Going to Addis Ababa, tips needed!
 

Hello,

I will be spending a 17 hour layover in Addis Ababa on January the 2nd. Since I'm not in the mood of spending those hours in the lounge I figure I'd might make a short visit to the city. But before doing that I have a few questions.

How do I get from the airport to the city & vv safe and cheaply?

Is Addis Ababa a safe city at day? I'm asking that since I'm carrying around a rather expensive Nikon, but I would love to take some photos when I'm there.

Are there any particularly interesting sights to see while there, and places to dine?

Lastly is it possible for Swedish citizens to obtain a visa on arrival (price?), and also are there any vaccinations required to enter the country?

Anyways hope the questions aren't too much to ask for. Thanks in advance!

According to the website of the Ethiopian embassy in London, virtually all visitors require a visa, which can in certain circumstances be obtained on arrival. The following conditions apply to visas on arrival, and it seems to me that you would qualify under the second point in the bulleted list (assuming, I suppose, that you are resident in Sweden), but it would be wise to contact the Ethiopian embassy/consulate in Stockholm:

Moving Thread to the FT Africa Forum.
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

The list above of visa-on-arrival eligible nationalities is not entirely up-to-date. The current list (as of October) is below :

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea (South Korea), the Russian Federation, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America.

The visa on arrival is dead easy. To the far left of the immigration hall is a separate room where you pay your US$20. Then you still have to clear immigration. Whole process took us around 30 minutes.

Addis is safe. There are taxis available in the arrival hall, as well as tour services. Try one of those.

Ask to see the Mercarto - market, drive around the churches and see some of them. Addis can be seen in less the 6 hours.

For lunch, try an Italian restaurant called Castillies, or one of the local Ethiopian restaurants.

LH4116,

Please let us know how the visa on arrival work out for you.

I'm going there in Feb with 14 hour layover with ET 787 BOM-ADD-(FCO)-IAD route. I hear some rumors that they won't let you leave unless you have an overnight stay. Mine will be 8am till 10pm.

Thanks and enjoy your trip!!

Assuming this is on a single ticket and you are flying ET, you will be eligible for the complimentary STPC hotel room, visa and meals from Ethiopian Airlines.

http://www.ethiopianairlines.com/en/...t/transit.aspx

Just go to the STPC/Transit desk and they will provide you the voucher.

Thank you!! That is a great tip! I have an award ticket one way from BOM-LAX, I hope that will count as a single ticket.

I'll report back next month. Thank you! :)

Going to Addis Ababa, tips needed!
 

If you go to merkato be careful of your camera/other belongings. Addis is safe but tourists are certainly targets for pickpockets. Especially when distracted. The derg museum on meskel square is small but a interesting (if dark) historical point worth seeing. The ethnographic and national museums are also interesting and nearby one another. Salems is a shop that has local crafts which are fairly priced-down a side road-off telebole road at the " you go city church" nearby the airport. Dashen is great for local food. Kaldes is the Ethiopian version of Starbucks but you may find better coffee at more traditional coffee shops in addis. I usually buy coffee for souvenirs from tamoca in the piazza but I hear they also have a shop in the newer radisson Blu as well. Have a great visit!

Can anyone confirm if passport-sized photographs are needed for visa on arrival

From post #2 above:

Passport Photos
 

I was through there on December 21st. No photos needed.

Early January, no photos.

Thanks for the info

Is Yellow Fever vaccination certificate required to enter? I will be coming from India.

I am asking this because Ethiopean airline customer service insisted I must have it to enter.

I've never had to show my yellow fever card in Ethiopia, but I usually arrive from the US or Europe. 1 time from Ghana.

Never been checked by Ethiopia, but is sometimes checked by Indian departure immigration if you are heading to a yellow fever zone. If your destination is within a yellow fever zone, you should therefore carry it or risk being denied.

The Ethiopian Immigration is very corrupt in Addis, so if they say you need the paper, better get it to avoid complications. ;)

Or infected!

I've found that carrying the vaccination certificate makes no difference to the chances of being infected provided you have actually received the vaccine. :p

My Addis visa experience
 

I had so many questions, but I'm back from Addis and I'd like to share my experience...

My husband and I did BOM-ADD-(FCO)-IAD on Ethipean Airlines early this month on UA's award ticket. We had 14 hour layover in Addis, 8am till 10pm. (Checked in bags go straight through to IAD)

When we checked in at BOM, the airline said "we are going to issue you hotel vouchers, you need that to get transit visa" and gave us documents to exchange for vouchers when we get to ADD, saying that hotel room (one each), meals and transportation are provided.

We got to Addis and waited in line to get the vouchers, it took a looong time about 45 minutes. People tried to cut us off constantly, and we had to tell them to back off a few times.

Then when we got downstairs to the immigration area, we originally thought we had to go to little room saying "Visa on Arrival", but they told us that we can just go straight to the immigration, and officer gave us transit visas. We didn't have to pay $20.

No vaccination documents were required, no questions were asked, nothing.

Just to clarify, we do both have passports from countries that are listed in the "Visa on Arrival eligible countries". I don't know if that made any difference getting transit visas that we were given.

Then money change took forever, about 45 minutes here too.

All in all, everything went really smooth, we were preparing for the worst that they wouldn't let us in, but no worries. We did get to go to the city and see Lucy (not the real one as apparently the real Lucy has been in The US for quite sometime, and she's now at a museum in Santa Ana which is ironically only 40 miles away from us, not 9000 miles).

Going to Addis Ababa, tips needed!
 

I have found that it's always faster to go to window on the side of luggage carousels for money exchange rather than before going through the immigration line. Last time I was in addis it looked like there was an ATM that took only visa branded cards in the luggage area-but I wouldn't rely on that as my only plan to get money for using when I first arrive in addis. Often they are out of order at the hotels.

Can any recent visitor to Addis confirm the situation with regard to using foreign cards in ATMs?

We have MasterCard and Cirrus
Will either of them work in Ethiopian ATMs?

Doing a Google search, it seems only VISA works
but the MasterCard webs site says its cards will work at Dashen Bank ATMs (and the Dashen Bank web site says this too)

Going to Addis Ababa, tips needed!
 

I know there was one at the Hilton that took MasterCard/cirrus as of aug 2012. Also in the building on new-bole/telebole rd with the movie theater on the ground floor and at the Sheraton a year or so before that.

Be prepared though for power outages and machines out of cash. Have a backup plan. I was stuck getting a cash advance due to a problem with phone service limiting a hotels availability to accept credit card and first ATM I went to had no cash in it.

Was in Addis last year. Both the HIlton and the Sheraton had ATM machines that worked with my Charles Schwab Bank ATM card.

The Hilton was out of money. I needed a lot of cash to pay for hotels where I had been informed there were no ATMs. Walked from the Hilton to the Sheraton where I managed to withdraw about $1000 in Ethiopian.

I also used the money changers in the Hilton hotel. (Keep the receipts from the money changers. I needed to change money back and one changer wouldn't until I showed them my receipt from their operation.)

elf618 and manneca

thank you both for the advice
I feel more confident now
but I will bring some cash with me as well as my cards

and manneca - congratulations on 2000 posts:D

Going to Addis Ababa, tips needed!
 

Sheraton was the one out of cash for me. It's a systemic problem. The money changers in te hotel have fair rates and will take travelers checks still too which is fairly painless as long as you show passport. Changing money inaregular bank can be a long process. Good luck!

The ATM at the Hilton has a sign saying "VISA/Mastercard Coming Soon" as of this evening.

Didn't need to withdraw any cash so I wasn't able to test whether soon has come and gone already. :)

Going to Addis Ababa, tips needed!
 

Last time I was there (August) the ATM was not in the lobby but there were 2 outside in front of the hairdresser and florist at the shops around the side of the building One took MasterCard I believe the other only visa. Other times the ATM was in the lobby alongside te concierge counter.

Sorry for my late reply, I completely forgot about this thread.

It's now been six months since my little visit to Addis Ababa, but I figure perhaps I'd share my experience.

I arrived with Ethiopian Airlines from Dubai at 7.35am. The station manager at DXB issued hotel vouchers at check-in already, and I was instructed to visit the transfer desk upon arrival in ADD. The transfer desk experience was not the best. The staff had a really terrible attitude, where they essentially had the mindset of the customer always being wrong. I was refused my hotel stay, meal vouchers and transit visa as promised in DXB, and instead the lady behind the desk tried to sell me a dayroom for $100 in cash. My other option was to spend 18 hours in their dull lounge. No chance in hell.

Given the fact that my flight left DXB at 4.30am, and I only slept for about two hours on the flight, I wasn't in the best of moods. So after a lot of arguing and shouting, I finally managed to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor was very professional, and pointed out that since my voucher was already stamped and signed, I would be entitled to a transit hotel.

The agent who was now slightly ashamed after being proven wrong by both me and her supervisor, reluctantly gave me instructions to the hotel, along with a laminated slip of paper that would act as my transit visa. A dedicated line for Business Class passengers was available at passport control, and passing through it was a breeze. Once through, I headed over to the Hilton hotel desk, where a friendly gentleman greeted me. The man who turned out to be the shuttle bus driver, later took me out to the van for the 20 minute drive into town.

Once at the Hilton Addis Ababa, I presented my hotel voucher along with passport and HHonors Gold card at check-in, in exchange for a room key and vouchers for lunch and dinner. An upgrade to the Executive Floor was also given.

Given the ungodly departure of my flight ex-Dubai, I slept through most of the day, not bothering to leave the hotel. I did make a visit to the lunch buffet which was fairly reasonable. Various western dishes, along with traditional Ethiopian food (yes they had Injera bread) were on offer, as well as various salads and desserts. I found some of the food to be a bit bland, but most of it was nice and edible. The beef was a bit chewy, but from what I understand, the Ethiopians enjoy a bit of a chew when it comes to food.

The evening was spent in the Executive Lounge with a few glasses of wine, before the shuttle bus driver met me up in the lobby again at 8.00pm. The drive to the airport took slightly longer due to traffic, but once at the airport I found the place to be fairly quiet and civilized. No lines at neither check-in nor passport control, and after an hour in the lounge I boarded my flight back home to Stockholm at 10.30pm.

Apart from the rude and incompetent staff at the transfer desk, I must say that I was very pleased with how smooth the transfer experience went. As a Swedish passport holder I was able to obtain my arrival Visa without providing any passport photos or vaccination certificate, even though I had them prepared just in case. The $20 visa fee was also waived, courtesy of the airline.

Question for those with Ethiopian Airlines experience.

I'm flying YYZ-ADD-EBB in J on Ethiopian this December.

There are 2 connection flights from ADD-EBB on the day I fly in, 1 leaving at 10:45am and 1 leaving at 10:45pm. My original arrival time from YYZ was 10:10, so I had no choice but to book the later flight and take the long layover. I was counting on Ethiopian to provide a transit visa and hotel for this layover when I booked this. The YYZ-ADD flight times have since changed, arriving instead at 7:50am.

I don't particularly want to pay to change my onward flight, and I'm fine with the longer layover, but will Ethiopian still cover the transit hotel and visa? If not and I have to pay, do they offer a discounted rate for day rooms or should I book in advance?

Thanks in advance!

Ask at Toronto check-in. The outstations have far more flexibility to issue you with a transit hotel voucher than Addis does. In Cloud Nine, you will almost certainly get it without any further questions - or they may even have it proactively waiting for you. Absolute worst case scenario you may have to buy the room + meals + transport + visa package for $70 at Addis airport but even that is a good deal for the Hilton where they will probably put you up as a Biz class pax.

Good to know. Thank you also for the speedy response B747-437B. :)

agree with above, but if you have to go to the transit desk go fast, and get to the front of the line...once they build up they are very slow to move!

Booked an UA J award flight, EUG-SFO-IAD-ADD-CAI with the 15 hour layover in Addis Ababa. So how do I get the ADD hotel voucher if I am airside at IAD? Will be checking 2 bags so United will probably expect me to pick them up at ADD but I rather not to maximize time in the city. I doubt I can short check bags at IAD from UA policy and recheck them on Ethiopian Airlines? Thanks for any suggestions!

If you don't get the voucher in Washington, just go to the Transit desk in Addis and they will print them for you there. You have to go to the Transit desk anyway to collect your hotel assignment (which will be almost certainly the Hilton for you traveling in Cloud Nine), so this won't take any extra time.

Excellent point and thank you for saving my time at IAD. Happy Holidays!