Getting Around Ethiopia

The quick answer

For most visitors the single largest risk in Ethiopia is not political and not criminal. It is the road. The FCDO describes driving standards and vehicle maintenance as often poor, with frequent accidents, and singles out Addis Ababa and the Addis Ababa to Djibouti road.

Use transport arranged by your hotel or operator, travel in daylight, and build far more time into journeys than the distance suggests.

Fuel, which is a live constraint right now

Fuel availability is currently limited across Ethiopia, with long queues and shortages reported at filling stations nationwide. The FCDO warns this may cause transport disruption and delays, particularly for travel outside Addis Ababa, and advises checking arrangements carefully with your operator and allowing extra time.

Treat this as something to confirm close to departure rather than assume. It affects road itineraries more than anything else on this page.

In Addis Ababa

Light rail

Addis Ababa has an electric light rail system running on elevated and street-level alignments, of the kind in the photograph at the top of this page. It is cheap and it avoids the traffic that makes road journeys unpredictable. It is busy at peak times; keep your bag in front of you and your phone away, as you would on any crowded urban transit.

Taxis, and which ones

The FCDO's advice is specific and worth following exactly: only use buses or taxis from the airport that have been organized by your hotel or travel company. If you are booking your own taxi, choose yellow or app-based taxis rather than flagging one down.

Arrange the airport transfer before you land. It is the journey you are least equipped to improvise, at the hour you are least equipped to improvise it.

Driving yourself

You can drive on a foreign license for a limited period, after which you need an Ethiopian license through the Ministry of Transport and Logistics. The FCDO gives that period as up to two weeks for UK license holders; check your own license's position before assuming it matches.

Most visitors should not self-drive. Beyond the accident rate, there is a legal reason.

⚠ What happens after an accident

The FCDO states that drivers involved in car accidents can face severe punishments, including custodial sentences and fines. Its instruction if you are involved in one is to stay in your vehicle and call the local police, avoid confrontation, and wait for the police to arrive.

That is a materially different legal environment from the one most visitors are used to, and it is the strongest argument for hiring a driver who knows both the roads and the procedure.

Domestic flights

Ethiopia is large and the distances between the main centers are long, so internal flights do a lot of the work that road travel would elsewhere. They are also the option least affected by the fuel queues and the road risk.

Build in buffer. Weather during the big rains, from mid June to mid September, disrupts schedules, and a tight connection onto an international departure is a poor bet in any season.

Roads that carry their own warnings

Some specific routes appear by name in the advisories. The FCDO records incidents along the Addis Ababa to Bahir Dar road, the A3, including armed men attacking vehicles, usually in the early hours when visibility is poor, and notes that the A3 can be subject to increased checkpoints and closures. Its advice is to be highly cautious and to avoid traveling when visibility is poor.

More broadly, the FCDO advises against all travel to Tigray region and to Amhara region entire, and to parts of Oromia defined by specific roads. Several of the restrictions are written in terms of which side of a road you are on, which is a level of precision that only matters if you read the source itself. Do that, on the day, rather than relying on a summary.

Kidnap risk and travel patterns

The FCDO describes kidnapping as widespread in parts of Ethiopia, with incidents in Oromia, Amhara and Somali regions and on the southern border with Kenya, and specifically in the Adama special zone south of Addis Ababa. Its travel advice is practical: vary your routes and timings, avoid predictable patterns, and travel only during daylight hours.

Checkpoints and identification

Carry a copy of your passport photo page, your visa and your entry stamp. The FCDO confirms it is not a legal requirement to carry the original. Around the 1 June 2026 election there will be additional vehicle and identity checks and you should allow extra time for any essential journey.

On water

If your itinerary includes a boat, note that the FCDO says life jackets in boats are rarely in place in Ethiopia. Ask before you board, and be willing to decline.

Plan the route against the advisories first

In most destinations you choose the sights and then work out the transport. In Ethiopia the order should be reversed, because the regional restrictions are what determine which routes exist for you at all. Start with Ethiopia Travel Safety Guide.

Sources

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Ethiopia safety and security: terrorism, kidnap, crime, road travel, local laws and the Ethiopian calendar. Accessed 14 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Ethiopia regional risks, region by region. Accessed 14 September 2026.
• US Department of State: the Ethiopia travel advisory, currently Level 3, Reconsider Travel. Accessed 14 September 2026.