After arriving in Addis Ababa at Bole International Airport, you will be picked up by your guide and transferred to your hotel.

The Ethiopian capital is full of worthwhile sites, including the former palace of Haile Selassie, Ethiopia’s last emperor (and unwitting deity to the Rastafarian religion), and the national museum, home to the three-and a-half million year old skeleton ‘Lucy’, one of the earliest hominids ever discovered. Overnight Addis Ababa.

Today will provide further opportunities for exploring Addis. We’ll visit Entoto Mariam Mountain where you’ll be able to visit the old palace of Menelik II as well as the city’s oldest church.

Later, we’ll dive in to the chaos of Merkato, believed to be the biggest open market in Africa, and the Piazza district where you will see vestiges of the short-lived Italian occupation of the 1930’s.

In the evening we’ll visit a traditional restaurant to sample Ethiopia’s wonderful cuisine while enjoying tribal music and dancing performances. Overnight Addis Ababa.

A morning flight takes us to Bahir Dar, in Ethiopia’s mid-west.

We’ll take a boat-trip out to explore Lake Tana boat trip to explore the islands of Lake Tana, which are home to several ancient monasteries. You will also be able to visit the outlet of the Blue Nile, a popular spot for hippopotamus. Overnight Bahir Dar.

In the morning we’ll head 30 kilometers east to visit the spectacular Blue Nile Falls. Known as Tis Abay (“smoking water”) in Amharic, this rumbling cataract is over 400 meters wide in the rainy season.

The afternoon provides time to explore some nearby villages, before returning to Bahir Dar for sunset by the lakeside. Overnight Bahir Dar.

A spectacular four hour drive into ever-growing highlands brings us to Gonder, where you will transfer to you hotel.

In the afternoon, you will be able to visit the Royal Enclosure, a sprawling castle complex built by Emperor Fasilidas in the seventeenth century, when this town was the capital of a vast empire. If you are interested in traditional music, you might go with your guide and see the unique shoulder dance. Overnight Gonder.

A full day to explore more of Gonder’s historical sites. Among the highlights are Fasilidas’s Bath, an Olympic-sized ceremonial pool, and the Debre Selassie Church which is famed for its angel frescoes, among the country’s best examples of religious iconic art. Overnight Gonder.

Drive to the Simien Mountains where you will have a day to explore the ‘Roof of Africa’, some of Ethiopia’s most spectacular highlands.

The trekking is high-altitude – most of the national park sits above 3,000 meters – but the trekking on the plateau is relatively gentle. Overnight camping. Overnight camping at Sankaber.

In the morning we’ll set off on an eight hour drive to Aksum. For 3,000 years up to the tenth century it was the capital of the Aksumite Kingdom, a wealthy naval empire that was among the first regions to adopt Christianity as a state religion.

Today, it is famed as the rumoured resting place of the Ark of the Covenant, said to reside away from public gaze in St Mary’s, one of the town’s many grand churches. Overnight Aksum.

Explore Ethiopia’s ancient capital. The town boasts an extraordinary spiritual topography of obelisks, temples and the tombs of ancient kings, together with a pair of fascinating museums. Overnight Aksum.

Driving south we’ll pass through Adwa, scene of Ethiopia’s decisive victory over the Italian invasion of 1895 then onto Adigrat where you’ll be able to see some of the country’s earliest rock-hewn churches dating back to the fourth century. Overnight Gerhlata or Mekele.

A long but relentlessly spectacular day on the road with a lunch-break at Woldia will bring us to Lalibela, Ehthiopia’s spiritual heartland. Overnight Lalibela.

In the morning after breakfast, you will visit the first group of Lalibela’s famous rock-hewn churches. Carved straight out of the bedrock in the twelfth century, they have been dubbed ‘the eighth wonder of the world’.

In the afternoon after lunch, you will visit the second group of churches including Beta Giorgis, the sunken crucifix church that is perhaps the most iconic of them all. Overnight Sora Lodge.

After breakfast, you will drive outside Lalibela and visit local farming villages. Here you will be able to see Ethiopia’s true countryside, where life goes on in a way that has changed little in hundreds of years.

Our guides have friends throughout these hinterlands and you will be made to feel welcome. Overnight Sora Lodge.

In the morning you will fly back to Addis Ababa, where the tour will come to an end.