Explore Addis
135 curated places
2000 Habesha Cultural Restaurant
Bole
Tukul-style hall on Bole Road with nightly music, dance and injera feasts
Abrehot Library
Arat Kilo
Ethiopia's biggest public library — striking architecture and studious calm
Adadi Mariam Rock-Hewn Church
Outside Addis — 65km southwest
The southernmost Lalibela-style underground church, still in active worship
Addis Ababa Museum
Meskel Square
Charming old-house museum telling the story of the capital itself
Addis Ababa Restaurant
Arada
Century-old circular house serving only traditional food and homemade tej
Addis Fine Art
Bole
Ethiopia's leading contemporary gallery, with a sister space in London
Addisu Gebeya
Gulele
Gulele's bustling 'new market' for fabrics, garments and everyday Addis life
Adorsi Coffee
4 Kilo
Airy specialty brew bar with five pour-over options and laptop-friendly vibes
Adwa Victory Memorial Museum (Adwa 00KM)
Piassa
Dazzling new museum celebrating Africa's greatest anti-colonial victory
Africa Hall (UNECA)
Menelik II Avenue
Birthplace of the OAU, freshly restored with its monumental stained-glass mural
African Jazz Village
Meskel Square / Stadium
Mulatu Astatke's Ethio-jazz club in a round tukul at the Ghion Hotel gardens
African Mosaique
Old Airport
Model Anna Getaneh's fashion house and incubator in her childhood villa
Aladdin Restaurant
Bole
Old-school Armenian and Middle Eastern dining rooted in Addis history
Alem Bunna
Bole
Veteran local roasting chain for a proper macchiato on Bole Road
Alliance Ethio-Française
Piassa
French cultural institute with a leafy courtyard, gigs and exhibitions
Antica Bar & Restaurant
Bole
Garden pizzeria with teff-dough pies, hot-rock barbecue and an art gallery
Aster Bunna
Olympia
No-frills local roaster pouring some of the city's best cheap macchiatos
Ba'eta Le Mariam Monastery & Menelik II Mausoleum
Arat Kilo (palace quarter)
Crypt of Emperor Menelik II beneath a beautiful, little-visited monastery church
Beer Garden Inn
Bole
Ethio-German brewpub pouring its own unfiltered white and black beers
Bihere Tsige Park
Nifas Silk (Debre Zeit road)
The city's oldest flower park — 40 hectares of gardens reborn as a public park
Bilo's Pastry
Arat Kilo
Addis's favorite modern patisserie — handcrafted cakes since 2005
Bishoftu (Debre Zeit) Crater Lakes
Outside Addis — 47km southeast
A resort town ringed by volcanic lakes — kayaking, birdlife and lakeside lunches
Black Rose
Bole
Sophisticated cocktail bar and rooftop hangout beloved by expats and locals
Bole Medhane Alem Cathedral
Bole
Africa's second-largest Orthodox cathedral, glowing above the Bole skyline
Boston Day Spa by Kuriftu
Bole
Addis's landmark urban spa — massages, steam, jacuzzi and Ethiopian art
CaffeOl Coffee
Kera
Woman-owned specialty café with the city's best vegan pastries
Century Cinema & Entertainment
Gerji / Megenagna
Modern multiplex at Century Mall with Hollywood films, VR and a game zone
Club H2O
Bole
Big Bole party club: EDM, Ethiopian tunes and live band nights
Club Illusion
Kazanchis
Veteran Kazanchis nightclub spinning Ethiopian beats, Afrobeat and house
Dashen Terara Traditional Restaurant
Haya Hulet
Since 1976: homemade-spice wats, tej and areke in a relocated classic
Debre Libanos Monastery & the Portuguese Bridge
Outside Addis — 110km north
Sacred 13th-century monastery, gorge-edge bridge and wild gelada monkeys
Dukamo Coffee
Bole
Farm-to-cup Sidama specialty roastery famous for anaerobic lots
Effoi Pizza
Atlas
Wood-fired pizza on teff-blended dough — Addis's favorite since 2007
Enrico Pastry
Piassa
60-plus years of Italian-legacy millefeuille that still draws queues
Ensessa Kotteh Wildlife Rescue Centre (Born Free)
Outside Addis — 30km northwest (near Holeta)
Born Free's sanctuary for rescued lions, cheetahs and monkeys
Entoto Beth Artisan
Entoto / Shiro Meda
Jewelry from recycled bullet casings, handmade by women artisans
Entoto Kiddus Raguel Church & Rock Chapel
Entoto (western ridge)
Historic ridge-top church with an older rock-hewn chapel and huge views
Entoto Maryam Church & Menelik II Palace Museum
Entoto summit
Hilltop church where Menelik II was crowned, beside his humble first palace
Entoto Park
Entoto
Eucalyptus-forest adventure park with ziplines, horses and crisp mountain air
Entoto–Kechene Riverside Park (Kurtumi)
Gulele / Kechene
Brand-new 22km riverside corridor of parks, trails and bridges below Entoto
Ethiopia Museum of Art and Science
Arat Kilo
Futuristic dome showcasing AI, space and Ethiopian innovation
Ethiopian National Theatre
Legehar (Gambia Street)
The grand 1955 state theatre — drama, orchestras and Ethiopian music since Haile Selassie
Ethnological Museum (Institute of Ethiopian Studies)
Sidist Kilo
Ethiopia's cultures explored inside Haile Selassie's former palace
Fendika Cultural Center (at Hyatt Regency)
Meskel Square
The legendary azmari house reborn — Melaku Belay's Fendika now at the Hyatt
Filwoha Hot Springs & Baths
Kazanchis
Soak in the thermal springs that made Menelik and Taytu settle Addis Ababa
Flirt Lounge
Bole
High-energy Bole club with themed nights, DJs and occasional live acts
Fresh Corner Kitchen
Kazanchis
Healthy fast-casual mini-chain for salads, wraps and smoothies
Friendship Park (Sheger Park)
Kazanchis / Sheraton area
Manicured showpiece park with fountains, lake and event lawns below the palace
Galani Coffee
Gerji
Warehouse-style specialty roastery with an art gallery upstairs
Garden of Coffee
Bole
Coffee hand-roasted to order on clay pans — the ceremony as a café
Gaslight Night Club (Sheraton Addis)
Taitu St / Sheraton
Glitzy hotel nightclub at the Sheraton — Addis's classic upscale night out
Gebre Kristos Desta Center (Modern Art Museum)
Sidist Kilo
University-run modern art museum honoring Ethiopia's modernist pioneer
Gefersa Reservoir
Outside Addis — 18km west (Ambo road)
Highland reservoir on the Ambo road beloved by birdwatchers
Golla Art Gallery
Gulele (Golla Michael)
Art and antiques in a 107-year-old Armenian-built heritage house
Grand Anwar Mosque
Merkato
Addis Ababa's largest and oldest grand mosque, beating heart of Muslim Merkato
Great Ethiopian Run
Meskel Square (citywide course)
Africa's biggest road race — a 10km street party of 40,000+ runners each November
Gullele Botanic Garden
Gulele (northwest Addis)
700 hectares of indigenous forest, endemic plants and birdsong on the city's edge
Guramayne Art Center
Mexico
Curator Mifta Zeleke's edgy space for emerging Ethiopian artists
Habesha Restaurant
Bole Road
Garden courtyard classic where locals actually eat their doro wat
Hadero Coffee
Jackros
Ambitious young roaster showcasing beans from the Hadero highlands
Hager Fikir Theatre
Piassa
Africa's oldest indigenous theatre (1935), recently restored, shows on Sundays
Hilton Addis Ababa Thermal Pool
Kazanchis
Cross-shaped outdoor pool fed by natural hot springs — day passes available
Holy Trinity Cathedral
Arat Kilo
Ethiopia's grandest cathedral and resting place of Emperor Haile Selassie
Itegue Taitu Hotel Restaurant
Piassa
Lunch in Ethiopia's oldest hotel, founded by an empress in 1905
Jams Addis
Bole (near Yod Abyssinia)
Reggae-soaked live-music den with bands Thursday through Saturday
Kabu Caffe
Bole
Singer Aster Aweke's café, tied to Africa's first SCA-certified coffee lab
Kaldi's Coffee
Bole
Ethiopia's homegrown answer to Starbucks — green aprons, local beans
Kategna Restaurant
Bole
Polished everyday Ethiopian — shekla tibs, bozena shiro and a huge fasting menu
Kazanchis Azmari Bets
Kazanchis
The surviving hole-in-the-wall azmari bars of the old Kazanchis strip
Kechene Women's Pottery Cooperative
Kechene / Gulele
Watch traditional potters at work and buy jebenas straight from the kiln
Kuriftu Resort & Spa Bishoftu
Bishoftu (day trip)
Crater-lake resort an hour from Addis — spa day passes, boats and birdlife
La Parisienne
Olympia
The classic Addis terrace café for croissants, coffee and fresh juice
LeLa Art Gallery
Old Airport
Garden villa gallery showcasing established and emerging Ethiopian painters
Lion of Judah Monument & La Gare Station
Legehar (La Gare)
Haile Selassie's coronation lion guarding the 1929 Franco-Ethiopian railway station
London Cafe
Bole
Big, buzzy Bole hangout for cakes, macchiatos and fresh juice
Lucy Lounge & Restaurant
Amist Kilo
Leafy garden restaurant next door to Lucy herself at the National Museum
Makush Art Gallery & Italian Restaurant
Bole
Eat pasta surrounded by 650+ canvases from 70 Ethiopian artists — all for sale
Mama's Kitchen
Bole
Slick Bole lounge with live jazz and Ethio-soul seven nights a week
Mamma Mia Italian Restaurant & Bar
Sarbet
Homey trattoria near the AU beloved for handmade pasta and wood-fired pizza
Mamokacha
Atlas
Beloved garden café where macchiatos are custom-made strong, light or 'normal'
Marcus Addis Restaurant & Sky Bar
Legehar
Marcus Samuelsson's 47th-floor sky restaurant atop Ethiopia's tallest tower
Melka Kunture Prehistoric Site
Outside Addis — 50km south
Walk over 1.7-million-year-old tool workshops beside the Awash River
Menagesha Suba Forest Park
Outside Addis — 40km west
Africa's oldest conservation forest — giant junipers, colobus monkeys, endemic birds
Merkato
Merkato / Addis Ketema
Reputedly Africa's largest open-air market — 13,000+ merchants, endless alleys
Meskel Square
Meskel Square
The city's great amphitheatre-square, epicentre of the Meskel bonfire festival
Minalesh Tera (Merkato Recycling Lanes)
Merkato
Merkato's famous 'what do you have?' lanes, where waste becomes wares
Mokarar (Harar Coffee Shop)
Piassa
Time-capsule 1944 roaster where espresso comes with a side of popcorn
Monarch 360 Lounge
Bole / 22 Mazoria
Elegant hotel rooftop lounge with 360-degree skyline views
Mount Yerer
Outside Addis — 35km southeast
Extinct 3,100m volcano hike with summit views from Addis to the Rift Valley
Mount Zuquala & Abbo Monastery
Outside Addis — 80km south (near Bishoftu)
Sacred crater lake atop a perfect volcano, crowned by a hilltop monastery
Moyee Coffee
Bole Medhanialem
FairChain roaster with industrial-chic cafés and a cult 'tsom macchiato'
Muger River Gorge (Durba)
Outside Addis — 60km northwest
Plunging canyon views, waterfalls and gelada monkeys an hour from town
Mulmul Bakery
Bole
Family bakery since 1991 named after Ethiopia's celebration bread
Muya Ethiopia
Sidist Kilo
Fair-trade weaving house turning Ethiopian cotton into world-class textiles
National Museum of Ethiopia
Amist Kilo
Home of Lucy, the 3.2-million-year-old skeleton that rewrote human history
Peacock Park
Bole
Small leafy Bole park with playgrounds, cafes and resident peacocks
Ras Amba Hotel Rooftop
Kebena / Yeka hills
Hillside rooftop bar and glasshouse with sweeping sunset views over Addis
Red Terror Martyrs' Memorial Museum
Meskel Square
Sobering, essential memorial to victims of the Derg dictatorship
Ristorante Castelli
Piassa
1948 Italian time capsule that fed Mandela, Fellini and Beyoncé
Robera Coffee
Bole Medhanealem
Three-decade roaster's sleek cafés pouring lab-graded specialty brews
Run Africa — Running Tours with Local Athletes
Citywide (Entoto & Yeka forests)
Train with Addis's runners in the forests that forge Olympic champions
Sabahar
Mekanisa / Alem Bank
Fair-trade silk and cotton weaving studio with tours and a lovely shop
Sabegn
Bole Atlas
Villa concept store of 200+ Ethiopian makers — leather, weaving, art and coffee
Salem's Ethiopia
Bole
Fair-trade craft compound: weaving, pottery and jewelry made on-site
Sana'a Restaurant
Olympia
Since 1994: heaping Yemeni mandi and fahsa that locals swear by
Serenade Art & Food
Piassa (Alliance Ethio-Française)
Beloved Mediterranean hideaway cooking from a herb garden patio
Shema Tera (Merkato Weavers' Row)
Merkato
Merkato's dedicated lane for handwoven shemma cloth and weaving supplies
Shiro Meda Market
Shiro Meda
The place to buy handwoven habesha kemis, netela shawls and shemma cotton
Shola Market
Megenagna
Gritty, authentic everyday market for spices, grains, butter and baskets
Sishu
Kera
Cult burger joint baking its own buns and cakes for 16 years
Sodere Hot Springs Resort
Outside Addis — 120km southeast (near Adama)
Steamy riverside thermal pools where Addis Ababans go to soak
SoleRebels Flagship Store
Sarbet (Adams Pavilion)
The famed recycled-tyre-soled shoe brand, born in Addis and sold worldwide
St George's Cathedral & Museum
Piassa
Octagonal 1896 cathedral where emperors were crowned, with a rich little museum
St. George Gallery
Taitu St / Sheraton
Ethiopia's pioneering design gallery — museum-grade crafts and furniture
Studio 11 Art Gallery
Meskel Flower
Women-founded gallery championing Addis's emerging and female artists
Taste of Ethiopia Food Tour (Go Further, formerly Go Addis Tours)
Piassa & Merkato
Eat your way through Piassa and Merkato with the city's original food-tour crew
Teshomech Kitfo House
Wollo Sefer
Backstreet legend serving what many locals call the city's best kitfo
The Space Ethiopia
City Center
Post Gallery reborn — a larger downtown venue for fresh Ethiopian voices
Tiglachin (Derg) Monument
Churchill Avenue
North Korean-built socialist monument — a striking Cold War relic
Tikus Shiro
Lideta
Neighborhood shiro house famous for its half-half plate trick
Tiya Stelae Field (UNESCO)
Outside Addis — 85km south
Mysterious medieval carved monoliths — a UNESCO World Heritage enigma
Tomoca Coffee (Original Piassa Branch)
Piassa
Ethiopia's legendary 1953 stand-up espresso bar — the original roastery shop
Topia Tej Bet
Haya Hulet (behind Axum Hotel)
The city's most respected honey-wine house — pure-honey tej in berele flasks
Totot Traditional Food Hall
Gerji
Gurage-style kitfo temple in a grand carved-wood cultural hall
Traditional Coffee Ceremony Workshop
Various (hosted homes & cultural venues)
Roast, grind and brew your own three rounds of buna the ritual way
Unity Park (Grand Palace)
Arat Kilo
Menelik II's palace compound opened to the public — history, gardens and a zoo
Vamdas Cinema
Lem Hotel area
Five-screen cinema with Dolby Atmos, local and international films
Washa Mikael Rock-Hewn Church
Yeka
A Lalibela-style church carved from basalt, hiding in the Yeka hills
Wenchi Crater Lake
Outside Addis — 155km west
Emerald volcanic lake with an island monastery, hot springs and horseback trails
Yekatit 12 Martyrs' Monument
Sidist Kilo
Soaring obelisk honoring victims of the 1937 Graziani massacre
Yeshi Buna
Piassa
Homegrown chain for spris layered juice, buna and cheap firfir breakfasts
Yilma Siga Bet
Sarbet
Carnivore institution for tere siga — raw beef the way Addis really eats it
Yod Abyssinia Cultural Restaurant
Bole
The famous dinner-and-dance hall: injera feasts with electrifying eskista
Yohannes Kitfo
Urael
30-year family kitfo house that serves kitfo and nothing else
Zoma Museum
Mekanisa
Hand-sculpted eco-art village of mud-and-straw architecture and gardens