Private tours
Your own guide, your own vehicle, your own schedule
Any tour on this site can be run privately for you. Start when you like, spend longer where you’re happy, and skip what doesn’t interest you. Or tell us what you’d like to see and we’ll design the trip from the beginning.
What changes when it’s private
The trip moves at your pace
Private trips are priced per person and depend on group size, hotel level and route. You’ll get a full quote with everything included within 48 hours.
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Timing
Breakfast at nine instead of seven, or an extra afternoon at the lake.
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Vehicle
A car, a Land Cruiser or an executive vehicle, chosen for your group and route.
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Focus
More history, more food, more walking or more rest. The guide adjusts to you.
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Contact
One person on our team looks after your trip from the first call to your flight home.
Ways to travel
Plan your trip around what interests you
Ethiopia suits very different kinds of travellers. Here are some of the ways people use it.
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History
Three million years in one country
Lucy in Addis, stone tools at Melka Kunture, the walls of Harar, and the story of Adwa told where it is commemorated.
See trips: History -
Faith
Christianity since the 4th century, Islam since its first years
Orthodox services still chanted in Ge’ez, and Harar, a centre of Islamic learning for centuries.
See trips: Faith -
Music and nightlife
Live music most nights of the week
Ethio-jazz clubs, azmari houses where singers improvise about the audience, and eskista, the shoulder dance.
Plan it with us: Music and nightlife -
Food
A cuisine built on one grain
Teff injera, berbere spice, kitfo, honey wine, and fasting menus that make Ethiopia easy for vegans.
See trips: Food -
Coffee
The drink, from the farm to the cup
A day on a Sidama coffee farm, a tasting of four regions in Addis, and the ceremony in someone’s home.
See trips: Coffee -
Wildlife and birds
Animals you won’t see anywhere else
Ethiopian wolves and mountain nyala in Bale, hippos and pelicans in the Rift Valley lakes, and more than 800 bird species.
See trips: Wildlife and birds -
Hiking
Trails above 3,000 metres
The Bale Mountains’ high plateau and the forests of Harenna, with local guides and mule support.
See trips: Hiking -
Culture and people
Eighty peoples, eighty languages
Harari households, Sidama coffee growers, and the markets of the Omo Valley, visited with local guides and on their terms.
See trips: Culture and people -
Running
Train where champions train
The Great Ethiopian Run in November, and morning runs in the Entoto forest where Ethiopia’s distance runners train.
Plan it with us: Running -
Families
History for adults, adventure for children
Lucy and the museums, ziplines at Entoto, boat rides on the lakes, and short days on the road.
Plan it with us: Families -
Rest
Slow days by the water
Lakeside resorts in Bishoftu, an hour from Addis, and hot springs at Sodere.
See trips: Rest
Plan with us
Tell us what you’d like to see
We’ll suggest a route, a vehicle and a guide for it, with a full quote within 48 hours.