Day Trips Lalibela

Travel advisory, as of October 2026. Lalibela is in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, where the UK FCDO advises against all travel and the US government tells its citizens not to travel. Fighting has resumed across northern Ethiopia, flights to Lalibela have been suspended since 24 September 2026 with no restart date announced, and there is no safe overland route. Nothing described here can be booked now; this page describes the town for a future visit once advisories change. Read the FCDO advice and the US State Department before making any plans.

Day Trips Around Lalibela, for Later

On a later visit, Na’akuto La’ab lies about 7 km out, Asheton Maryam is a walk or mule ride of about 2.5 hours, and Yemrehanna Kristos is about 42 km along a rough track, 1.5 to 2 hours by 4WD.

Details

• Yemrehanna Kristos is not one of the eleven. It is a built Aksumite-style church inside a cave and pre-dates the Lalibela churches.
• Bahir Dar, Gondar, Simien and the Tigray churches are far too distant for a day trip from Lalibela.
• The road from Addis Ababa is about 680 to 700 km. In peacetime that took 14 to 18 hours or more, split over two days, and overland travel is now against advice.

Safety

• The deep trenches around churches such as Biete Giyorgis and Medhane Alem have drops of 10 to 12 metres with no rails. Thresholds are worn smooth and slippery. The dark tunnel is about 35 metres long, so a torch is essential.