Mountain View Hotel

With special attention paid to outdoor spaces – open rooftops and broad balconies – everywhere you look offers a sense of vastness. A separate brick and mortar structure with vast glass walls houses the communal area, where visitors gather in the lounges to stare, and to take meals in the restaurant. As to decor, function reigns over form (with the exception of a smattering of antiques), and the hotel furnishings are more generic than stylish. Nevertheless, it's a comfortable place.

Rooms range from singles and doubles to triples and suites. Besides the addition of extra, rather firm, beds (either a queen or twins), there's very little to set them apart. Each has an en-suite bathroom with shower and tub, a few lounge chairs, a writing desk ,and a balcony overlooking the valley. You won't find luxury here, but there's plenty of light and everything is well maintained and tidy. Notably, each room enjoys as good as view as the next.

Approach Lalibela like a true pilgrim, unhurried and calm. There are excellent guides and an informative visitors' centre, but it's worth simply wandering through the cathedrals (if permissible), and the corridors of the complex, soaking up the atmosphere. The Church of St George is said to be the best preserved, but every one of these rock-hewn structures is captivating. It's also worth taking the 90-minute drive to Yemrehanna Kristos, a cave church that predates Lalibela by some 80 years.