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