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Bahir Dar
Capital of Amhara Region, Ethiopia

Bahir Dar

Bahir Dar is the capital city of Amhara Region, Ethiopia.

Plan a trip to Bahir Dar→

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.

Get in

Getting to Bahir Dar

  1. 01
    Bahir Dar Ginbot Haya Airport
See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    Lake Tana Monasteries

    Some of the world's oldest churches and monasteries are on islands in Lake Tana.

  2. 02
    Blue Nile Falls
  3. 03
    Martyr's Memorial Monument

    Huge monument with waterfalls going to Blue Nile.

  4. 04
    Kidus Giorgis

    Hornbill trees (across the street from Ours Guesthouse/Cafe).

Do

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.

Eat

Where to eat

  1. 01
    Checheho Cultural Restaurant

    Not just a restaurant, an excellent cultural club with azmari music and dance performances, one of the best nightspots in town.

  2. 02
    Lake Shore Resort

    Lake Street (along the lake near Summerland Hotel).

  3. 03
    Desset Restaurant

    Lake Street (just behind the big tower “Grand Resort and Spa”).

  4. 04
    Azewa Hotel

    It has some of the best fish goulash in the country and is inexpensive.

How locals move

Getting around Bahir Dar the local way

  • 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.
  • Get aroundThere are also blue minibuses, but few still exist as means to get around town.
  • Get aroundBajajs are inexpensive and cost no more than two birr per line of road and 30-50 birr for a private charter.

From Wikivoyage: Bahir Dar, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see file page), Wikimedia Commons.