Bahir Dar
Bahir Dar is the capital city of Amhara Region, Ethiopia.
Bahir Dar is the capital city of Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Bahir Dar is one of the leading tourist destinations in Ethiopia, with a variety of attractions in the nearby Lake Tana and Blue Nile river. The city is known for its wide avenues lined with palm trees and a variety of colorful flowers. In 2002, it was awarded the UNESCO Cities for Peace Prize for addressing the challenges of rapid urbanization.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Bahir Dar
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.
- 01Bahir Dar Stadium
Bahir Dar Stadium is a multi-purpose venue located in Bahir Dar, Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Primarily used for football matches, the stadium also features facilities for athletics.
1.3 km · multi-purpose stadium in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia · Wikipedia - 02Bahir Dar University
Bahir Dar University is a public research university in Bahir Dar, capital of the Amhara Region, Ethiopia. The university, with two institutes in diploma programs until 1966, is credited to training distinguished scientists and notable public servants.
700 m · university 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
- 01Lake Tana Monasteries
Some of the world's oldest churches and monasteries are on islands in Lake Tana.
- 02Blue Nile Falls
- 03Martyr's Memorial Monument
Huge monument with waterfalls going to Blue Nile.
- 04Kidus Giorgis
Hornbill trees (across the street from Ours Guesthouse/Cafe).
From Wikivoyage: Bahir Dar, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
Cycling Bikes can be rented at Ghion Hotel. Enkutatask (Ethiopian New Year): 11 or 12 September annually. The place to be on the eve of this holiday is on the shore of Lake Tana. Deacons in the monasteries on islands all over the lake will make music all night, leaning on canes or sticks so they can stand all night.
From Wikivoyage: Bahir Dar, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
- 01Checheho Cultural Restaurant
Not just a restaurant, an excellent cultural club with azmari music and dance performances, one of the best nightspots in town.
- 02Lake Shore Resort
Lake Street (along the lake near Summerland Hotel).
- 03Desset Restaurant
Lake Street (just behind the big tower “Grand Resort and Spa”).
- 04Azewa Hotel
It has some of the best fish goulash in the country and is inexpensive.
From Wikivoyage: Bahir Dar, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Bahir Dar
- Addis Ababa → Bahir Dar322 km · quickest by road, 8h 48m · Br1,560–2,080
- Hawassa → Bahir Dar519 km · quickest by road, 13h 7m · Br2,470–3,290
- Dire Dawa → Bahir Dar537 km · quickest by road, 17h 22m · Br3,030–4,040
- 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 Bahir Dar
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 Bahir Dar. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Get inMany private minibuses also run from Gondar and Addis Ababa.
- Get inThe minibuses are more expensive but faster, especially from Addis Ababa.
- Get inFrom Gondar, minibuses leave from a bus station near Azezo (July 2019) in the south of the town.
- Get inYou can take a local minibus to reach Azezo (10 birr) or a bajaj (200 birr).
- Get inA ferry service runs between Bahir Dar and Gorgora via Dek Island and villages on the lakeside.
From Wikivoyage: Bahir Dar, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 01187 km
- 021,394 km
- 031,453 km
- 041,592 km
- 051,642 km
If you know how people move in Bahir Dar – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.