7-Day Ethiopia History Tour with Lalibela Churches and Lake Tana

• Visit the National Museum, which exhibits numerous antiquities, historical relics, and archaeological and paleontological objects, including the 3.5 million-year-old skeleton of Lucy.

• Visit one of the fine Ethiopian Orthodox churches, St. George Cathedral, which contains several interesting modern paintings and mosaics.

• Shop around Mercato, the biggest open market of its kind in Africa, and enjoy the commanding panoramic views of Mount Entoto.

• Explore Lake Tana and its islands by boat. There are 37 islands on Lake Tana, and 30 of them have churches and monasteries of considerable historical and cultural interest.

• Visit the monastery churches of Ura Kidane Mihiret and Azwa Mariam. Ura Kidane Mihiret is the best known of the monasteries and has an important collection of religious icons from the 16th to 18th centuries CE. Azwa Mariam is known for its paintings, and there will also be time to visit the small museum.

• Drive to the Blue Nile Falls, known locally as Tissisat (smoking water), where the water plunges for 45 m (148 ft), giving rise to steam clouds and rainbows.

• Climb down to the base of the falls for an up-close look and then ascend the other side on a round trip that will take about 1 hour of walking.

• Cross the Blue Nile by boat to return to the point of departure.

Overnight stay in hotel.

• Visit Fasilidas' Palace, probably the most impressive of all the castles found in the area and the oldest one.

• Continue to the bath of Fasiledes and Quskuam Church.

• Visit the Debre Birhan Selassie Church (Light of the Trinity). The interior of Debre Birhan Selassie is decorated with beautiful frescos, cherubs, and paintings. Debre Birhan Selassie is rumoured to have once been the proposed final resting place of the Ark of the Covenant.

• Visit the colourful market of Gondar.

• Leave Gondar and stop at the village of Ethiopian Felasha (black Jewish) with the Ethiopian tour guide.

• Continue towards the Simien Mountains. Simien National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The road passes over mountainous areas of wild beauty, drawing close to the Simien Massif. In Amharic, Simien means north. In the park, many of the mountain peaks exceed 4,000 m (13123 ft); the highest is Ras Dejen, at 4,543 m (1905 ft) above sea level.

• Encounter troops of the endemic gelada baboons. The gelada baboon, found only in Ethiopia, is often referred to as the bleeding heart baboon or the lion monkey because its coat is shaggy, resembling a lion.

• Visit the first group of churches in Lalibela. There are 11 monolithic churches that were built in the 12th century and are carved out of pink granite rock. They have been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Each church (Bet) has a unique architectural style; all are superbly carved, and most of them are decorated with well-preserved paintings. The entire city may be described as a sculpture dedicated to God's glory. If time allows, there will be a stop at the souvenir shops and around the city centre on the way back. Bet Medhane Alem is the largest, supported by 72 pillars, and houses the 7 kg (15 lbs) gold Lalibela Cross.

• Go through a tunnel from Bet Medhane Alem to Bet Mariam, where there is a pillar that it is said Jesus Christ leaned against when he appeared in a vision to King Lalibela. Bet Mariam also contains fabulous carvings of various birds and animals.

• Visit Bet Danaghel, a chapel built in honour of martyred nuns. Bet Golgotha and Bet Mikael are twin churches, and many believe that a visit to Bet Golgotha alone can guarantee your place in heaven. The twin churches also contain many important religious items and some of the best examples of early religious art in the country.

• The last church visited today is Bet Giyorgis, one of the more recent churches and one of the best preserved.

• Head to the Eastern Rock Churches. Bet Amanuel is one of Ethiopia's most beautifully carved churches in the Aksumite style. Bet Merkorios has a wonderful painting of the Three Wise Men, which dates back to the 15th century CE.

• Stop to see Bet Abba Libanos and Bet Gabriel-Rafael, which might once have been the royal family's home before becoming a church.

• Visit the steles, granite monoliths from pre-Christian times decorated with symbolic engravings. In ancient times, there were seven steles, and now one of them is in Rome, where Mussolini took it during Italy's occupation of Ethiopia.

• See the church of Santa Maria of Zion, which contains the crowns of Ethiopian kings and other treasures, with the Ethiopian tour guide.

• Fly out to Addis Ababa to end the tour.