🇪🇷 Eritrea

10 best places in Asmara

A UNESCO World Heritage city, Asmara is a living museum of Art Deco and Italian Rationalist architecture, with palm-lined boulevards, landmark cinemas and cafés that feel frozen in the 1930s.

Sight

Fiat Tagliero Building

A futurist former petrol station from 1938, its concrete cantilever wings spanning 30 metres without support.

Sight

Cinema Impero

One of the city's most iconic Art Deco landmarks, a cinema built in 1937.

Sight

Cattedrale di Nostra Signora del Rosario

A 1922 Lombard Romanesque-style Catholic cathedral whose bell tower overlooks all of Asmara.

Sight

Al Khulafa Al Rashiudin Mosque

A three-minaret mosque blending Islamic design with Art Deco touches.

District

Harnet Avenue

The city's palm-lined main boulevard, lined with cafés, shops and colonial-era façades.

Museum

National Museum of Eritrea

The national museum, covering the country's history, archaeology and culture.

Market

Medebar Market

A scrap-metal market where craftsmen turn old metal into new tools and household goods.

Café

Bar Zilli

A historic Italian-style café serving espresso and pastries in pre-war Asmara fashion.

Sight

Asmara Municipality Building

The city hall, another fine example of Italian-era Rationalist architecture.

Restaurant

Ristorante Casa degli Italiani

An Italian restaurant in a historic social club, a popular dinner spot downtown.

FAQ

Is Asmara worth visiting?

If you are into architecture and rare destinations, absolutely: it is a UNESCO-listed city of 1930s Italian modernism, where the Fiat Tagliero building and Cinema Impero survive almost untouched. There are few tourists and modest infrastructure, but the streets are calm, the coffee is excellent, and the evening stroll along Harnet Avenue is its own ritual. This is a trip for patient travellers, not an easy holiday.

Is it hard to get an Eritrea visa?

Yes. Visas are arranged in advance through an embassy, often with an invitation or confirmed tour, and refusals happen. Separately you need travel permits to leave Asmara, obtained locally and not granted for every destination. Rules and practice shift, so plan with a lot of time to spare.

Is Asmara safe?

Street crime is low and the city feels calm even late in the evening, better on that count than many capitals in the region. The caution is elsewhere: photographing military and government sites is forbidden, and movement around the country is controlled. It is also wise to leave political topics out of conversations with locals.

How do money and internet work in Eritrea?

It is a cash economy: foreign cards and ATMs are effectively unusable, so bring currency and change it officially, keeping the receipts. The internet is slow and restricted and mobile data is awkward for visitors, so download maps and bookings offline. Do not expect the usual level of online booking or service.