☀️ In the morning● Now
A walk on EntotoFresh air at 3,000 metres, eucalyptus and long-distance runners training at dawn.
✦ Your self-guided tour
Addis Ababa
Discover the city at your own pace, with your route and your trip essentials in one place.
5 stops · about 4 h 20 · audio guide12 languages
Highlights
5 stops · about 4 h 20 · audio guide
Photos
Photos: Wikimedia Commons (each author credited) and Google.
Addis Ababa: your route
Pay once. Access is saved on this device and sent by email.
5 stops · about 4 h 20 · audio guideTransport on the route: about ETB 1,300.00
Included: the full route, audio guide in 12 languages and the travel tools. Not included: museum and monument tickets, transport tickets.
💡 Good to know in Addis Ababa
Practical tips before you step out.
Luggage
Leave luggage at the airport left-luggage desk or a partner storage point on the route (marked ★). Carry only essentials and your passport.
Internet
Outside EU roaming: buy an eSIM before you travel or a prepaid SIM at an official carrier shop (bring your passport).
Payments
Cards at hotels, malls and bigger restaurants; local cash for markets, taxis and stalls. Withdraw at ATMs inside banks or malls.
Tipping
Tip 10% in restaurants; many already include service.
Water
Drink bottled or filtered water and avoid ice of doubtful origin; check that bottles are sealed.
Safety
Use app or hotel taxis, keep your phone away in the street and avoid walking after dark in empty areas. The city sits at 7,700 ft: drink water and take it easy on day one. Phones get snatched in Merkato and Piazza.
Sockets
Type C/E/F sockets, 220 V.
Toilets
Toilets in malls, museums and cafés; some public ones charge a little and paper goes in the bin, not the bowl.
Mosques
In Orthodox churches remove your shoes and cover shoulders and knees; women cover their hair.
ⓘ Practical information compiled from official and public sources in October 2026. Not yet checked on the ground in this city — if something has changed, use “Report a problem”.
Safety in Addis Ababa
Emergency numbers, common scams and how to get help. Free for everyone.
Emergency991
Hospital and pharmacy search around the city centre — share your location for results near you.
Look for: Pharmacy · ፋርማሲ
Common scams and risks
Pickpockets
Crowded trams, metros and queues are their workplace. Bag in front and zipped; phone never in a back pocket.
Phone snatching
Thieves on bikes or scooters grab phones from your hand. Step back from the kerb when using maps.
Ticket-machine "helpers"
Strangers who "help" at ticket machines may keep your card or sell fake tickets. Buy only from the machine or the desk.
Taxis
Use official taxi ranks or apps with a fixed fare. Turn down rides offered inside the airport arrivals hall.
After dark
Stay on busy, well-lit streets and use a taxi or ride-hailing app (Uber, Bolt) for longer trips at night. Keep phones and jewellery out of sight in empty areas.
👜 Watch your wallet in
Merkato · Piazza · Meskel Square
🌙 At night, take extra care in
Unlit streets · Bole when bars close
Keep a photo of your passport on your phone, carry just one card and some cash, and stick to busy, well-lit streets.
ⓘ Practical information compiled from official and public sources in October 2026. Not yet checked on the ground in this city — if something has changed, use “Report a problem”.
General guidance. If you're in danger, call 991 now. · Addis Ababa
Everything in Addis Ababa
All the useful things in one place.
🆕 Today in Addis Ababa
Friday 23 October · updated automatically every day
11° – 24°Little chance of rain
Experiences in Addis Ababa
Moments, fun and events, picked for you.
Your interests
🕐 Flexible — check opening times
The coffee ceremonyBeans roasted in front of you, incense and three rounds of coffee from a jebena.
🌙 At night
Dinner with traditional danceInjera, tibs and «eskista», the shoulder dance, at a cultural restaurant.
🕐 Flexible — check opening times
Meskel and TimkatThe great Orthodox festivals: the Meskel bonfire in September and Timkat Epiphany in January.
🌙 At night
Live Ethio-jazzThe sound of Mulatu Astatke in the city's jazz clubs at weekends.
🏛️ History & culture of Addis Ababa
How the city came to be, in a few minutes of reading.
Addis Ababa ( AD-iss AB-ə-bə; Amharic: አዲስ አበባ [adˈdis ˈaβəβa] , lit. 'new flower'; Oromo: Finfinnee, lit. 'fountain of hot mineral water') is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. With an estimated population of 6,287,000 inhabitants as of 2025, it is the tenth largest city in Africa. At an elevation of 2,355 metres (7,726 ft), it is the fourth-highest capital city in the world and the highest capital in Africa. Addis Ababa is a highly developed and important cultural, artistic, financial and administrative center of Ethiopia.
The founding history of Addis Ababa dates back to the late 19th century by Menelik II, Negus of Shewa, in 1886 after finding Mount Entoto unpleasant two years prior. At the time, the city was a resort town; its large mineral spring abundance attracted nobilities of the empire and led them to establish permanent settlement.
Read the full history
The history of Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, formally begins with the founding of the city in the 19th century by Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II and his wife Empress Taytu Betul. In its first years the city was more like a military encampment than a town. The central focus was the emperor's palace, which was surrounded by the dwellings of his troops and of his innumerable retainers. In the 1920s, Addis Ababa experienced a significant economic upturn, marked by a surge in the number of middle-class-owned buildings, including stone houses furnished with imported European furniture. The middle class also introduced newly manufactured automobiles and expanded banking institutions. Urbanization and modernization persisted during the Italian occupation, guided by a masterplan aimed at transforming Addis Ababa into a more "colonial" city, a trajectory that continued beyond the occupation. Subsequent master plans, formulated from the 1940s onward with the input of European consultants, focused on the development of monuments, civic structures, satellite cities, and the inner city.
💬 What travellers say about Addis Ababa
Tips, experiences and questions from people who've been there.