Awasa
Hawassa, known historically as Adare, is a city in Ethiopia, on the shores of Lake Hawassa in the Great Rift Valley.
Hawassa, known historically as Adare, is a city in Ethiopia, on the shores of Lake Hawassa in the Great Rift Valley. It is 273 km (170 mi) south of Addis Ababa via Bishoftu, 130 km (81 mi) east of Sodo, and 75 km (47 mi) north of Dilla. The town serves as the capital of the Sidama Region. It lies on the Trans-African Highway 4 Cairo-Cape Town and has a latitude and longitude of 7°3′N 38°28′E and an elevation of 1,708 meters (5,604 ft) above sea level. Its name comes from a Sidama word meaning "wide body of water".
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Awasa
2 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Awassa Kenema Stadium
Hawassa Kenema Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Hawassa, Sidama Region, Ethiopia. It is used mostly for football matches and serves as the home stadium of Hawassa City S.C. The stadium has a capacity of 60,000 people, but still on process.
1.4 km · multi-use stadium in Awassa, Ethiopia · Wikipedia - 02Africa Beza College
Africa Beza University College is a private university college in Ethiopia, founded on November 20, 2005, in Awassa, the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region state capital. It initially had an enrollment of 450 students.
1.3 km · private university college in Ethiopia · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
- 01Hippos in Lake Awasa
From Wikivoyage: Awasa, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
Bicycle the 55 km around the lake. It is extraordinary beautiful opposite of Awassa as you ride the small path through the villages on the shore speckled with cacti and wild olive trees. Beware of the children, especially when they are in a large group with no adult around as they could start grabbing you and throw stuff. Fish Market (by the lake on the south west edge of the town).
From Wikivoyage: Awasa, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
The better hotels also have some of the best restaurants in town. Tropical Burger (next to Whataburger Bar and around the corner from the Guesthouse guesthouse, near the western end of Piazza Rd). Quiet setting under palm trees inside a fenced garden, many locals come here too, good fresh juice, local coffee. It has free Wifi. 50 birr for a large hamburger, 5 birr for an Ethiopian coffee, 70 birr for a pizza..
From Wikivoyage: Awasa, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Awasa
- Airports
- Hawassa (AWA), 10 km · Addis Ababa Bole (ADD), 217 km
- Stations
- Awasa Airport, 9.5 km
- Addis Ababa → Awasa220 km · quickest by road, 4h 19m · Br900–1,210
- Dire Dawa → Awasa467 km · quickest by air, 4h 4m · Br6,520–10,120
- Jijiga → Awasa540 km · quickest by air, 4h 40m · Br7,370–11,430
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Awasa
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Awasa. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get aroundIf you need transportation, there are countless blue motorbike rickshaws everywhere in town and a ride should never cost more than a few birr.
From Wikivoyage: Hawassa, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-03.
- 01558 km
- 021,025 km
- 031,074 km
- 041,081 km
- 051,269 km
If you know how people move in Awasa – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.