Abay Minch Lodge

The large, open-plan restaurant has high bamboo-lined ceilings and oodles of warm natural light flooding through the tall windows. With a small seating area for in-between meals and several tables to dine at, it attracts guests throughout the day. However, when the weather is good there's no place to be but the garden. The exquisitely maintained grounds burgeon with tropical plants and colourful wildlife, from monkeys to several bird species. There's nothing quite like dining in an open-air sanctuary!

Several bungalows are spread through the lodge grounds, mostly sharing a wall with another, but with a rock partition to allow privacy on your own veranda. Glass doors and thatched roofing allow the beauty of the garden to permeate indoors; and you could spend hours lost in the lushness in a chair on your veranda. Rooms sleep two to four guests in double- or twin-bed configurations, with en-suite bathrooms (with hot water), flat-screen TVs and wi-fi standard throughout.

Top of the must-see list are Lake Tana's extraordinary monasteries, most of which can be reached by boat. Many have those famously decorated walls, and some also contain fascinating artifacts, like the mummified remains of five embalmed emperors, notably King Fasilides, at the monastery Daga Istafanos. Don't miss a visit to the dramatic Blue Nile Falls, about an hour's drive from Bahir Dar, and Ethiopia's oldest stone bridge, erected by Emperor Susenyos in 1626.