City of Lalibela

One of the treasures of the northern part of Ethiopia is the former capital Lalibela. Even today, the city is one of the most sacred places in the country due to Its unique and remarkable monolithic churches hewn from living rock, most built more than 900 years ago. These churches were declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978.

The airport of Lalibela is quite far from the town, therefore visitors must take a share taxi/ van for 100 birr 45 minutes. A bajaj from the centre to airport is 170 birr.

The climate here may be hot depends of the season. Make sure you bring a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen for the day.

Churches of Lalibela

The 11 churches are in three groups, all within walking distance of each other.

The group of 6 northwest churches includes:

-Bet Medhane Alem, home to the Cross of Lalibela and believed to be the largest monolithic church in the world, probably a copy of Saint Mary of Zion in Axum. It is linked to

-Bet Maryam, possibly the oldest of the churches,

-Bet Golgotha known for its arts and said to contain the tomb of King Lalibela,

-Bet Danaghel and

-Bet Meskel.

The northeast group of 4 churches includes:

-Bet Amanuel, possibly the old royal chapel,

-Bet Merkorios which could be an old prison,

-Bet Abba Libanos and

-Bet Gabriel-Rufael possibly an old royal palace.

And finally Bet Giyorgis, unique in the world in its cruciform style, is very well preserved and by itself 500 m to the south.

The churches opens from 6:00 am -12:00 pm and from 14:00 pm -17:00 pm. In practice, they open approximately half an hour late and close half an hour earlier.Arrive by 5:45 am to hear the bass drums of the call to prayer. Services start at 5:50 am. Otherwise looking inside the churches is less intrusive after 10:00 am. A great time to visit is on Sunday mornings, when hundreds of people descend on the churches for traditional Ethiopian Orthodox worship.

Entrance fees: 50 USD and gives access to all 11 churches for 3 days. Visitors must carry a passport with the ticket. They can pay in birr at the official exchange rate, making it cheaper to pay in local currency if they have changed money on the black market.

Visitors can hire a official guide in the ticket offices (don't trust in other appearing guides). They will help to find the tunnels.

Visitors must remove shoes before entering churches.

Tips

Ethiopian birds are colorful and more of them are about just after dawn.

Watch out with children and scams. Never give them anything, and never buy anything from them – these kids should be studying instead of trying to get easy money from tourists. Two common scams are that of children asking you to buy them English-Amharic dictionaries or football t-shirts. Say no and walk away.

There are ATMs: Dashen Bank. Only Visa accepted.

Accommodation

Alef Paradise. A double room with terrace, bathroom, WiFi. Price per night: 300 birr.

Restaurants (200-300 birr)

John Cafe. Good food and great mixed fruit juices.

Ben Abeba. One of the best restaurants in Lalibela, it is located on the edge of the ridge for 360-degree views. Ask for the goat burger. Take a bajaj to move (70 birr).

Xo Lalibela. European style dishes.