Prepare for the Best Day Tour in Addis Ababa

Gashaw and Aspire Ethiopia for the win!

Gashaw and Aspire Ethiopia are the way to go when traveling to Addis and further throughout the country! He’s very friendly, flexible, and knowledgeable, and does the best job at not only allowing you to enjoy the beauty of the country and culture, but also learn about and understand it during your time there. My trip was a life-changing experience, and it wouldn’t have been the same without his guidance throughout it. Can’t recommend Gashaw and Aspire Ethiopia enough!

via Tripadvisor

Amazing Experience; Highly Recommended

My family and I had such a great time in Ethiopia thanks to Gashaw. From the start, he made us feel like we were traveling with a close friend rather than a tour guide. He brought such a fun, welcoming, family like energy to the whole trip and knew literally everything about every place we visited. We learned so much, shared plenty of laughs, and genuinely enjoyed every moment with him. By the end of the trip, he felt like part of the family. Couldn’t recommend him enough!

via Tripadvisor

Great experience, amazing guide and tours

Exceptional immersive experience with an extremely knowledgeable guide in Gashaw! It was like being with an old friend who knew how to make us comfortable and treated us like us family. His knowledge of all of Ethiopia was truly remarkable and he made it all so much fun

via Tripadvisor

Amazing time in Addis Ababa

We watched a YouTube video of Gashaw doing a transit tour of Addis Ababa, and decided that's exactly what we wanted to do during our layover. However, we landed at 2:30pm in the afternoon and that meant it's almost 4pm by the time we got around to clear immigration, took the shuttle bus to the Skylight hotel and got a room. We were not sure how much of the city we could see before it got dark, and then it started raining and that probably meant it's only going to be a driving tour, and the traffic getting out of the hotel was horrific. But Gashaw made good use of every minute, we never imagined we could see and experience so much of the city in the limited time we had. We first drove by an area with lots of Chinese supermarkets and restaurants, we had not realized there were so many Chinese doing business in Ethiopia. Then the rain subsided and Gashaw took us to the Entoto Park up in the mountain, and we marveled at the panoramic view of the huge city below. There were some mushroom-shaped structures, and they look like the supertrees in the Garden By The Bay in Singapore, and Gashaw joked welcome to Singapore. We then took some photos and videos of the "E HIOPIA" sign, and also the Covid-19 memorial monument. We then came back down to the city, and Gashaw pointed to us a lot of the blue and white Soviet manufactured cars we passed by, also known as Blue donkeys. These cars were used as taxis but were also getting phased out with more modern vehicles. We then made a coffee stop at Tomoca Coffee, the oldest coffee shop in Addis Ababa which opened in 1953. We had the signature coffee, Italian expresso made with local Arabica beans and they were so good. We bought two bags of coffee beans to bring back as sovenirs. Then came the most intense part of the tour, a visit to the Addis Merkato, Africa's largest open-air marketplace. The streets around the market were packed with people, goods and cars. We certainly appreciated Gashaw's driving us into the heart of the market, and there's simply no better way to see what everyday lives of the working class are like in Addis. The porters were walking amazingly fast and carrying heavy loads of goods on their heads, but it's the loading of goods onto trucks that would take it to a next level. Heavy and big sacks or boxes were passed from one worker to another onto the trucks and got piled up like building a house, and the trucks would not move till floors high of goods were stacked. We then moved to the modern part of the city and drove by the impressive Tiglachin Monument, a tall pillar monument topped with a red star. The monument honors the Ethiopian and Cuban soldiers who fought for Ethiopia during the Ogaden War between Ethiopia and Somalia. We also saw several new landmarks in the city, including the tallest building in Addis, the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia. It has a glass and steel facade with jagged crystalline angles, which creates a stunning rippling visual effect ! Then there's the giant ring statue at the Ghion Riverside fountain. The urban transformation of the city is simply massive. Our last stop for the evening was the Friendship Park. It's a very nice park in the heart of Addis Ababa, and many couples came here for taking wedding photos. Gashaw took us uphill to a spot in the park with magnificent skyline view. And the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia building really stood out when it's lit up in green, yellow and red, the Ethiopia flag color. Then the water fountain show that combined music and dancing water jets in vibrant lights started, and we took a stroll down to the fountain plaza, joining the many families and tourists there to enjoy the show. We drove through the Bole neighborhood on our return to the hotel, it's a busy, modern and luxurious part of Addis with shopping malls, restaurants, coffee shops, bars, etc. It's such a big contrasts to the hustle and bustle of the market. We had such a blast touring Addis Ababa with Gashaw, and Gashaw scheduled all the stops cleverly to allow us to experience both the daytime and nightime scenery of the city. There are of course a lot more to see in Addis Ababa, and we would certainly want Gashaw to take us to the places we missed in this short layover, as well as other parts of the country on our next trip to Ethiopia.

Response from the operator: Wow! I cannot thank you enough for the beautifully written review of your time in Addis Ababa. Thank you for the nice words and detailed explanations of the overall experience. It was a pleasure to have you with us and show you around Addis with the limited time you had. We are glad to know that you have enjoyed your shortish excursion and promise to guide you around Ethiopia next time you come. Thank you once again for your time. Regards,

via Tripadvisor

Prepare for the best local tour.

If you want a real Ethiopian local experience, take this tour—it's a must. Be prepared for the best local tour. My guide, Gashaw, was highly knowledgeable and able to explain in thorough detail the history of Ethiopia and answer all my questions. I was treated to a local meal, a coffee ceremony, and a nice walk in the biggest African market. I was given a wide cultural variety to experience and I am very grateful to have met my guide and experienced this trip. Thank you.

Response from the operator: Thank you for sharing your positive experience with our guide who showed you around the different parts of Addis Ababa. We are happy to know how satisfied you are with the overall presentation. Regards,

via Viator