Harar
Introduction
Harar is a walled city in eastern Ethiopia, known historically by its indigenous people as Harar-Gey, or simply Gey. Arabic tradition calls it the City of Saints.
Before you go
Harar is a small city, so expect to run into the same people again and again — keep that in mind before brushing anyone off. Residents are friendly even by Ethiopian standards, and as a visibly foreign visitor (a farangi) you can count on being greeted, asked where you're from, drawn into conversation, and occasionally offered guide or fixer services, usually in a genial, non-pushy way. Children may follow you repeating the word "money". Build extra time into your days for these exchanges; you are unlikely to be going anywhere in a hurry anyway.
Learning a few words goes a long way. At minimum, pick up the gender-neutral Amharic greeting selam (or selam-new) — you will use it constantly. On climate: afternoons are warm to very warm year-round while mornings are cool to mild, so pack layers. Rain falls between March and October, peaking in August, while November to February is usually dry — plan your visit around that split depending on whether you want to dodge the wettest months.
Getting there
Harar is not the easiest city to reach, and budget options involve long hours or cramped conditions. Buses run from Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa and Jijiga. From Addis Ababa, the Selam Bus Company leaves in the morning and takes about 11 hours, arriving at the Selam Bus Station roughly 500 metres west of the Harar Gate. From Dire Dawa, minibuses take about 1–1.5 hours and arrive at the western bus station just outside the Harar Gate. From Jijiga, minibuses take 2–2.5 hours and arrive at the Eastern Bus Station, about 4 kilometres southeast of the Jugol.
Minibus fares are government-regulated, but expect checkpoints along the way and extra service charges added by drivers or conductors, for example for luggage. From Dire Dawa a government agent will likely collect your fare at the start of the route. For more comfort, you can fly to Dire Dawa and have a hotel there arrange private car transport to Harar; the two cities are 54 km apart by asphalt road, and a private taxi from Dire Dawa can be hired for the trip. Alternatively, an overnight train runs from the southern outskirts of Addis Ababa to Dire Dawa station, about 10 km west of the city, from where you take a bajaj to the minibus station. Harar is served by Dire Dawa International Airport, and from the airport you take a shared taxi to the minibus station. Consider breaking the trip with a hotel stay in Dire Dawa.
Getting around
Harar Jugol, the walled old city, is compact and very walkable, so you don't need any vehicle to explore it. The main entry is the Harar Gate at the western end; other gates pierce the walls at Fallana Gate to the north, Argoba Gate to the east, Sukutat Gate to the southeast, Bedri Gate to the southwest, and Shoa Gate, a pedestrian-only gate just south of the Harar Gate. Learn the gate names before you set out, since directions here are given by landmark rather than street name.
- Bajaj (auto-rickshaws) are readily available and can be flagged down pretty much anywhere; they are the workhorse of short trips in the new town. Sharing one as public transport generally means paying the local fare, while boarding an empty vehicle or naming a destination counts as a charter with a fare negotiated upfront and considerably higher.
- Taxis operate alongside bajaj, and the Ride rideshare app works in Ethiopia. For trips within about 20 km of town, chartering a taxi or bajaj is often the most practical option, with bajaj the cheaper charter.
- There is no city bus network, but regional minibuses connect Harar with Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa and Jijiga. The Dire Dawa minibuses arrive at the western bus station just outside the Harar Gate; those from Jijiga arrive at the Eastern Bus Station, southeast of the Jugol. Minibus fares are government-regulated, and there are many checkpoints along the way.
- There is no passenger rail service you can use to reach Harar, and no metro, tram or light rail in the city.
- Harar is served by Dire Dawa International Airport. From there, take a shared taxi to the minibus station for Harar, or arrange private car transport; Dire Dawa is a short distance away by asphalt road.
Give your driver a landmark — a bus station, a well-known hotel, a church — rather than a street address, since Western-style addresses are unfamiliar and few towns outside Addis Ababa have proper street names. Night travel is not recommended because of reckless driving. Self-drive car rental is not a viable option in Ethiopia; organized tours with a 4x4 and driver are the norm, with rates covering fuel, driver allowance, insurance and taxes and tips extra. If you meet a transportation official who speaks English, you can ask the correct fare to check whether you have been overcharged.
Where to stay
Quality accommodation in Harar is limited, and you should not count on reliable hot water — running water at all can be a matter of luck. If you want a wider choice of hotels, Dire Dawa is the better base.
- Sherif Guest House — a cozy, clean place with an inside bathroom, running water and friendly staff, near the eastern hyena feeding site.
- Wonderland Hotel — just outside the Harar gate, with good rooms and facilities, friendly staff, breakfast included and its own restaurant.
- Harar Guest House — just inside the Harar gate, offering basic but clean rooms and a pleasant courtyard, and good value for money.
- Fresh Touch Hotel — popular for its on-site restaurant and bar; note that the approach from the south was blocked as of 2025, so you reach it from the northeast.
Food & drink
Harar is not exactly a culinary wonderland: restaurants are few, and most sit west of the Jugol. For something different, head to the Gidir Magala butchers, who sell camel meat and will cook it for you; you can eat it at the juice shop next door, which delivers it to your table. It is quite delicious, though it arrives with hot peppers, an even spicier sauce, and the obligatory injera. Fresh Touch Restaurant serves Ethiopian, Italian and American food and is popular with locals and tourists alike; note that the approach from the south is blocked, so reach it from the northeast. If you are hungry inside the Jugol but have no hankering for camel, the Mermaid Cafe offers spicy rice or spicy pasta.
Drinking is where Harar does better. Bunna bets, the street coffee stands, dot the Jugol, and outside it the city has a surprisingly active nightlife. Harar coffee is one of Ethiopia's oldest and most distinctive Arabica varieties, traditionally dry-processed into a heavy-bodied cup with wine-like, fruity, and sometimes spicy or chocolatey notes, and it holds a protected regional name. At Nure Roasted Harar Coffee, on the east side of Jamia Mosque, you can watch the beans being roasted, buy them, and drink the result; the Mermaid Cafe, near the western gate and recognisable by the beaded curtains in a doorway on the south side of the main road, pours coffee that is strong even by Ethiopian standards. The Gidir Magala juice bar is a pleasant spot to drink juice outdoors with a great view to the south. For alcohol, Desalegn Kitfo is the go-to bar, with loud music, football and tibs, and a good place to try local Harar beer before the crowd moves on to the clubs around ten or eleven. Nightclubs line an unnamed street and grow livelier as the night goes on, playing a mix of Ethiopian and American music; most charge a cover, and party nights are Saturday and Sunday. You can also try Harar Beer at the source, the Harar Brewery, and there are other bars near Desalegn Kitfo and just outside the Harar Gate, on the same block as the grocery store.
What to see and do
The old town, the Jugol, is the heart of Harar, and the best way to experience it is simply to wander. Get lost among the brightly coloured houses and small vendors, and keep an eye out for local homes that open their doors to visitors; guides can point you to them, or you can try to find them on your own. The walled city centres on Feres Magala square, which holds the Medhane'alem Church, a beautiful Ethiopian Orthodox cathedral, and the Jamia Mosque, the Grand Mosque of Harar, at the centre of the Jugol, which only Muslims may enter. Also on the square is the Abdela Sherif Museum, set in a mansion where Haile Selassie lived as a child; a guide helps make sense of the dusty artifacts. Elsewhere in the old town you can visit Rimbaud's House and Museum, a mansion that once housed the French poet Arthur Rimbaud, and St. Mary Catholic Church, one of two churches in the Jugol, with an impressive carved wood door. Look for the Awaach of Amir Nur, a domed shrine for the 16th-century Emir of Harar, and the Harari National Museum, which displays artifacts of the region; its gate is locked, though the signs remain up and it appears well maintained. Across the street stand mansions that belonged to Haile Selassie's family. For something more active, head out to feed the hyenas — watch them first, then feed them yourself with rotten meat; every bajaj and taxi driver knows the location, and you can also walk there from the old city. There is a long-standing tradition of feeding porridge to hyenas one night a year. You can also feed the black kites: buy meat from the Gidir Magala butcher shops and offer it to the birds of prey waiting patiently above you, or sit around and see if they snatch someone else's meat. If your visit coincides with a festival, look out for Eid al-Fitr, celebrating the end of Ramadan; Shewal Eid, a Harari cultural festival lasting 24 hours; and Ashura, marking the parting of the Red Sea by Moses. Further afield, you can visit Ejersa Goro, where Haile Selassie was born, or head west to Aweday, with the largest khat market in Ethiopia, and on to Haramaya on the shore of Lake Haramaya. To the east, Babile hosts a large camel market, and beyond it lie the Dakhata Valley, also known as the Valley of Marvels, and the Babile Elephant Sanctuary.When to go
Harar stays warm in the afternoons and cooler in the mornings all year round, so plan for a range of temperatures over the course of a day. The year splits into a long wet stretch and a shorter dry spell, and which one you visit in shapes what you can comfortably do.
- March to October: Rain falls throughout this long stretch, heaviest around August. Expect wet afternoons and muddy going, with the heaviest downpours in the middle of the period.
- November to February: This stretch is usually dry, making it the easier time to be out and about. Afternoons remain warm to very warm while mornings are cool to mild.
Three days in Harar
Day one: Arrive in Harar and settle into the walled city of Harar Jugol, known locally as Jugol. If you come from Addis Ababa, buses run from the Selam Bus Station, and the Selam Bus Company serves the route. From Dire Dawa or Jijiga, buses arrive at the Eastern Bus Station, and you can also consider Dire Dawa International Airport. Enter through Harar Gate or Fallana Gate, then spend your first afternoon walking the lanes of Jugol, where residents, children and the city's saints give the old town its character. In the evening, eat Ethiopian food and listen for Arabic and Amharic spoken around you.
Day two: Build your day around learning Harar's traditions. Visit the shrines and tombs associated with the city's saints, and take time at the markets and courtyards where residents work and children play. The Gey is central to Harar's life, and you will hear Arabic alongside Amharic throughout the city. Use a minibus to move between quarters, or simply walk, since Jugol is compact. Rain is possible in March, October, August, November and February, so carry a light layer and plan indoor stops if the sky turns.
Day three: Take a final morning in Harar Jugol, returning to the gates and lanes you liked best. If you are leaving for Addis Ababa, head to the Selam Bus Station; for Dire Dawa or Jijiga, go to the Eastern Bus Station. Alternatively, Dire Dawa International Airport is the nearest air link. Before you go, sit once more among residents and children in the city, and let the mix of Ethiopian and Arabic sounds close your three days in Harar.