Experience the best of Gonder

Gondar lies at about 2,100 metres in the Amhara highlands of northern Ethiopia, north of Lake Tana. Emperor Fasilides made it his capital in 1636, and over the next two centuries rulers added palaces, a library and banqueting halls to the Royal Enclosure, Fasil Ghebbi, a walled compound of stone castles listed by UNESCO. Its towers and battlements have led some to call the town the Camelot of Africa.

Fasilides' Bath, a stone pool shaded by trees, is filled with water each January for Timkat, the Epiphany festival, when thousands gather to celebrate. The church of Debre Berhan Selassie has a ceiling covered in rows of painted angels' faces. The Simien Mountains National Park, with high escarpments, gelada baboons and the rare walia ibex, lies to the north-east, and Lake Tana, with its island monasteries, to the south.

Injera, the sour flatbread of Ethiopia, comes with stews of lentils, beef or chicken, and the coffee ceremony, in which beans are roasted, ground and served in small cups, is part of daily life. The dry months run from October to May, and the rains of June to September turn the highlands green.