--- title: "Top 10 Things To Do in Lalibela, Ethiopia | Wimup" description: "Lalibela on Wimup: the eleven rock-hewn churches ranked, the monasteries beyond town, when to come for Genna, and what a day here costs." url: https://wimup.com/city/lalibela type: City guide updated: 2026-09-04 publisher: Wimup (https://wimup.com) --- # Top 10 Things To Do in Lalibela Lalibela, Ethiopia · Africa · By Wimup Editorial, 12 min read Lalibela is a small highland town holding eleven churches cut downwards into solid rock in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. They are not ruins. Priests serve in all of them, and pilgrims still fill the trenches around them. ## Quick answer Give Lalibela two full days. One covers the northern group, where Bete Medhane Alem stands as the largest monolithic church in the world, and the eastern group across the channel the town calls the Jordan. The second takes Bete Giyorgis at first light and one church beyond town: Yemrehanna Kristos in its cave, or Asheton Maryam on the ridge above. A single ticket covers all eleven and is checked at every entrance. ## Quick facts - **Best months:** Oct · Nov · Jan · Feb - **Ideal length:** 2–3 days - **Budget per day:** $45–110 - **Language:** Amharic, with English common in tourism - **Getting around:** On foot in town, bajaj and hired 4WD beyond it - **Tourism board:** [Official site](https://visitethiopia.et/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ## The 10 best things to do in Lalibela ### 1. Bete Giyorgis Rock-hewn church · Southwest of the main church complex, Lalibela The one everyone pictures: a Greek cross cut about twelve metres down into a sloping rock terrace, with nothing above ground but its roof. It stands apart from both church groups, and it only reads as a cross from the rim. - **Time:** 45 min - **Cost:** Site ticket - **Best at:** Early morning - **Tip:** Walk the rim before taking the trench down; the shape is invisible from the door Links: [UNESCO](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/18/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 2. Bete Medhane Alem Rock-hewn church · Northern group, Lalibela The largest monolithic church in the world, roughly 33 metres long, 23 wide and 10 deep, carried on rows of square columns. It holds the Lalibela Cross, a processional cross of about 7 kg that the priests bring out on request. - **Time:** 40 min - **Cost:** Site ticket - **Best at:** Morning - **Tip:** Ask about the Lalibela Cross rather than looking for it; it is kept, not displayed Links: [UNESCO](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/18/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 3. Bete Maryam Rock-hewn church · Northern group, Lalibela Thought to be the earliest of the eleven and still the most used by worshippers. Carved rosettes, painted ceilings and a baptismal pool that remains in service, in a courtyard where pilgrims sit through the long services. - **Time:** 30 min - **Cost:** Site ticket - **Best at:** Sunday morning - **Tip:** Services run early; come after nine if you would rather not walk into one Links: [UNESCO](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/18/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 4. Bete Golgotha Mikael Rock-hewn church · Northern group, Lalibela Twin churches sharing one entrance, with the Selassie Chapel and the Tomb of Adam attached. Golgotha carries life-size reliefs of saints cut into its walls and is said to hold King Lalibela’s own tomb. Women are not admitted. - **Time:** 30 min - **Cost:** Site ticket - **Best at:** Late morning - **Tip:** The Selassie Chapel is usually closed to visitors, so ask rather than assume Links: [UNESCO](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/18/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 5. Bete Amanuel Rock-hewn church · Eastern group, Lalibela The finest carving in Lalibela and the only true monolith of the eastern group. Its facade copies the stepped stone-and-timber walling of Aksumite building in solid rock, over an arched nave five bays deep. - **Time:** 30 min - **Cost:** Site ticket - **Best at:** Afternoon - **Tip:** Stand back at the courtyard wall; the Aksumite banding needs distance to read Links: [UNESCO](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/18/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 6. Bete Gabriel-Rufael Rock-hewn church · Eastern group, Lalibela Reached across a walkway over a deep trench, which is the point: the twin church may have begun as a palace, and it still reads as a fortress rather than a sanctuary. The tunnels behind it are walked in the dark by tradition. - **Time:** 25 min - **Cost:** Site ticket - **Best at:** Afternoon - **Tip:** Carry a torch for the tunnel, and thick socks for the rock floors Links: [UNESCO](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/18/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ### 7. Yemrehanna Kristos Cave church · Near Bilbila, about 42 km north of Lalibela Older than the rock churches and built rather than carved: alternating layers of wood and stone in the Aksumite manner, standing inside a cave. It predates King Lalibela, and the cave floor behind it holds pilgrim remains. - **Time:** Half day - **Cost:** Separate ticket - **Best at:** Morning - **Tip:** Allow about 90 minutes each way by 4WD, then a short walk up to the cave mouth ### 8. Asheton Maryam Monastery Monastery · Mount Abuna Yosef ridge, about 10 km from Lalibela A church cut into the cliff at around 3,500 m on the shoulder of Mount Abuna Yosef. The climb takes roughly two hours on foot, and the view back over the Lasta highlands is the reason to walk it rather than ride a mule. - **Time:** 4–5 hr - **Cost:** Separate ticket - **Best at:** Early morning - **Tip:** Start at dawn; the altitude and the afternoon sun both work against a late start ### 9. Na'akuto La'ab Cave church · About 7 km from Lalibela, off the airport road A small church built into a natural cave, where water seeping through the rock overhang is caught in bowls on the floor and treated as holy. Its treasury holds crosses, crowns and painted drums attributed to the founder. - **Time:** 1 hr - **Cost:** Separate ticket - **Best at:** On the airport run - **Tip:** It sits on the airport road, so it fits neatly around a departure ### 10. Lalibela Saturday Market Market · Central Lalibela On Saturdays the centre of town fills with people who have walked in from the highlands, selling grain, spices, firewood, salt blocks and woven cloth. It is the one morning the town belongs to Lasta rather than to visitors. - **Time:** 1 hr - **Cost:** Free - **Best at:** Saturday morning - **Tip:** Ask before photographing anyone; this is a working market, not a display ## The northern group of churches Six churches around one excavated courtyard, linked by open trenches and a tunnel. 1. **Bete Medhane Alem** (12th–13th c. · Site ticket · Northern group): The largest monolithic church in the world, carried on rows of square columns. 2. **Bete Maryam** (12th–13th c. · Site ticket · Northern group): The earliest and the most used. Painted ceilings, carved rosettes, a working baptismal pool. 3. **Bete Meskel** (Semi-monolithic · Site ticket · Northern group): A shallow chapel cut into the north wall of Bete Maryam’s courtyard. Easy to walk past. 4. **Bete Denagel** (Semi-monolithic · Site ticket · Northern group): House of the Virgins, cut into the south face of the same courtyard. 5. **Bete Golgotha Mikael** (12th–13th c. · Site ticket · Northern group): Twin churches under one entrance, with life-size reliefs and the tomb attributed to King Lalibela. Closed to women. 6. **Selassie Chapel and the Tomb of Adam** (Chapel · Access varies · Northern group): The holiest room in Lalibela and the least often opened, reached through Golgotha. ## The eastern group of churches Four churches across the channel the town calls the River Jordan. 1. **Bete Amanuel** (12th–13th c. · Site ticket · Eastern group): The finest carving here, and the only true monolith of the group. Aksumite walling in solid rock. 2. **Bete Gabriel-Rufael** (Semi-monolithic · Site ticket · Eastern group): Entered over a walkway above a deep trench. Possibly a palace before it was a church. 3. **Bete Abba Libanos** (Cave church · Site ticket · Eastern group): A cave church: three sides cut free of the rock, the roof left joined to it. 4. **Bete Merkorios** (Cave church · Site ticket · Eastern group): The most damaged of the eleven, partly collapsed and irregular. Held to have been a prison. ## Monasteries and cave churches near Lalibela Four older churches within a morning of town, by 4WD or on foot. 1. **Yemrehanna Kristos** (42 km · Separate ticket · Bilbila): Built of wood and stone inside a cave, and older than the rock churches. About 42 km north. 2. **Asheton Maryam** (10 km · Separate ticket · Abuna Yosef ridge): Cut into the cliff at around 3,500 m. Two hours up on foot, or a mule and a driver. 3. **Na'akuto La'ab** (7 km · Separate ticket · Airport road): A cave church 7 km out where spring water is caught in bowls and treated as holy. 4. **Genete Maryam** (23 km · Separate ticket · Southeast): A monolithic church about 23 km southeast, its interior covered in early frescoes. ## The Bilbila churches Three churches within about 10 km of Bilbila village, usually driven in one loop. 1. **Bilbila Giyorgis** (32 km · Separate ticket · Bilbila): Around 32 km out, then twenty minutes uphill from the road. Known for its beehives. 2. **Bilbila Chirkos** (Cave church · Separate ticket · Bilbila): Held by tradition to date from the sixth century, which would make it far older than Lalibela. 3. **Arbatu Ensessa** (On the north road · Separate ticket · Bilbila): The closest of the three to the main road, and the usual first stop on the Yemrehanna run. ## Best restaurants in Lalibela Five kitchens in a town where most of them belong to a hotel. 1. **Ben Abeba** (Ethiopian & Scottish · Clifftop · Above town): A spiral of clifftop terraces above the valley. Ethiopian and Scottish cooking, and the sunset. 2. **Seven Olives Hotel Restaurant** (Ethiopian · Garden terrace · Town centre): The oldest hotel in town, with a garden terrace and a long Ethiopian menu. [Website](https://www.sevenoliveshotelandrestaurant.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) 3. **Unique Restaurant** (Ethiopian · Main street · Town centre): A plain room on the main street doing the standards well. Beyaynetu on fasting days. 4. **Ma'ed Lalibela** (Ethiopian · Casual · Town centre): Ethiopian cooking without the hotel mark-up, and one of the town’s more reliable kitchens. 5. **Maribela Hotel Restaurant** (Ethiopian & international · Hotel · Above town): Highland views from the balcony and the most polished cooking in Lalibela. [Website](https://hotelmaribela.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ## Highland walks and treks from Lalibela Three routes out of town, from a two-hour climb to a night on the plateau. 1. **The Asheton Maryam ridge trail** (~3,500 m · Half day · Abuna Yosef ridge): About two hours up to the monastery, and the classic half-day walk from town. 2. **Hudad Plateau** (3,300 m · Overnight · Above Lalibela): A community-run camp of tukuls at about 3,300 m, three to four hours up. One night, no running water. [Website](https://lalibelahudadlodge.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) 3. **Mount Abuna Yosef** (4,280 m · 2–3 days · Northeast of town): Ethiopia’s third-highest peak at around 4,280 m, with gelada and, rarely, Ethiopian wolf. ## Tej houses and bars in Lalibela Three rooms for honey wine, azmari music and a cold beer. 1. **Torpedo Tej Bet** (Tej house · Opens early · Town centre): The best tej in town, served in a berele, with azmari music and dancing from about eight. 2. **Kana Restaurant and Bar** (Bar & kitchen · Central · Town centre): A straightforward bar and kitchen near Tukul Village, and a reliable late drink. 3. **Sora Lodge cocktail bar** (Cocktail bar · Valley view · Hill edge): A round thatched tukul on the hill edge, looking down the valley. Drinks and a long sunset. [Website](https://soralodgelalibela.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) ## Festivals & annual events in Lalibela (2026) - **Genna** (7 January): Ethiopian Christmas, and the biggest night of the year here. Pilgrims in white fill the trenches for an all-night vigil. - **Timkat** (19 January): Epiphany. The tabot is carried out under cover for a dawn blessing, and the crowd is soaked in the blessed water. - **Abiy Tsom** (February to April): The 55-day Lenten fast. Every kitchen cooks vegan by default, which is when beyaynetu is at its best. - **Fasika** (April, movable): Ethiopian Easter, broken after a midnight service. It follows the Orthodox calendar, so confirm the date for your year. - **Feast of St George** (23 April): Bete Giyorgis draws its own congregation for the saint the church is cut for. Chanting from before dawn. - **Ashenda** (Mid-August): Known as Shadey in Lasta. Girls in embroidered dresses sing through the streets to close the Filseta fast. - **Enkutatash** (11 September): The Ethiopian new year, at the end of the long rains, when the highlands are green and yellow with meskel daisies. - **Meskel** (27 September): The finding of the True Cross, marked by a procession and the lighting of the demera bonfire at dusk. ## Must-try dishes in Lalibela, Ethiopia - **Beyaynetu**: The fasting platter: a wheel of pulses and vegetables on injera. Wednesdays, Fridays and all of Lent. - **Doro wat**: Chicken cooked down in berbere and spiced butter until the sauce runs nearly black, with a boiled egg. - **Shiro**: Milled chickpeas cooked with berbere and onion, served bubbling in the clay dish it was made in. - **Tibs**: Cubes of lamb or goat seared hard with onion, garlic and chilli, often still sizzling at the table. - **Injera**: Sourdough flatbread of fermented teff. It is the plate, the cutlery and the base of the meal at once. - **Genfo**: Barley porridge with a well of spiced butter in the middle. A highland breakfast that holds all morning. - **Firfir**: Yesterday’s injera torn up and fried back through berbere and onion. Nothing here goes to waste. - **Tej**: Honey wine fermented with gesho and poured from a round-bottomed berele. Ask for the dry one. ## Lalibela transport & airports - **Lalibela Airport** (LLI): The practical way in. Ethiopian Airlines flies from Addis Ababa in about an hour, and the terminal sits some 23 km southwest of town, a 30 to 45 minute drive. [Ethiopian Airlines](https://www.ethiopianairlines.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - **Airport transfers** (Car): Almost every hotel meets the flight, shared or private, with the fare agreed before you set off. There is no scheduled bus between the airport and the town. - **Bajaj** (Bajaj): Three-wheelers work the main road and the hill up to the churches. Fares are negotiated before you get in, and the climb back from the market is the one worth paying for. - **Hired 4WD with driver** (4WD): Yemrehanna Kristos, Genete Maryam and the Bilbila churches are all rough unpaved approaches, so the outlying churches mean a vehicle for the day rather than a taxi. ## Lalibela at a glance - **Country:** Ethiopia - **Region:** Lasta woreda, North Wollo Zone, Amhara Region, at roughly 2,500 m above sea level - **Population:** About 17,400 at the 2007 census, the last full count. Small enough to cross on foot in twenty minutes - **Founded:** The rock churches are dated to the late 12th and early 13th centuries, under King Gebre Meskel Lalibela of the Zagwe dynasty - **Nickname:** The New Jerusalem, after the city King Lalibela is said to have built the town to answer - **Language:** Amharic, with English common in tourism and Geez used in the liturgy - **Currency:** Ethiopian birr (ETB). Cash for almost everything; card acceptance stops at the larger hotels - **Time zone:** UTC+3 (East Africa Time), no daylight saving. Locally the day is counted from sunrise, so 7am is spoken as one o’clock - **Calling code:** +251 - **Airports:** Lalibela Airport (LLI), about 23 km southwest of town, served from Addis Ababa - **Power:** 220V, 50Hz, sockets of types C, E and F. Cuts are routine, so carry a torch and a power bank - **Emergency:** 991 police, 907 ambulance, 939 fire ## Interesting facts - Bete Medhane Alem is the largest monolithic church in the world, about 33 metres long and 10 deep. - Bete Giyorgis is cut in the shape of a Greek cross and sits some twelve metres below the surrounding rock. - UNESCO inscribed the churches in 1978, in the second year of the World Heritage list. - Yemrehanna Kristos was built rather than carved, in alternating layers of wood and stone, inside a cave. - None of the eleven is a museum. Priests serve in all of them, and the town keeps the Orthodox fasting calendar. ## Watch [Lalibela Travel Guide](https://wimup.com/watch/lalibela.md), 9:24 ## Lalibela travel FAQ ### How many days do you need in Lalibela? Two full days covers the eleven rock churches without rushing: the northern group and Bete Giyorgis on one, the eastern group and a church beyond town on the other. A third day buys either Yemrehanna Kristos or the walk up to Asheton Maryam. ### How much is the ticket for the Lalibela churches? One ticket admits you to all eleven churches for several days rather than one, and it is checked at every entrance. Visitors reported 50 US dollars through mid-2025 and 100 later that year, so confirm the price at the ticket office. Birr and dollars are both accepted. ### Is Lalibela safe to visit? The wider Amhara region has been unsettled since 2023 and the picture changes quickly, so read your own government’s advisory before booking. Travellers through 2026 have reported the town itself calm, the churches open and the Addis Ababa flights running. ### When is the best time to visit Lalibela? October to March is dry and clear, and the heavy rains fall from June to September. Genna on 7 January is the peak of the year: extraordinary to witness, and the one week when beds and flights go months in advance. ### Do you need a guide for the churches? Not formally, but the eleven are linked by unmarked trenches and tunnels and almost nothing is labelled, so a guide is the difference between a walk and an explanation. Book through your hotel or the ticket office rather than off the street. ## Nearby guides - [Gondar](https://wimup.com/city/gondar.md): Ethiopia · 10 picks - [Addis Ababa](https://wimup.com/city/addis-ababa.md): Ethiopia · 10 picks - [Asmara](https://wimup.com/city/asmara.md): Eritrea · 10 picks - [All of Africa →](https://wimup.com/africa): 67 cities Part of the [Ethiopia guide](https://wimup.com/country/ethiopia.md) · [Africa](https://wimup.com/africa.md) ## Sources - [Lalibela tourism board](https://visitethiopia.et/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Bete Giyorgis: UNESCO](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/18/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Seven Olives Hotel Restaurant (official site)](https://www.sevenoliveshotelandrestaurant.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Maribela Hotel Restaurant (official site)](https://hotelmaribela.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Hudad Plateau (official site)](https://lalibelahudadlodge.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Sora Lodge cocktail bar (official site)](https://soralodgelalibela.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Lalibela Airport: Ethiopian Airlines](https://www.ethiopianairlines.com/?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - Rankings are Wimup editorial picks. Prices, durations and budgets are editorial estimates, not live quotes; check the official site before you go.