Ethiopia
Southern Ethiopia Tours
The Rift Valley lakes, the highlands above them and the terraced country around Konso — the whole region between Addis Ababa and the Omo Valley.
What Southern Ethiopia is
Southern Ethiopia is the country's south — the Rift Valley lakes, the highlands and escarpments above them, the terraced farmland, and the towns that sit between Addis Ababa and the Omo Valley in the far south-west.
It is a different Ethiopia from the northern historic route, and travellers are usually choosing between the two. The north is where the rock-hewn churches and the castles are. The south is landscape and living culture, with different languages and a slower rhythm of travel.
There are two ways in. The itinerary we publish today flies the long leg from Addis Ababa down to Arba Minch and travels the region by road from there. A trip can also drive south from Addis the whole way, and that is the routing that brings Hawassa and the Sidama country into it.
Either way, the distances between towns are real and the roads are slow, so a southern trip is planned around driving days rather than around a list of sights. How long each drive takes, and which legs are flown, depends on the route and the season — we would rather confirm that when your trip is planned than publish a figure we cannot stand behind.
What the region offers
Why travellers come south
Two lakes, seen from above them
Arba Minch sits on an escarpment between Lakes Abaya and Chamo, looking out over the Rift Valley floor below. It is the natural hub of the region, and the point most southern routes are built out from.
A UNESCO landscape still being farmed
The terraced hillsides and walled settlements of Konso are a UNESCO-listed cultural landscape, and the terracing is still worked. It is somewhere people farm and live, not a preserved site with a rope around it.
Weaving villages in the highlands
Climbing out of the Rift Valley into the Gamo highlands reaches Chencha, where the Dorze are known for weaving and for tall bamboo-framed houses. The change in altitude, and in landscape, happens inside a morning.
Enough in one region to fill a trip
The lakes, the highlands and the terraced country are close enough together that our own itinerary reaches the Dorze villages and continues to Konso within a single day — and far enough north of the Omo Valley that the valley remains a separate leg beyond them.
Places and people
Cultures of the south
The south's cultural depth is not only the Omo Valley's. The Konso terracing has been farmed by the same communities for generations. Dorze weaving is a working craft rather than a demonstration put on for visitors. The Gamo highlands and the Sidama country each have their own languages and their own traditions.
Visits anywhere in the region are arranged in advance rather than turned up to, and what is possible varies from one place to the next. We have not published a list of which visits we run in each area, because we would rather tell you what is actually arranged for the dates you are considering.
- Gamo
- A zone rather than a single place. Arba Minch, the Dorze highlands and the Konso country are all spoken of as part of it, and most of what a southern trip does in the highlands happens here.
- Arba Minch
- The regional hub, on an escarpment between Lakes Abaya and Chamo with the Rift Valley floor below. It is reachable by air from Addis Ababa, which is why most southern routes start and finish here.
- Dorze
- Highland villages around Chencha, above Arba Minch, known for weaving and for tall bamboo-framed houses.
- Konso
- South of Arba Minch, a UNESCO-listed cultural landscape of terraced hillsides and walled settlements. The terracing is still farmed, and the walled towns are still lived in.
- Sidama
- A region in its own right, with Hawassa as its city. It sits on the overland route south from Addis Ababa, so a trip that drives rather than flies can take it in.
Elsewhere in the region
Further into the south-west
Two national parks in the south-west can be built into a southern trip: Maze National Park and Chebera Churchura National Park.
There are other places out there that we do not advertise. The roads to some are genuinely bad, and conditions change. If you have somewhere specific in mind, ask — we will look at it for your dates and tell you honestly whether we can do it well, including when the answer is no.
Honest fit
Who Southern Ethiopia suits
It suits travellers who are comfortable with long drives on rough roads, hot weather in the lower country, and simple accommodation once you are outside the larger towns. The point of a southern trip is time spent in places rather than sights ticked off, so it rewards patience and preparation more than a packed schedule.
It suits you less well if you want short transfers, hotels to one predictable standard, or a programme that runs to the minute. Very little in the region works that way, and we would rather say so now than have you discover it on day two.
The Omo Valley within Southern Ethiopia
The Omo Valley is one part of Southern Ethiopia — its far south-west, along the Omo River as it runs down towards Lake Turkana and the Kenyan border. It is not the whole of the south, and the rest of the region is not a corridor you pass through on the way to it.
In practice the valley is a dedicated leg of a trip rather than a stop along the way. It is further, the roads are slower, and the reason for going is different: unhurried time with the communities who live along the river. Many southern trips include it. A trip that stops at the lakes, the highlands and Konso is a real trip in its own right.
The valley has a page of its own: the Omo Valley, its communities and what a trip there involves.
Planning a route
How southern trips are usually built
Every trip we run is private, and the published itineraries are starting points rather than fixed departures.
The one southern route we publish today is the seven-day Omo Valley Cultural Journey. It starts in Addis Ababa, works south through Arba Minch, the Gamo highlands and Konso, and then continues into the valley — which makes it the clearest picture we can give of how a southern trip fits together.
A shorter route built around the lakes and the highlands, or a southern leg joined to the northern historic route, are both possible: most of our itineraries start and end in Addis Ababa, which makes them straightforward to join together. How much fits depends on your time and on the distances involved. We have not published fixed lengths for those shapes, and will not until they are real.
Every itinerary we publish is on the tour packages page.
An Omo Valley itinerary, and the only route we publish that travels through this region — its first three days cross Arba Minch, the Gamo highlands and Konso.
Planning
Common questions
- Where is Southern Ethiopia?
- It is the country's south, running from below Addis Ababa down the Rift Valley towards the Kenyan border. Arba Minch, on the escarpment between Lakes Abaya and Chamo, is its usual hub; Konso lies to the south of it, and the Omo Valley beyond that in the far south-west.
- Is the Omo Valley part of Southern Ethiopia?
- Yes — it is the region's far south-western corner. Southern Ethiopia is the wider proposition: the Rift Valley lakes, the highlands above them, and the terraced country around Konso. The valley is distinct enough in landscape, cultures and travel that most people treat it as a destination in its own right, which is why it has a page of its own here.
- Do I have to visit the Omo Valley to see Southern Ethiopia?
- No. The lakes at Arba Minch, the Gamo highlands and the terraced landscape around Konso all sit between Addis Ababa and the valley, and a trip can stop there. The Omo Valley is a further leg south rather than the point of the region.
- How do you get to Southern Ethiopia from Addis Ababa?
- On the southern itinerary we publish, the leg from Addis Ababa down to Arba Minch is flown, and the region itself is then travelled by road. Whether a particular trip flies or drives depends on the route and the dates, and it is confirmed when the trip is planned.
- How many days do you need in Southern Ethiopia?
- It depends on how far south you go. Our seven-day Omo Valley Cultural Journey covers the region from Arba Minch down to Jinka and back; a trip staying with the lakes and the highlands needs less than that. Tell us how long you have and we will tell you honestly what fits.
- Can Southern Ethiopia be combined with the northern historic route?
- Often, yes. Most of our itineraries start and end in Addis Ababa, which makes them straightforward to join together. How much fits depends on your time and on the distances involved.
- What is the accommodation like?
- Simple once you are outside the larger towns. We have not published a hotel list for the region, because we would rather tell you what you will actually be booked into once a route is set than promise a standard in advance.
Visas, currency, altitude, the Ethiopian calendar and the rest of the country-wide questions are answered on about Ethiopia.
Plan a trip through Southern Ethiopia
Tell us roughly when you could travel, how long you have, and whether you want to go as far south as the Omo Valley. We will come back with a route and a price.