Goha Hotel

a pleasantly relaxing place

Goha Hotel is located in the historic city of Gondar in the north of Ethiopia.

The hotel is set on a prominent hillside, with broad views over the town and the mountains beyond.

It’s a relatively large place, but not unattractive, with a wide range of reliably delivered facilities. There may be a slightly corporate feel, but the resorty atmosphere does make staying here feel a little bit like a break in an otherwise hectic trip, the chance to lie around a pool for an afternoon.

The resort is centred on a large glass-fronted main building with lounge, bar and dining areas, leading out to extensive grounds with a large swimming pool. The restaurant serves a range of European, Asian and local Ethiopian dishes.

Guest accommodation is in at total of 60 relatively simple rooms.

Activities

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 the 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.

The main reason to visit Gondar is to explore the various historic ruins, with the walled Fasil Ghebbi (Royal Enclosure) in the middle of town containing a mesmerising array of castles and palaces.

There are also options to visit various markets in the town, as well as weaving, basket-making and pottery co-operatives.

It’s also possible to visit the Simien Mountains on a day trip from here (although we usually recommend spending at least one night up there), but an excursion that long does need to be pre-booked.

The Gondar area tends to be combined in trips with various places of interest in the north of Ethiopia, including Gheralta, the Danakil Depression, Axum, Lalibela, the Simien Mountains and Bahir Dar.

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.

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 there

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.

usually visited in combination with the Simien Mountains