial center of Ethiopia from the 17th to the mid-19th century.
• After lunch, explore the sites of Gondar, including the castles of the Royal Enclosure. Continue to Emperor Fasiledes Bath, now best known for the annual Christian festival of Timket, when local worshipers descend into the pool to commemorate the baptism of Jesus.
• Head on to see Ras Gimb Palace Museum and Debre Berhane Selassie Church, with Ethiopia's most iconic ceiling murals.

Overnight stay in Gonder Goha Hotel.

• Fly from Gondar to Lalibela, home to one of the world's most outstanding sacred sites, comprising 11 medieval rock-hewn churches.

• First, visit the first group of churches.

Overnight stay in Sora Lodge.

• Today, visit the Monastery of NakutoLa'ab, hewn out of a rock cave. Alternatively, take a mule trek to the Asheton Mariam Monastery.
• After lunch, visit the second group of cave churches built by King Lalibela, including the famous Bete Georgis, located in a deep pit and accessible only by a tunnel.
• Also visit the four churches south of the Jordan River.
• A traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony is a highlight this afternoon.

Overnight stay in Sora Lodge.

• Fly from Lalibela to Aksum and take a city tour. The tour includes the central Stelae Park. These famed granite obelisks are relics of this era and have gained UNESCO World Heritage Site status. The tallest, the Great Stelae, has fallen and broken into six massive pieces, but when standing, it was 33 meters (108 feet) tall and weighed about five hundred twenty tons, alongside other remarkable pre-Christian monuments.
• Continue the city tour with visits to the swimming pool of the Queen of Sheba, the Ezana Inscription, the tomb of King Kaleb and his son King Gebremeskel, the Queen of Sheba's palace, St. Mary Zion Church, and the Ark of the Covenant.

Overnight in Sabean Hotel.

• After breakfast, drive to visit the Temple of Yeha, dating from the 8th to 7th centuries BC and thought to have been the capital of pre-Aksumite civilization, as well as the museum.
• Head to Adigrat for lunch.
• After lunch, proceed through the state of Tigray, stopping en route to visit the rock-hewn church of Medhani Alem Adi Kesho.

Overnight stay in Hawuzien (Gheralta Lodge).

• In the morning, visit Abune Yemata Guh Church and Daniel Korkor Church.
• Drive back to the town of Hawuzien for lunch.
• After lunch, drive west of Wukro to visit the churches of Abreha.

Overnight stay at Planet Hotel.

• After breakfast, visit Mekelle in the morning and fly back to Addis in the afternoon.

End of the tour services.