Travel to Gondar

the first royal capital of Ethiopia

Set in the north of Ethiopia, Gondar is a substantial town which famously served as the capital of the Ethiopian Empire from 1636 to around 1850.

The place contains a rich and varied assortment of royal castles and palaces, some of which bear an uncanny resemblance to the Norman castles of France, England and Wales, presumably due to the two distant countries sharing a common religion of Christianity.

The modern city of Gondar has a population of around 220,000 people, of which around 85% are Ethiopian Orthodox Christians and 10% are Muslims. Around 89% are from the Amhara ethnic group. A large number of Ethiopian Jews emigrated from Gondar to Israel around 1990.

A visit to the castles of Gondar tends to feature in the majority of trips to the north of Ethiopia, almost always as part of more extensive exploration of the region.

Gondar is the central of three locations that are usually connected by road, with Bahir Dar to the south and the Simien Mountains to the north.

We tend to include Gondar in longer explorations of the north of Ethiopia, where the primary focus is on history and culture, typically in combination with Lalibela, Axum and Gheralta.

Seasonality

The best time to visit Gondar is generally considered to be during the Nov-Mar dry season period.

The area lies on the margin between a tropical savanna climate and a subtropical highland climate, with an Apr-Sep rainy season, which reaches a peak during Jun-Aug.

Peak daytime temperatures are usually rather high, at around 28C/82F most of the year, rising to 30C/86F (occasionally spiking to 34C/93F) in advance of the rains during Mar-May. However nighttime temperatures usually still fall to a pleasant 13C/55F year round.

Getting around

The north of Ethiopia is usually reached by means of regular daily flights from the capital Addis Ababa.

Some of the interconnecting journeys within the region are best done by air, others have to be done by road.

Gondar is usually connected by air to most locations, but by road to nearby Bahir Dar to the south and the Simien Mountains to the northeast.

Where to stay

The town of Gondar contains a modest range of accommodation options, mainly at the lower end, but with a small selection of slightly better properties which are more suited for an international audience.

an essential stop in trips focused on history and culture