Asmara's main attraction is its colonial Italian architecture. The palm-lined main street "Independence Avenue" is colloquially referred to as "Kombishtato" a creol of the neighbourhood's original name: Campo di Citta. It is full of cafés, bars, shops and old cinemas, and it makes for a nice mile long stroll between the north end of this avenue where the "half" stadium is you'll know when you see half a bleacher and the south end facing the Nyala Hotel, the city's tallest building. Asmara's colourful and bustling marketplace lies behind the cathedral on the road to its right as seen when standing in front of the cathedral's main entrance on Independence Avenue. It's a great place to learn how to haggle and buy some souvenirs.
From the café on the top floor of the Nyala Hotel, one has a great view of the city while enjoying a nice well-chilled beer. The beer is exceptionally good in Asmara, aptly called "Asmara Beer". Behind the hotel on a quieter street is the National Museum, with an impressive collection spanning the six millennia of the land's civilization.
On Massawa Road near the outskirts of the city, lies the Biet Ghiorghis Zoo and Park area, famous for its scenery of the eastern escarpment. The Zoo itself is rather sad. Further down the road, one reaches Bar Durfo, a bar and café perched on a cliff overlooking the dramatic precipice of the Asmara - Massawa highway. You will need a car or taxi to get beyond the last stop of the No. 1 bus, Biet Ghiorghis, to Bar Durfo.
Another place to see is the dramatic highland landscape on the eastern escarpment. Additionally, one can see a traditional Eritrean highland village in the village of Tselot which means 'prayer' and is also famous for being the President's village. Tselot lies about 20 km 12 mi outside the city center and is served by one of the red city buses departing from a section of the marketplace called "Meda Eritrea". You should leave as early as possible because there are only a couple of buses per day so you have to make sure you have a way to get back. The rural highland lifestyle in Tselot resembles Biblical times: stone houses, small plots, ancient temples both Christian and Muslim, people farming and herding with traditional means using little technology, transporting their goods as well as themselves on mule- and camelback.
Within walking distance of the village, is the Martyrs National Park, inaugurated in 2000. It is a mountainous forest and wildlife reserve at the ridge of the highland plateau. The landscape consists of an eerily quiet semi-arid plain in a valley, an extension of the highland plateau, interrupted by the dramatic chasm of the eastern ridge which the village center straddles. The views and scenery are spectacular. The highest viewpoint features chasms, gorges and mountaintops bathed by a sea of clouds, which gives one the impression of standing "above the clouds".
