The Best time for a successful visit to Ethiopia
When is the convenient time of the year to travel to Ethiopia?
Ethiopia is the most suitable country for tourists all year round because of its weather condition. So, when is the best time for a successful visit to Ethiopia? The choice of the best time to visit Ethiopia depends on the choice of the tourism attractions, travel costs, and weather of Ethiopia. Based on these three factors, tourists can decide the best time to visit Ethiopia.
I. The most Suitable Time to Visit Ethiopia’s Tourist Attractions
Ethiopia’s major tourist attractions are festivals, natural, cultural, and historical tourist attractions. Tourists can visit both natural, cultural, and historical tourist attractions
The choice of the best time of the year depends on the choice of seasonal tourist attractions and other tourist destinations. Which tourist attractions do you prefer to visit? Learn more about Ethiopia’s Tourism Attractions.
The next step is selecting your interest among Ethiopia’s Festivals and cultural tourist attractions. Look at the list of Ethiopia’s Festivals and cultural tourist attractions.
1.1. The best time of the year to visit Ethiopian Festivals:
List of Major Ethiopian Festivals:
a) Ethiopia’s Meskel Festival–finding of the true cross
The word “Meskel” refers to the name of the cross. The Ethiopian Orthodox Christians celebrate the Meskel Festival in memory of finding the true cross of Jesus Christ crucified. Thousands of Ethiopians and international tourists celebrate the eve of Meskel in Meskel Square of Addis Ababa. So, the colorful occasions of Ethiopia’s Meskel Festival are held annually in September month.
b) Ethiopia’s Irreecha Festival–a thanksgiving festival of Oromo people
Ethiopian Irreecha Festival is a thanksgiving festival of the Oromo people in Ethiopia. The Oromo people celebrate the festivals by dancing, singing, and gathering with relatives. The festival includes going to the lakes around the Oromia area and putting cut grass and blossoms in the water to express appreciation to Waaqa (the neighborhood name for God) for favorable luck and flourishing over the coming year.
c) Fiche Chembelalla Festival–New Year Festival for Sidama people
The Fiche Chembelala Festival shows the unification of the Sidama people among the clans and other Ethiopian nations. The festival carries out communal events and traditional songs and dances. Therefore, Fichee Festival enhances esteem, good governance, social union, tranquil conjunction, and cohesion among the Sidama tribes and other Ethiopian diverse ethnic groups. Two days Fiche-Chambalaalla festivity takes place in Hawasa City of Sidama region. There is no fixed yearly date for the Chambalala celebration.
d) Ethiopian Christmas – Celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ
Christmas in Ethiopia is called “Genna” in the local language Amharic and celebrated on January seventh every year. Ganna (Ethiopian Christmas) is a Christian community festival with its unique traditions and games. Like Western and European counties, Ethiopian Christmas focuses on giving gifts, rather it emphasizes ritual ceremonies and traditional meals like Doro wat, Ethiopian bread.
e) Ethiopian Epiphany–Celebration of the Baptism of Jesus
Ethiopia Orthodox celebrates epiphany every January 19th (or 20th) to memorialize the baptism of Jesus Christ. This festival is the most popular for the baptism ritual. During the epiphany ceremony, the ark of the covenant will take down to a special place and camp for three days. Though Ethiopian epiphany is like other Christians worldwide, the celebrations of Ethiopian epiphany are unique. Church priests and believers celebrate the festival all over Ethiopia, accompanied by colorful traditional dressings and singings.
f) The Great Ethiopian Run–Street Running Race
The Great Ethiopian Run is a ten-kilometer street running occasion that happens every year of November in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The day’s occasions incorporate a 10 km race and a 5 km women’s race. The Great Ethiopian Run attracts several prominent international and domestic famous runners. The Run Festival has many entertainments on the major streets of Addis Ababa. During the training session, international guests will have time to explore historical, cultural, and natural tourism destinations.
g) Ethiopian Easter (Fasika)
Ethiopian Easter is a religious holiday. All Christian communities of Ethiopia celebrate Easter according to the Ethiopian calendar since Easter has religious value than all other festivals of Ethiopia. Easter Festival has also its unique tourist attraction.
To summarize the best time of Ethiopian Festivals, every one of Ethiopia’s celebrations has its beautiful occasions and tourist destinations. So, which festivals make you more interested to visit? As per your advantage, choose the best and ideal opportunity to visit Ethiopia. Look at the lists of tourist destinations which may help your choice.
As per the time examination, September month has three festivals, whereas January month has two festivals. On the other hand, the celebrations of most festivals are held from September to January. For example, if a visitor prioritizes celebrating several holidays and can stay in Ethiopia for less than 30 days, September or January is preferred because these months have over two holidays. But if the visitors are interested in 90 days Ethiopia Tourist Visa, the best time to visit Ethiopia’s festivals is starting from the beginning of September month to the end of November. Alternatively, the end of December to February is also the best time to visit Ethiopian Festivals.
Moreover, the best time of festivals is not good enough alone to decide the best time. But the best time of the year to visit other Ethiopia tourist destinations. Please read about the best times of the year to visit Ethiopia’s tourist destinations.
1.2. Best times of the year to visit Ethiopia Tourist destinations.
Which is the best time of the year to visit the tourist destinations of Ethiopia? Ethiopia is a large country, with unique tourist destinations from lowlands to highlands, from north to south. So, tourists must decide on the tourist destinations to know the best time of the year to visit Ethiopia.
Select your destination from the following list.
a) Visiting tourist destinations of Central Ethiopia (Addis Ababa and nearby Addis Ababa
b) Visiting tourist destinations of Northern Ethiopia
c) Visiting tourist destinations of Eastern Ethiopia
d) Visiting tourist destinations of Western Ethiopia
e) Visiting tourist destinations of Southern Ethiopia
If you don’t have any idea about tourist attractions in these destinations, please learn more about each location before selecting. Look at the List of Ethiopia Tourist Destinations. Furthermore, the travel expenses and climate conditions of Ethiopia also determine the best time of the year to visit Ethiopia.
II. Inexpensive time to travel to Ethiopia
What are the major costs of tourist in Ethiopia? Tourist can incur costs for flight, rental car, accommodation, tour guide, and accommodation. Thus, the highest cost of the tourist is transportation costs.
All travel expenses vary from season to season, and from area to area. So, tourists can select inexpensive seasons of Ethiopia. The price of all services rapidly increased during all the festivals’ seasons. Transportation and hotel Inexpensive months are between May to August months. Hence, the best time for inexpensive services is booking transportation and hotel services before six months.
Though the travel expense varies according to the situations, the average price of Addis Ababa may help tourists to plan their finance.
Hotel Booking (without catering service)–800.00 ETB/person.
Daily Accommodation (without breakfast)–1200.00 ETB/person
Travel costs (Taxi services within Addis Ababa) – 1000.00 ETB
Total daily average expense: 3000.00 ETB/person, but the cost of travel will reduce for group travelers. Learn more about Ethiopia currency and its policy. Moreover, please look at other determinant factors for best time to visit Ethiopia.
III. The best weather of Ethiopia to travel
In Ethiopia, the climate varies mostly from altitude, ranging from the hot and arid lowland climate to the cool plateau climate. The climate of Ethiopia is divided into three climate zones.
Below 1850 meters there is a tropical zone with high temperatures and very little rainfall. There is a climate zone between 1850 and 2500 meters above sea level with high temperatures and increased rainfall. Over 2500 meters, not only is it considerably cooler but also more and more humid in all the mountain regions of Ethiopia. There is seasonal frost and snowfall in the area above 4000 meters.
Learn more about the weather of each region.
a) Visiting Central Ethiopia (Addis Ababa and nearby Addis Ababa
September to April months is the best ideal best time to visit the central part of Ethiopia. But a central part of Ethiopia has heavy rainfall from June to August months.
b) Visiting Northern Ethiopia
The northern part of Ethiopia is the most visiting destination because it encompasses historical and natural tourist sights. So, Northern Ethiopia’s heavy rainy time is between June and August.
c) Visiting Eastern Ethiopia
If you are thinking about going to the eastern part of Ethiopia, please note that the wild animals are not accessible in the park. Hence, avoid the wet season. Therefore, traveling from September to May is the best time.
d) Visiting Western Ethiopia
Unlike other areas of Ethiopia, the western part has little longer lasting the rainy season. In contrast, the rainy season is more suitable to visit a western part of Ethiopia, though traveling is difficult.
e) Visiting Southern Ethiopia
Tourists can travel throughout October and May months if they would like to tour the southern parts of Ethiopia. But it is not advised to travel from April to September because of the heavy rainfall that lasts a little longer than in the rest of the country.
Conclusion
So, when is the ideal moment for Ethiopia to travel? It relies on where to visit, what to visit, and how much it costs. It’s best to avoid the wet season, but besides that, the weather in Ethiopia is typically a memorable journey. The duration between February and June is a perfect time to visit Ethiopia while compared to the other season because of fewer visitors in these months. As well, the price of accommodation would go down because of the decreased number of tourists. Tourists can find reasonable offers for accommodation, transport, tour guide, etc. It’s almost dried this time of year, with a few irregular rainy weeks in April, March, or May.