Things to do in Asmara
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Asmara
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
The long dry season and the best window overall, with the coast most manageable from November to February.
The belg small rains green the highlands, and Lent deepens the Orthodox fasting menu of shiro and lentils.
Highland rainy season peaking in July and August, with the Massawa coast at its most dangerous heat.
Independence Day on 24 May, in the last dry weeks before the rains, when hotels and operators tighten.
What's on
- Independence Day 24 May
The national holiday with parades and concerts in Asmara, the city celebrating itself.
- Eritrean Orthodox Christmas 7 January
Church services and communal feasts in the highlands, in prime dry season weather.
- Timket 19 January
Epiphany processions in white traditional dress around Asmaras churches, watched respectfully from the edges.
- Geez New Year 11 September
The Tigrinya calendar new year as the rains end, a family and church holiday with yellow daisies in markets.
Best things to do in Asmara
Fiat Tagliero Building
A working petrol station shaped like an aeroplane, with concrete wings floating 15 metres out on each side.
Cinema Impero
The largest cinema of colonial Asmara, still screening films in a fine Art Deco auditorium on Harnet Avenue.
Harnet Avenue
The palm lined main street of the UNESCO modernist centre, lined with cinemas, cafes and rationalist facades.
Church of Our Lady of the Rosary
A large Lombard Romanesque church from 1923 on Harnet Avenue, called the cathedral by everyone in Asmara.
Great Mosque of Asmara
A grand late 1930s mosque mixing a Roman style minaret, a neoclassical loggia and Islamic domes and arches.
Enda Mariam Cathedral
The Eritrean Orthodox cathedral, built in layered brick and stone with monkey head beams in the Aksumite manner.
National Museum of Eritrea
The national collection in the former governors palace, the hour that makes the rest of Eritrea legible.
Medebar Market
A working market where scrap metal becomes pots, gates and ovens, and spices are ground into berbere.
Where to stay in Asmara
Harnet Avenue and the historic centre
first trip, walking the UNESCO city
Flat and walkable to the sights, cinemas and cafes, in older building stock with water and power interruptions.
Warsay Avenue and the airport side
comfort, quiet and early flights
Quieter and greener by the airport with the biggest hotel in the country, and a car needed for the centre.
Think twice about
- Massawa as a base for Asmara
115 km and about 2300 vertical metres of mountain road apart, with punishing coastal heat. Sleep in each city in turn.
- Anywhere outside Asmara without a permit plan
Travel beyond about 25 km from Asmara needs a Ministry of Tourism permit checked on the road. A rural address without one is a checkpoint problem.
- Within 25 km of any land border
Landmines are a risk near borders and travel there is restricted. No stay is near it.
Best restaurants in Asmara
Casa degli Italiani Restaurant
Asmaras splurge table, handmade pasta and seafood at the Italian cultural centre, the citys top restaurant.
Ghibabo Restaurant and Pizzeria
A lively centre restaurant mixing Eritrean dishes like zigni with pizzas locals themselves favour.
Restaurant Massawa
A listed central Eritrean restaurant for injera with zigni and tibs, to be confirmed open on the day.
Spaghetti and Pizza House
The beloved cheap Italian of the centre, spaghetti and pizza at local prices from breakfast to evening.
Bar Zilli
An Art Deco building shaped like a radio set that works as a cheap Eritrean restaurant and bar.
Best coffee in Asmara
Bar Pasticceria Vittoria
A classic pastry, coffee and ice cream bar, the morning macchiato and afternoon gelato institution.
Pasticceria Moderna
The second classic pastry bar of the centre, named with Vittoria at the top of the cheap eats consensus.
Dave Cafe
A small central cafe and one of Asmara's best cheap eats, a good first morning stop for the cafe routine.
Asmara Sweet Cafe
A current listed cafe and dessert shop with long hours, for a last macchiato and a slow evening hour.
Outdoor things to do in Asmara
Tank Graveyard
Rows of captured tanks and trucks from the 30 year independence war, a national memorial in rusting metal.
Massawa Old Town
A faded coral stone Red Sea port of Ottoman, Egyptian and Italian layers, reached by a great mountain road.
Dahlak Archipelago
Empty Red Sea islands and coral reefs reached by operator boat from Massawa, for snorkelling and beach camps.
Sheikh Said Island
The small sandy swimming island off Massawa, a short boat ride to clear warm Red Sea water and a picnic beach.
Keren Livestock Market
A vast Monday market of camels, cattle and goats in the highland town of Keren, Eritreas best people watching.
Mariam Dearit Shrine
A small Catholic shrine built inside the hollow trunk of a huge baobab tree just outside Keren.
Best hotels in Asmara
Hotel Asmara Palace
The largest hotel in Eritrea, formerly InterContinental, with grounds, a pool and the most predictable rooms.
Albergo Italia
A marble lobbied Italian era hotel in the UNESCO centre, full of charm and documented water and Wi-Fi faults.
Crystal Hotel Asmara
A clean, well run central hotel with helpful staff, the mid range base most likely to simply work.
Savanna International Hotel
A modern style mid range hotel with a strong small sample rating and a pool, used by tour programmes.
Sunshine Hotel
An honest value hotel at about 60 dollars a night, friendly staff and money changing at reception.
Africa Pension
The small central pension of the budget tradition, well rated in current listings but to be confirmed by phone.
Is Asmara expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | ERN 1,200 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | ERN 2,500 a person |
| Splurge | ERN 5,500 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Tank Graveyard: a few days ahead
- Massawa Old Town: a few days ahead
- Dahlak Archipelago: weeks ahead
- Keren Livestock Market: a few days ahead
- Mariam Dearit Shrine: a few days ahead
- Hotel Asmara Palace: weeks ahead
- Albergo Italia: weeks ahead
- Crystal Hotel Asmara: a few days ahead
- Apply for the visa at least six weeks ahead and do not book non refundable flights before it is granted.
- Book Massawa, Keren and Dahlak excursions through an operator weeks ahead and let them obtain the permits.
- Reconfirm hotels by phone or through an operator, as email alone has failed guests entirely.
Is Asmara safe?
- Travel restrictions and limited consular help apply, landmines remain a risk near borders, and travel in Eritrea, Asmara included, should only be made if genuinely necessary.
- Bring the whole trip in clean undamaged dollars or euros, change only at Himbol bureaus or hotel desks at 15 ERN to the dollar, and keep receipts.
- Stay on paved roads near border areas because of landmines, carry a torch for power cuts, and take the first day gently at 2325 metres.
Asmara travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Much of the web Asmara is years out of date and many once top rated restaurants have closed, so verify every specific on the day.
- Do not taxi to the Tank Graveyard without a permit, and do not promise yourself a bookable tourist train to Massawa.
- Massawa at summer noon is a heat risk, not a sightseeing plan.
Getting around Asmara: public transport and more
- Walk the compact flat centre, it is how the UNESCO city is seen, and take small street taxis for longer hops with the fare agreed first.
- Public buses link Asmara with Massawa and Keren cheaply, but your travel permit, not the ticket, is what checkpoints ask for.
- Download offline maps before you fly, as street data connectivity cannot be assumed.
Who Asmara suits
| Solo travellers | OK |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | OK |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | OK |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Asmara your trip
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