Discover Ethiopia with local experts
Ethiopian Vacations is a locally owned and operated travel company based in Addis Ababa. For more than ten years we have planned and run trips across every corner of the country — and because we are from here, we do not simply show you our homeland. We invite you to see it through the eyes of the people who know it best.
Our story
Ethiopian Vacations was founded more than a decade ago with a straightforward aim: to share the beauty, history and traditions of Ethiopia with travellers from around the world. We are based in Addis Ababa and travel out from there to every corner of the country.
Being local means our roots run deep. We have spent that decade building personal relationships with communities across the regions we travel through, which is what allows our itineraries to offer the access they do — and what keeps the money a trip generates inside those communities.
Our guides work in English, alongside several other languages.
What we do
Where we take people
The historic route
The rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, the obelisks of Axum and the castles of Gondar — the pilgrimage through Ethiopia's ancient north.
Lalibela Historical TourCultural journeys
The lower Omo Valley, where we travel to meet communities whose traditions have been carried through many generations.
Omo ValleyLandscapes and trekking
The escarpments of the Simien Mountains, the highlands of Bale, and the otherworldly ground of the Danakil Depression.
Simien Mountains TrekWildlife and nature
Ethiopia's endemic wildlife — among them the Ethiopian wolf, the Walia ibex and the Gelada baboon, none of which live anywhere else on earth.
How we work
What we hold to
Ethiopian hospitality
Our culture's warmth is not a marketing line here — it is how we were raised to treat a guest. We look after travellers the way we would look after family.
Locally owned, locally staffed
The company is Ethiopian-owned, and we employ local guides and drivers who are from the places you visit. Choosing us keeps tourism revenue inside the country rather than routing it abroad.
Responsible travel
We work to protect the heritage sites, national parks and ancient places we take people to see, so that they survive being visited.
Respectful partnerships
Over ten years of running trips we have built relationships with the communities we visit, on the understanding that they benefit from our presence rather than merely tolerate it.
Dependable logistics
A decade of moving people around Ethiopia makes us reliable. Experienced drivers, well-maintained 4x4 vehicles, and the regional knowledge to know when a plan needs changing.
Responsible tourism
How we travel, and why it matters
Travel should be a force for good, and in a country like Ethiopia it can just as easily be the opposite. These are the things we hold ourselves to.
Communities as partners, not attractions
Before we bring travellers into a region — particularly somewhere as culturally sensitive as the lower Omo Valley — we work directly with community leaders. Itineraries are designed together, so that a visit is welcome, unintrusive and worth their while as well as ours.
Local guides, local suppliers
Our guides are native to the towns and regions you visit and know the dialects, the history and the customs from the inside. We source deliberately from family-run restaurants, small lodges and local transport rather than the easiest national supplier.
Photography, handled properly
We ask permission before any photograph is taken, and our guides handle that conversation for you. Where local custom sets a photography fee we manage it openly, so the person in the picture is paid fairly for their time. We also ask guests to put the camera down first and talk to someone before photographing them.
Customs, traditions and ceremonies
Before you witness or take part in any ceremony, your guide explains the context, the dress code and where the boundaries are. In the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela or a village homestead alike, we follow local protocol rather than asking places to accommodate us.
Money that stays local
We pay community entrance and conservation fees in full, and we take travellers to the artisans, weavers and craftsmen themselves rather than through a middleman.
Let us plan your Ethiopia
Tell us roughly what you have in mind — how long you have, when you might travel, and what you most want to see. We will come back with a route.