Addis Unveiled: Exclusive Full-Day Private City Odyssey

The tours were well organized, the guides were punctual and very interactive. It felt like family.. We really appreciated the inputs of BIRUK and ERMIAS the tour guides and the overall supervision and consistent communication with Mr Girma.

An amazing, eye-opening and informative tour. Our guide Biruk was the perfect guide! Not only was he extremely knowledgeable about Addis Ababa and all of its wonders, Biruk was extremely kind and hospitable the entire tour. Definitely a tour that’s worth your time!

The guide Durke was very helpful and friendly. He was also very knowledgeable and shared lot of information during the visits. The food was great. Overall great experience

Biruk, our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and really provided good options to see in the time constraint that we had. The driver was also extremely good. They picked us up from where I was staying, which was not a conventional hotel, without any problem. We went to the National Museum, Mt Entoto where we saw a great view of the city and had a traditional coffee ceremony with food. We drove by the market and went to Holy Trinity Cathedral. It was the Muskel celebration day, so he also gave us perspective there-was a great experience before having to fly out that night.

We had a long layover in Addis Ababa and decided to embark on a city tour. Communication with Muluken before booking was via email and was prompt, clear, and they answered all of our questions and provided flexibility to our itinerary based on what we were interested in doing. The day of our tour, we connected with our guide, Biruk, via WhatsApp and were picked up from our hotel without issue. Biruk and our driver were professional and the vehicle was clean, comfortable, and well maintained. They also provided bottled water. Biruk was very knowledgable about Addis Ababa and Ethiopia, and answered all of our questions on a variety of topics ranging from the history of the city, city planning, religion, culture, language... The tour provided a very good overview of the city and we enjoyed our lunch at a local home where we were served home-cooked food and took part in the Ethiopian coffee ceremony. This was a very immersive experience that we greatly enjoyed. Because we went on a Monday, the National Museum was closed. We instead visited the Ethnographic Museum which is housed at the former Palace (and now Addis Ababa University). The museum was larger than we expected and had lots to see. Biruk provided a very good overview of the highlights but there was plenty of English signage as well. Overall, we were very pleased with our city tour and would recommend it to others who may find themselves with a layover in Addis Ababa and looking for a guided experience and orientation to the city.

I booked this tour with my colleague the day before I arrived in Addis Ababa. Our guide, Zelalum WhatsApp us early the next day to confirm our pick up details. We had a massive delay at the airport arrival customs, which ruined our impression of Addis Ababa. However, Zelalum was amazing and accommodated to our delayed schedule. He was so insightful and completely restored our impression of this beautiful city. We also made an impromptu booking with our driver, Tilahun to continue seeing parts of the city that we missed. We enjoyed ourselves tremendously and felt safe and went taken care of the entire time with them. Thank you so much!

Great experience. Great communication and he picked me up right at the door at the airport. Very fun an informative tour and it made the layover time pass by quick. Highly recommend!

Birut was a very good guide, and Addis a good driver. We felt completely at ease with Birut exploring the market, and his information during the coffee experience and the National Museum visit was very helpful and appreciated.

We had such a wonderful day exploring Addis Ababa with Merit Ethiopian Experience Tours. Our guide, Biruk, was fantastic—friendly, knowledgeable, and very flexible. Even though we arrived late, he was so kind and patient, waiting for us without any issue. One of the great advantages of this tour is that the driver is separate from the guide, which made transportation smooth and convenient. We were able to get dropped off right at the sights and picked up again easily without any hassle. Our day included a visit to the Palace Museum, where we learned about past Ethiopian rulers, and a stop at a local home for the traditional coffee ceremony. Getting to participate in the process ourselves was a real highlight and gave us such a personal connection to the culture. We also appreciated being able to customize our day. Biruk helped us fit in our own preferred stops and even arranged for a late lunch at a skybar restaurant, which was the perfect ending to the tour. Overall, this experience gave us a true taste of the people, history, and culture of Ethiopia. We left feeling enriched and grateful. Highly recommend!

Addis exceeded my expectations, only made possible by a wonderful tour and guide Melkamu Alemu Boru, a veteran historian/ornithologist/tour guide.