Gondar & Lake Tana (not on sale) · Abyssinia Journeys

01 · The place

ጎንደር እና ጣና

The castles of the Gondarine kings and the island monasteries of Lake Tana are among the great sights of Africa. We are not selling them while the advice is against all travel.

From the 1630s Gondar was the capital of the Ethiopian empire, and its emperors built a royal enclosure of stone castles, Fasil Ghebbi, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Fasilides' Bath fills with water once a year for Timkat. Debre Berhan Selassie church has a ceiling painted with rows of winged faces. South of Gondar, Lake Tana is the source of the Blue Nile, with painted monastery churches on its islands and peninsulas.

Amhara region has seen serious conflict since 2023. The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to the whole region, the US says do not travel, and most travel insurance does not cover you there. We do not sell Gondar or Lake Tana, and we will not quietly add them to a trip. When the advice changes, this page will change with it.

Fasil Ghebbi: The royal enclosure, a World Heritage Site since 1979.
Lake Tana: Ethiopia's largest lake and the source of the Blue Nile.
Since 2023: Conflict in Amhara region; advice against all travel.

02 · Gondar & Lake Tana

For later

The royal enclosure

The stone castle of Fasilides in Gondar's royal enclosure, between tall trees

Castles, halls and a library within one wall, built by successive emperors over a century. One day.

For later

The painted ceiling

Debre Berhan Selassie: the walls covered in saints and stories, the ceiling in winged faces looking down.

For later

The island monasteries

Ura Kidane Mehret and the churches of the Zege peninsula, reached by boat, with manuscripts and painted walls.

04 · Why not now

Where it sits on the map

From the 1630s Gondar was the capital of the Ethiopian empire, and its emperors built a royal enclosure of stone castles, Fasil Ghebbi, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Fasilides' Bath fills with water once a year for Timkat. Debre Berhan Selassie church has a ceiling painted with rows of winged faces. South of Gondar, Lake Tana is the source of the Blue Nile, with painted monastery churches on its islands and peninsulas.

Amhara region has seen serious conflict since 2023. The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to the whole region, the US says do not travel, and most travel insurance does not cover you there. We do not sell Gondar or Lake Tana, and we will not quietly add them to a trip. When the advice changes, this page will change with it.

See where we go instead

Shaded by the UK FCDO zone list. Red: advised against all travel. Ochre: essential travel only.

Before you write

Questions about the north

Can you arrange it privately?

No. We will not send anyone where the FCDO advises against all travel, privately or otherwise.

Will you tell us when it reopens?

Yes. Our where we go page is dated and checked weekly; the journal letter announces changes.