Noted for the singularity of its cultural landscapes, Ethiopia produces food, music, and art that bears little resemblance to anywhere else in the world – as well, more familiarly as some of the most delicious coffee you’ll ever taste.

Ethiopia is the original home of coffee and its rich coffee culture is embodied in the aromatic and age-old ‘coffee ceremonies’ held daily all over the country.

Ethiopia’s unique cuisine – dominated by pancake-like injera, heaped with a tantalizingly spiced selection of vegan or meat dishes – will delight visitors with adventurous palates.

A host of colorful Christian and Islamic festivals includes the Meskel Ceremony held in Addis Ababa or Aksum, and Timkat, best experienced in Gondar.

High-quality silver and wooden crosses, delicately handwoven fabrics, and goatskin ‘picnic baskets’ are among several unique handicrafts produced in Ethiopia.

Homegrown music includes atmospheric 1,500-year-old church liturgies and chants, bright lurching Ethio-pop from the 1970s, and the often mischievous improvised lyrics of bard-like azmari singers.

Best known to scholars for the medieval paintings that adorn some of its older churches, Ethiopia also has a lively contemporary arts scene centered on Addis Ababa.