Bahir Dar weather by month

The best time to visit Bahir Dar is November to January — 97/100 in December, 25°C and 1 rainy day. The best season is the dry season, October to May (89/100 on average).

The worst month is July at 59/100 — nice, soaked, clean air. See July →

Updated September 2026 · climate normals from ERA5 reanalysis

Planning the wider trip? Best time to visit Ethiopia →

Bahir Dar🇪🇹 Ethiopia · Horn of Africa · City97
  1. 94Jan
  2. 90Feb
  3. 86Mar
  4. 84Apr
  5. 80May
  6. 69Jun
  7. 59Jul
  8. 60Aug
  9. 66Sep
  10. 88Oct
  11. 96Nov
  12. 97Dec

Best season: October to May (89/100 on average) · worst July (59/100)

Days
25°C
Nights
14°C
Wet days
1
Sun
10.7 h
Humidity
60%
Daylight
12 h
Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
Photo: Geertchaos · CC BY-SA 4.0

Bahir Dar, month by month

Comfort score out of 100 for the kind of trip Bahir Dar is best for, the average high, rainy days and hours of sun a day from the climate normals, and how busy it tends to be.

MonthScoreTierHighRainSunCrowdsOn
Jan94S26°C0 d11 hPeak4
Feb90S27°C1 d11 hShoulder2
Mar86A29°C1 d11 hShoulder2
Apr84A28°C5 d11 hBusy3
May80A26°C14 d11 hBusy3
Jun69C24°C23 d10 hShoulder—
Jul59D22°C31 d8 hQuiet1
Aug60C21°C31 d8 hQuiet1
Sep66C23°C26 d10 hQuiet2
Oct88A23°C12 d11 hShoulder1
Nov96S24°C3 d11 hBusy1
Dec97S25°C1 d11 hBusy2

What's on in Bahir Dar through the year

Festivals, natural spectacles, holidays and the seasons to watch out for — curated and sourced. The month pages carry the detail.

January
  • Genna6–8 JanFestival
  • Timkat on Lake Tana18–20 JanFestival
February
  • Abiy Tsom, the Great Lent16 Feb – 11 AprRule
April
  • Fasika5 Apr – 5 May (usually)Festival
July
  • Blue Nile Falls in full flow15 Jul – 15 Oct (usually)Nature
September
  • Meskel26–28 SepFestival
November
  • Tsome Nebiyat, the Advent fast24 Nov – 6 JanRule
December
  • Blue Nile Falls at low water1 Dec – 31 May (usually)Nature

Everything on in Bahir Dar through the year →

Crowds in Bahir Dar in December

How busy the place itself is — school and mass holidays, the months an editor tagged, and how sought-after the weather makes them. Never part of the comfort score.

Busyschool holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather(estimated)

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak crowdsBusyShoulder seasonQuiet

Traveller notes on Bahir Dar

What people who have been say about the place — the year-round notes first, then month by month.

Ethiopia's forum notes that June is genuinely wetter than the dry months but still comes in lighter than the true peak of the rainy season in July and August. For Bahir Dar specifically, posters said a good share of the rain falls at night, leaving days usable for excursions like the Blue Nile Falls, and that the wet season mostly means lusher scenery and thinner crowds rather than trips getting derailed. It's not a dry-season visit by any measure, but forum regulars were consistent that June rain here causes real but limited disruption.
BlueNileRegular · June · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗
Forum posters consistently name November and December as among the best months to visit Ethiopia, sitting right after the rains end with green countryside and good visibility for sightseeing. Posters describe Bahir Dar itself, on the southern tip of Lake Tana at around 1,830m elevation, as having a genuinely comfortable climate that's earned it a reputation among domestic tourists as something of an 'Ethiopian Riviera' - a real draw alongside the lake and Blue Nile river views. Posters visiting in early December specifically noted very few mosquitoes in the north this time of year, a practical upside of the dry-season timing. Posters generally rate December as a reliable, comfortable month for exploring Bahir Dar's monasteries and the nearby Blue Nile Falls.
Tripadvisor community · December · 1 month ago · Read more on Tripadvisor ↗

Add your own note from Bahir Dar's card on the map.