If you can tear yourself away from the lake, visit the large and lively main market. It’s busiest on Saturday – market day – when people stream into town from nearby villages. The delightful agelgil (goat-skin lunch boxes) are no longer sold in the market – try the craft kiosks near the main mosque – but just about everything else is, and getting lost is half the fun.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
8.63 MILES
The Zege Peninsula’s largest and most famous monastery is hardly the most attractive on the outside, but its maqdas (inner sanctuary) is beautifully…
24.03 MILES
Set in the middle of the lake on Dek Island, Narga Selassie is peaceful, atmospheric and little visited. Built in the mid-18th century, it has a Gonderian…
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21.52 MILES
One of the lake’s most sacred monasteries, Dega Estefanos (men only) was rebuilt in the mid-19th century and though the church isn’t too interesting, it…
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9.01 MILES
Bete Selassie (men only) is a 30- to 45-minute walk inland from the Lake Tana shore at Zege Peninsula. The simple exterior of the church (rebuilt in 1858)…
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3.65 MILES
The Blue Nile outlet, a 20-minute boat ride east of Bahir Dar, has far greater geographical significance than it does natural beauty, although there's…
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8.77 MILES
The thatch roof atop the church at Azuwa Maryam helps make it the best-looking church on Zege (currently Bete Maryam is the only other church with thatch)…
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3.17 MILES
The original 14th-century (some say 12th-century) church at Debre Maryam was rebuilt by Tewodros in the 19th century. It’s unattractive both outside and…
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4.46 MILES
Though the 17th-century church at Kebran Gabriel is beautiful, it’s no longer open to the public and the museums (one each for men and women) have nothing…
Nearby attractions
0.5 MILES
One of the largest churches in Bahir Dar and right next to the water, but it's not a patch on Lake Tana's monasteries.
0.59 MILES
There’s a one-table fish market in the mud-hut deacon’s village behind St George’s Church. The catch is brought in by tankwa in the morning and pelicans…
1.9 MILES
You can only reach the famous outlet of the Blue Nile by boat, but you can get pretty close along the Gonder road, 2km out of town, where a bridge spans…
2.49 MILES
Just past the bridge is a large Martyrs Memorial Monument dedicated to those who died fighting the Derg. Its fountain cascading down to the Blue Nile is…
3.13 MILES
Two-and-a-half kilometres south of the Martyrs Memorial, northeast of town, is Bezawit Hill. Its summit holds a former palace of Haile Selassie, which isn…
3.17 MILES
The original 14th-century (some say 12th-century) church at Debre Maryam was rebuilt by Tewodros in the 19th century. It’s unattractive both outside and…