If you arrived in Addis early morning you will experience the amazing beauty that the city offers. When the sun comes out after arriving at your hotel room ordering your Ethiopian coffee is just a call away or a walk to the hotel’s cafeteria or perhaps, you might want your coffee out in the city maybe to the famous Tomoca coffee around.
You can ask any taxi driver to take you to Tomoca where the coffee is roasted in front of you and a variety of coffee to choose from for the enlightenment of the day.
Don’t forget the coffee prepared & served in traditional coffee ceremony is an experience not to be missed.
Then comes lunch were again addis is filled with variety of choices when it comes to restaurants from traditional to Italian ,Indian and many dishes to choose from I would recommend traditional Ethiopian food at the first restaurant in the country Itegue Taitu Hotel “Injera” is like a PITA bread almost served with most traditional foods.
After lunch, you will have ample time for some sightseeing of Addis Ababa’s old town Piassa. Following Piassa, you will head to Merkato, the largest open market in Africa where you will experience Ethiopia’s distinct market activity and business dealings
If you have a day in Addis don’t miss some of its spots such as Ethnological Museum : Set within Haile Selassie’s former palace, and surrounded by the beautiful gardens and fountains of the university’s main campus, is the enthralling Ethnological Museum. Even if you’re not a museum fan, this one is worth a bit of your time – it’s easily one of the finest museums in Africa, showing the full sweep of Ethiopia’s cultural and social history across two floors.
Addis’s night life where you can enjoy both the modern night-life with western oriented playlist in clubs with beautiful dance floor space & variety of drinks to choose from
For those seeking to experience the rich culture of Ethiopian heritage firsthand cultural restaurants Like YOD ABYSSINIA, 2000 HABESHA and many more.
As an option to visit the city North to South and East to West you can take the train tour avoiding the rush hours. The electrified light rail transport in Addis Ababa city has two lines with a total length of 34 km.
The east-west line extends 17.35 km, stretching from Ayat Village to Tor Hailoch, and passes through Megenagna, Meskel Square, Stadium, Leghar and Mexico Square; and the north-south corridor is 16.9 km in length, and starting from Kality, it ends at Menelik II Square, passing the stations including, Gotera, Meskel Square, Stadium, Lideta, and Merkato, among others
The East-West Line/the Green and White Train runs from Ayat to Tor Hailoch area.
As visitors ride along this corridor, they pass through streets of CMC, St Michael church, Gurd Shola, Megenaga Square,Haya Hulet, St. Urael Church, St. Stephen Church, Meskel Square, Addis Ababa Stadium, Mexico Square, St. Lideta, till the last station, Tor Hailoch.
While riding on the East-West line passengers can a make transit from the East-West line to South-North route either at Stadium, or Lagehar, or Mexico Square, or Tegbared, or St Lideta.
On the East-West line, visitors can get off the train at St. Stephen church station and visit the grand square in the city, i.e. Meskel Square, and they can also visit the Red Terror Museum, and the Addis Ababa Museum.
After this, visitors can take walk to the next station of the East-West line, at Addis Ababa Stadium to ride to Tor Hailoch. Then you can come back on the same route to get off at one of the transits (St. Lideta, Tegbared, Mexico Square, or Stadium), to be on board of the train on the South-North route; and visitors can take a lunch break at a place on one of the transits as per their preferences or choices.
The Blue and White Train/the South-North line
Along the route that runs from Kality to Menelik II Square (the South-North line), visitors get off the train at Gojam Berenda before reaching the last station of the corridor, which is Menelik II Square.
Upon arrival at Merkato, for which visitors take walk from Gojam Berenda, they will be briefed about the safest and convenient way of visiting the market place and its environs. Then visitors will walk down a bit through the crowded Minalesh Terra Street periphery to the uniquely poised spot where a cluster of spice shops are lined up.
Visitors will begin to glimpse the real experience from here on, where one can see countless spices and seasonings, wholesale and retailing shops lined-up to all sorts of buyers. In this section of the market, the main products shops comprise, Berbere (Ethiopian Paprika), Shiro (powder of chick bean and beans), Mitmita (the hottest version of paprika), kimemakimem(all Ethiopian cuisine spices) including coriander, cumin, cinnamon, twist, thyme, bay leaf, and nutmeg among others.
After visiting and shopping (if you want) in Merkato and having such wonderful the dramatic complexion of the market sections, we get back on board of the train on the same route to get off at Menelik II Square, where visitors can have a look at the statue of Emperor Menelik II at the square and also its environs as well as St. George cathedral and the museum on the premises of the church.
This wraps up the tour and visitors can back to their hotels by public transport or can be picked up by your vehicle.
