After breakfast we start the drive to Gondar. The road is crossing many types of highland and lowland agricultural fields.  On your way you see farmers and people from the rural villages walking to the nearby towns to/from small town markets. In Northern Ethiopia Saturday is market day and Sunday rest day.  We will have several stops for pictures. Arrive Gondar after around 3 hours drive and check in to Taye Hotel. 

After lunch we start the visit of the sites. Gondar is where magnificent fortified palaces dominate the landscape. The oldest and most impressive is the two-story palace of Emperor Fasilidas, built of solid basalt stones. Other royal buildings include the library of Emperor Yohannes I, the House of Song where royal ceremonies took place, the elegant reception and banquet hall of Emperor Bakaffa, and the palace of this king's wife. Just outside of town is the Bathing Palace where Epiphany is celebrated each year. Also visit the Church of Debre Birhan Selassie, an imposing structure with its harmony of brightly colored ceilings completely covered with intricately painted angels.

We visit Woleka, Falashas (Ethiopian Jews) village is Just 3km north of Gonder, several craft stalls with ‘Stars of David’ and ‘’ signs signal what’s really the former Falasha village of Wolleka. Once the home to a thriving population of Falashas, most were taken to Israel in the 1980s and today none remain. There are, however, a few original houses with interesting artwork on their fronts.

After the adoption of Christianity as the state religion, Falashas had their land confiscated for refusing to convert. To survive, many became skilled craftspeople. Research suggests Falashas may have provided the labour for the construction and decoration of Gonder’s castles.

Another interesting place to see at the nearby is Project Ploughshare Women’s Crafts Training Center which is helping disadvantaged women rekindle this craft, along with traditional Amhara weaving and basketry. You can watch the women working Monday to Saturday and buy the high-quality pottery every day.

Transfer to Addis Ababa Airport for your flight to Axum. This ancient city, with its half buried ruins of palaces, monolithic stele, and subterranean tombs, is one of Ethiopia's most historic sites. Reputedly the capital of the Queen of Sheba, Axum is the now hub of Ethiopian Christianity. Visit the Park of the Obelisks where several colossal monoliths still stand together, marking the tombs of the Axumite royals. Nearby, is the subterranean Tomb of Ramha, a former king of Axum. Beneath the Palace of Kaleb, steep stone steps lead to underground galleries and chambers, locally believed to be the treasury of Emperor Kaleb. Visit a historically important dedicatory stone dating back to approximately about 320 AD with an inscription written in three languages - Sabaean, Ge'ez (earliest written Ethiopian language), and Greek, and explore the tomb of King Basen, who ruled at the time of the birth of Christ. Also explore Gobadura, where Axum's giant stelae were quarried, and see the impressive relief drawing of a lion cut into a large boulder. Axum is where the Ark of the Covenant of Biblical fame is reported to be hidden within the compound of the Church of Saint Mary of Zion. The new, and rather garish church was built with the support of the late Haile Selassie.

Transfer to Axum Airport for your flight to Lalibela.  You will be met and transferred to your hotel.  Eight hundred years ago King Lalibela created a marvelous gift to the world. Often called the Eighth Wonder of the World, Lalibela contains towering churches that were carved from the soft, volcanic tuff in which they stand. Some lie almost completely hidden in deep trenches, and others stand in open quarried caves. A complex and bewildering labyrinth of tunnels and narrow passageways with crypts, grottoes, and galleries connects them all. Within this mystical world, priests go about their daily tasks, seemingly oblivious of the outside world. Standing thirty eight feet tall with seventy two pillars, Medhane Alem is not only the largest in Lalibela, it is the largest monolithic rock hewn church in the world. The oldest of the churches, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Bet Maryam is the only Lalibela monolith with a porch. The remains of exquisite early frescoes can be seen on the ceiling and upper walls, and there are many elaborately carved details on the piers, capitals, and arches.

This day you drive out of lalibela to see one more church in the remote and village life as well.

Fly to Addis Ababa, lunch, visit the national museum or ethnological museum of Addis Ababa University depending your arrival time in Addis.

National Museum :  The museum is presenting selected artifacts worthy of exhibition using the best display techniques available as a means of education and enjoyment for the general public. Exhibits of the national museum are displayed under different sections. Paleontology and pre- history; - Lucy and other fossils including stone tools, Historical and Archaeological findings that depict the early history from the pre-Axumite times to the 16th century AD, Ethnography: - Traditional and ceremonial costumes, jewellery… etc. reflecting the diversified cultures of the various ethnic groups, Modern Art: - Selected paintings and sculptures from different Ethiopian artists, such as; Maitre Artist Laureate Afework Tekle.  Almost every object has captions so that visitors can learn about the Nation’s rich history.

Ethnological Museum of Addis Ababa University : This contemporary museum truly displays superb artifacts and handicrafts from Ethiopia’s peoples. Instead of following the typical static and geographical layout that most museums fall into, these displays are based upon the life cycle. First comes Childhood, with birth, games, rites of passage and traditional tales. We particularly enjoyed the ‘Yem Tale’, a story of selfishness, dead leopards and sore tails! Adulthood probes into beliefs, nomadism, traditional medicine, war, pilgrimages, hunting, body culture and handicrafts. The last topic is Death and Beyond, with burial structures, stelae and tombs. The exhibition gives a great insight into Ethiopia’s many rich cultures.

Other rooms show the preserved bedroom, bathroom and exorbitant changing room of Emperor Haile Selassie, 

The 2nd floor shows the vibrant hall focuses on religious art, with an exceptional series of diptychs, triptychs, icons, crosses and magic scrolls. The collection of icons is the largest and most representative in the world. Senses of another sort are traditional music gently fills the air and the black surrounds leave you nothing to look at besides the instruments – brilliant.

Holy Trinity Cathedral, known in Amharic as Kidist Selassie, is the highest ranking Orthodox cathedral in Addis Ababa and Ethiopia. It was built to commemorate Ethiopia's libration from Italian occupation  and is the second most important place of worship in Ethiopia, after the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum.

The cathedral bears the title 'Menbere Tsebaot', or 'Pure Altar'. The church compound is the burial place for those who fought against the Italian Occupation, or those who accompanied the Emperor into exile from 1936 to 1941. Emperor Haile Selassie  and his consort Empress Menen Asfaw are buried in the north transept of the cathedral. Other members of the Imperial Family are buried in the crypt below the church. The High Altar of the cathedral is dedicated to 'Agaiste Alem Kidist Selassie' (Sovereigns of the World the Holy Trinity).

If time allow us we can include the visit of The museum at mount Entoto which is abou 10 km far from the center of the town.

Afternoon shopping and then dinner in traditional restaurant with traditional song and dense, transfer to Airport for the flight to Tel Aviv.