Walking Tour of Addis Abeba - Discover Addis the Authentic way

This tour was really interesting, thanks to my guide. He made me feel like a citizen of Addis for several hours, walking some kilometers. Plus his knowledge about history & habits of the country & the city was quite more interesting than the hike itself. It was a pleasure and I would recommend to everyone who wants to discover the city out of a climatised car.

I'm grateful to have Gashaw as the guide, who is approachable and knowledgeable about the history, politics, and social profile of Addis Ababa. I was welcomed to the walk as a friend, and experienced different local transport methods (walk, mini-van, and ride share) to travel around. Gashaw was flexible with the itinerary and adjusted the plan as I proposed. We each had a detour during the trip, but it's such a learning to walk around various parts of the town.

I was keen to make use of my long stopover, between flights, to see what I could in and around Addis Ababa and to get a flavour of local life and culture. After reading some very positive reviews of Aspire Ethiopia Tours, I established contact with founder & general manager Gashaw. His enthusiasm was infectious. We soon put together a tailored programme of sightseeing & activities. On the day itself, a member of Gashaw’s team - Beki - arrived at my hotel as arranged, together with a car and driver. I thoroughly enjoyed a stimulating guided tour of several of the city’s key attractions, ranging from everyday ‘street life’, local markets, the National Museum, to a fascinating visit to a family in a rural area, and the chance to experience traditional Ethiopian cuisine in a totally authentic setting (these latter two activities being my personal highlights !). As a keen amateur photographer, I was especially glad of the many photo opportunities throughout the tour. My time went all too quickly, but that has motivated me to revisit the country - and for a longer spell, rather than just a one-day stopover. If and when I hopefully do return, I need look no further than Aspire Ethiopia for all my travel arrangements, confident in the knowledge that they can provide a totally professional, personalised service (including prompt & efficient communication in advance of actual arrival in the country). My thanks once again to Gashaw and the team, whose services I can strongly recommend to other visitors to Addis Ababa.

We had a wonderful tour with Gashew, he was a very friendly and enthusiastic guide with excellent English and huge knowledge of Ethiopia. We were only visiting for the day on a stopover but he gave us such a great overview of the history and culture of Ethiopia it made us want to return to explore the country further. Email correspondence beforehand was excellent and the tour customised to our preferences. We visited a local family in a village in the hillside and cooked and ate injera with them which was just wonderful. Lunch was fabulous in a beautiful circular building which used to be the Queen’s residence. We visited the Entoto mountains and when it rained Gashew was flexible and took our children for the best smoothies we’ve ever had! We drove through the mercato which was also wonderful. I researched this tour extensively and this company were the most cost effective by far. Highly recommended.

I had a rushed reservation and was completely unsure of what I wanted to do. But after talking to Gashaw and meeting him, I was sure of what I wanted. Our tour encompassed all of the greatest sites in the city, and because he was so knowledgeable, I learned so much about the history and current climate of the city/country. Gashaw made sure I was always comfortable and did/saw what I wanted. He is also very humble, wise, and open minded. I like to think we struck a good friendship by the end of the day. He is an excellent tour guide. Highly recommended👍🏼

Gashaw was a truly excellent guide, super knowledgeable, friendly, and flexible. We had a great time visiting museums, Entoto mountain, coffee shops, churches and merkato. In this city, you really need someone with a car who knows their way around. We did things that I never would have been able to do on my own (such as walk around merkato or go inside St George’s church). When I said I was interested to see the synagogue, he knew exactly where to find it. We also had a delicious traditional lunch with honey wine. I couldn’t recommend it more, and I hope to see Gashaw again in Addis sometime soon!

An amazing day trip around Addis Ababa, fantastic guide, fascinating tour of the Cathedral, markets, the mountain scenes, coffee stops, museum and a great local lunch. Hugely recommend, very knowledgeable guide with a private car to swiftly get around the city with the trip adapted accordingly to one's own schedule and requests, I've recommended the tour to all friends and family, not to be missed!