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Lalibela is a rural town of 15,000 people in a stunning setting at an elevation of 2,600 m (8,500 ft) in the midst of the Lasta mountains in the eastern highlands of Northern Ethiopia. Its unique and remarkable monolithic churches hewn from living rock, most built more than 900 years ago, are one of Ethiopia's leading attractions and were declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978.
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7 Jan (in the Gregorian calendar used by most of the world), Ethiopian Christmas or "Ledet"; 19 Jan, Epiphany or "Timkat" are two of the most festive. Lalibela in particular gets packed during these times, so best to plan in advance. September 11 is the Ethiopian New Year, Enkutatash.
Mt Abuna Yosef is within hiking distance from Lalibela town. It and the surrounding conservation areas are only reachable on foot and can be done in a multiday hike along the escarpment. The route can also include some of the churches out of Lalibela town. If you are feeling fit and adventurous, go hike. It's probably best to spend at least one night in the mountains. 2-3 nights is plenty.
From Lalibela you can walk to Ashetan Maryam monastery. As you approach it, you pass a carpark and then take the final steep uphill walking track. At the start of the track is a sign notifying the fees for visiting the monastery. At the bend in the road 100m or so before the sign is a track directly to Hudad Lodge (see also the listing in the 'Sleep' section). It takes a couple of hours to walk from the monastery to Hudad Lodge. Access to the lodge is via a ridge that is only a few metres wide but then opens onto a flat area with 270° views down onto the surrounding farms and terraces. The Lodge is commercial and so you will be expected to buy some injera or light lunch. It is well worth the 100-200 birr. The round trip is a full day's walk. It's probably best to get a guide, as the route is not always obvious.
A modern, airy building (opened by the United Kingdom's Princess Anne on 9 Oct 2002!) with a small stock of books in Amharic and an even smaller stock (many of them textbooks) in English.
Although the women who runs this stayed in France for several years she never learned to cook a crêpe properly. However, she is probably just the person to teach you how to make injera with a fine and tasty wat over an open fire.
Whimsical looking (Gaudi meets Mad Max) restaurant that was planned by a Scots woman, Susan, and her Ethiopian business partner, Habtamu, and opened in 2011. It has a gob-smacking location on a little hillock standing on a rock promontory to give in-cre-di-ble 360 degree views and is surrounded by rock gardens and flowers (Ben means hill in Scots Gaelic and Abeba means flowers in Amharic). The menu is one of the most imaginative in Ethiopia (try the tuna pate drizzled in lemon juice with tiny home-made oatcakes, and their savoury home-made bread is delicious) and reasonably priced. Get up early and go for breakfast to see the sun rise over the valleys. This is a terrific spot for watching brightly coloured weaver birds investigating the variegated seed sources in this restaurant's garden and you are on the same level as soaring birds such as lammergeier, falcons and eagles.
Good food and terrific mixed fruit juices. A handy place for a beer or other refreshments when you've walked back up the hill from the churches.
Askelech
Tej, azmari music and dancing. Popular with locals and visitors. Don't be put off by the unprepossessing access way – inside it is attractively decorated and has a great atmosphere, with good singers and dancers performing on the floor. The toilets, which are separate, are grotty though.
Lovely local bar and restaurant run by an old lady with a scenic view over the valley in the back. You may have to dance. There are a few cheap rooms available.
A great little cocktail terrace with stunning views over the surrounding countryside. You can eat here if you wish. It's a bit of a travellers' hangout. Well worth a visit if you are staying in this part of town.
Probably the only hotel in Lalibela which charges the same price for foreigners and Ethiopians. There is no bargaining even on major holidays. Prices during Christmas and other holidays are the same. Rooms are comfortable with sturdy beds and blankets. The common bathroom is clean and can accommodate many guests at the same time for those using the toilet and cold shower. The owner is Befekadu Sisay. It seems to have lost its hotel license as of 2016.
Family owned and run and it shows in the spotlessly clean bedrooms and common areas and the attention to detail which means that (almost) everything works – a rare treat in Ethiopia! Two stories high with a nice little lawn to enjoy the afternoon coffee ceremony; spectacular views from the twin sunloungers of each private balcony. Shower rooms are up to European standards and each bedroom is beautifully furnished with locally themed and sourced furniture and furnishings but without TV or phone. 200 station satellite TV in the reception/restaurant area. Free Wi-Fi throughout. Car park is guarded 24 hours. 20kW standby generator, laundry service, weekly barbecue. Worth a visit – even if it is full and you can not sleep in one of its 12 en suite rooms – because of two features: A) Its modern Ethiopian renaissance architecture and interior design that ranks amongst the best in the whole country – no chipped marble and faux Louis XIV curlicues here. B) A right up-to-date Polish wall map of Ethiopia and surrounding countries (so modern it even shows the border crossing with the new country of South Sudan) and showing relief and all major features of interest to the traveller such as filling stations and ATMs together with an accompanying wall poster (in English with photographs) listing the major tourist sights and features.
A nondescript, 3 stories high, modern hotel sharing a spectacular view with the others in this location. 18 en suite rooms without TV or phone or a closet to hang your clothes but satellite TV in the reception area. Free Wi-Fi throughout. Car park for 12 vehicles is guarded 24 hours. No standby generator, laundry service. Dismal restaurant with an even more dismal menu and kitchen.
Modern architecture (using local red rhyolitic tuff cladding of volcanic origin) provides great views for each and every small room from their balconies perched one above the other, 3 stories high. 30 cramped rooms with no TV or phone, but satellite TV in the well stocked bar. All bedrooms have a hip bath with a shower above, desk and 2 chairs. No Wi-Fi in the bedrooms but free in the common areas and attractive terrace. Car park for 20 vehicles is guarded 24 hours. 20 kW standby generator, laundry service. Restaurant with the usual unimaginative, boring and misspelt faranji menu of spaghetti carbonara (without bacon!), omelettes, "steaks" (but not as anyone in Argentina would recognise) and French fries.
Opened in Sep 2012. 35 en suite rooms without TV or phone or a closet to hang your clothes but satellite TV in the cave-like gloom of the reception area. Perhaps they did not install u-bends in the plumbing, as after using the shower and going off to breakfast, one may come back to a sewer smell in the bathroom. Free Wi-Fi throughout. Car park for 12 vehicles is guarded 24 hours. Brand new bus can carry groups of up to 20 people. Restaurant, laundry service, no standby generator.
Nice, quiet place with hot showers.
The oldest hotel in Lalibela, founded in 1967 and badly in need of a freshening makeover, this dilapidated property is owned by the diocesan office. Rooms are noisily close, clean, small and dark, with twins, double and triple beds and small en suite ablutions with hot showers. Substantially over-priced at 680 birr for single occupancy, dbl/twin 910 birr, triple 1280 birr. Cash only. However, it has the best hygiene of the central hotels and has a peaceful garden with mature trees and one of the best restaurants in town.
Scruffy dive closest to the church complexes on the west side of Getergie Rd. Has satellite TV in the dirty bar. Is getting renovated and may have only a small sample of rooms.
Nice, clean and luxurious rooms. It is newly build and has a bathtub and TV. There is an excellent restaurant attached.
63 small, cramped rooms with a tiny TV and DDI phone that receive 2 channels: Ethiopian TV and BBC World News. Well stocked bar. All bedrooms have a wash handbasin in one corner and a separate ablutions with WC and a hip bath with a shower above, desk and chairs. Hot water is provided from a centralised boiler. Wi-Fi in both the bedrooms and the common areas and attractive restaurant seating 73. Large car park for more than 20 vehicles is guarded 24 hours. 80 kW standby generator.
Internet and shops across street, a newish place with very nice, spacious "tukul" (round, native style with thatched roofs) and en suite shower rooms with better views from their private balconies than most other hotels in this area. Restaurant and 20kW standby generator.
Easy to book by telephone. Breakfast included. Very neat and tidy rooms and friendly staff.
Hudad Lodge
Located on a 10 hectare amba (mesa) at an elevation of 3,300 m, several km from Lalibela. There is a road part way there; access the rest of the way is by foot or mule. Accommodation is in tukuls spread out over the amba, each with its separate tukul outhouse. There is no running water. With luck you will spend the evening around a campfire with locals who will sing, dance and give you a traditional leg wash and massage from the knees to the toes. Night temperatures are cool at this elevation, so take extra layers for round the campfire, but there will probably be a sweater provided in your tukul.
By car
The roads to the small town of Gashena, south of Lalibela, are asphalted from Bahir Dar and Gondar to the west, and Woldia to the east.
By bus
There is a daily bus from Addis Ababa. It is a two-day journey with an overnight stop at Dessie.
You may lose a few kilos walking up and down the streets (some cobbled, some dirt). You can rent bajajis/tuktuks or minibuses to drive you around town for about 25 birr per person (minimum 50 birr).
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