Bahir Dar is a city in northeastern Ethiopia and one of the main tourist destinations in Ethiopia. In addition to the city’s market, travelers starting in Bahir Dar may visit nearby Lake Tana’s historic monasteries as well as sites and waterfalls along the Blue Nile. Lake Tana is considered to be the source of the Blue Nile and is the largest lake in Ethiopia. 500 meters above and 600 kilometres north of Addis Ababa, Bahir Dar provides the setting and starting point for the majority of northern Ethiopian tours. Situated on the edge of the beautiful Lake Tana, and surrounded by cool mountain air, Bahir Dar is a great contrast to Addis and a gentle introduction to the north of Ethiopia. The town has a well-served airport that connects it to Addis Ababa and the entire north of the country, which is why tours end here too.
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Bahir Dar
The Experience
Visits out to Lake Tana’s island monasteries – and to the Blue Nile falls – form the focus of activities here. The town is like any other Ethiopian place, but has some wonderfully quaint streets lined with palms and drying fish. In their funerary texts, the Pharaohs referred to Lake Tana as Lake Karou of the Country of the Happy. In the Middle Ages, churches sought refuge on the islands of Lake Tana. Ethiopian illuminated manuscripts, religious paintings and other treasures are still to be found in the area – isolation and difficulty of access ensuring their survival. A trip to the nearby Blue Nile falls is a truly memorable experience. The falls have diminished in size since the hydro dam was built, but plunging over a sheer 45-meter precipice that is about 400 meters wide, they remain an impressive sight. Further upriver, at Lake Tana, lies the source of the Blue Nile.
There’s also plenty to do. The local markets in Bahir Dar are always well worth a visit. Here you can spend a few good hours among everything from spices to prayer blankets. Extremely welcoming, and under the expert tutelage of our guides, you are free browse and shop for as long you like. Another excellent early evening option is to head up Bezite Hill to the former palace of Haile Selassie and enjoy the stunning lake views. Busy but perfectly manageable, Bahir Dar is full of fascinating cultural traditions, one of which is the boys only church school, where biblical songs are chanted with extraordinary beauty.
Locate the Bahir Dar
Discover Lake Tana & the Blue Nile
Lake Tana:
45 minutes in from your flight from Addis Ababa to Bahir Dar, you will notice one of East Africa’s prominent natural jewels, Lake Tana. 84km in length, 66km in width, 15 meters deep and at an elevation of 1,788 meters, this vast body of water is the largest lake in Ethiopia. Lake Tana is also the birthplace of the Blue Nile, the major tributary to the world’s largest river, the great Nile. Located in a depression of the north-west plateau, Lake Tana is home to about 37 islands and peninsulas, where some of the world’s oldest churches and monasteries are found, the most famous being the Kebran Gabriel. Kebran Gabriel is believed to have been built in the 14th century and contains a museum with old paintings and manuscripts. It is important to note this monastery is only open to male visitors.
Not a popular as the Kebran Gabriel, but far more majestic, is the Ura Kidane Mehret monastery located on an island taking the same name. Founded by Saint Betre Maryiam, this 14th-century church has a stunning interior ornamented with frescos of the then ruler of the Gojjam province, Tekle Haymanot. This island, including the monastery and church, is open to all members of the public. The lake is also home to a wide range of species of birds which are definitely worth seeing. Recognizing its national and international natural and cultural importance, UNESCO welcomed Lake Tana to its Biosphere Reserve list in 2015.
The Blue Nile
Tis Abay (or the “great smoke” as the locals tend to call it), the Blue Nile Falls is a waterfall on the Blue Nile. Located 35km from Bahir Dar, the falls of Tis Abay are 45m high, making it the 9th tallest waterfall in Africa. The continuous deluge of water that falls from this mystic tourist attraction often produces stunning rainbows, shining magnificently across the gorge – an enthralling and worthwhile sight for those who have trekked through the rolling hills to get there. Legend has it that it was the famous Scottish traveller and travel writer James Bruce who first discovered the Blue Nile Falls and named it the primary source for the Nile River. In his famous book ‘The Life and Adventures of Bruce, the African Traveller’, he described the fall as “a magnificent sight, that ages, added to the greatest length of human life, would not efface or eradicate from my memory”.
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