Istanbul, Turkey to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from €330

🌍 About addis ababa

Addis Ababa sits at 2,355 m — the highest capital in Africa — so it stays cool and spring-like year-round, not the heat the latitude suggests; bring a fleece for the ~10°C nights. Ethiopia is the home of arabica coffee, and the buna ceremony (green beans roasted, ground and brewed in front of you, poured in three rounds) beats any café. Eat doro wat, the slow-cooked chicken-and-berbere stew with a hard-boiled egg, scooped with injera, the tangy, spongy flatbread. Skip the overwhelming Mercato unless crowds are your thing — the real stop is Holy Trinity Cathedral, where Emperor Haile Selassie is entombed beneath Afewerk Tekle's murals and carved imperial thrones. Come October to February for dry, sunny days; avoid June-September, the heavy "big rains."