Asmara's main draw is its extraordinary collection of early twentieth-century architecture, scattered across a compact and walkable city centre. The Italian colonial buildings range from Rationalist to Art Deco to Futurist, and the whole ensemble earned UNESCO World Heritage status in 2017. Beyond the architecture, the city has good museums, lively markets, and some of the best cafe culture in East Africa.
Liberation Avenue stretches from the Government Administrative Center to September First Stadium and is lined with landmarks: the Asmara Theatre (1918), the Catholic Cathedral (1922), the Supreme Court, the Central Bank, and a parade of Art Deco cinemas. In the late afternoon, the avenue fills with residents on their evening passeggiata, stopping at cafes for macchiatos and fruit juice.
The single must-see piece of Futurist architecture is the Fiat Tagliero, a former filling station shaped like an aeroplane on the western side of the centre. The Cinema Impero on Liberation Avenue is the finest surviving Art Deco cinema. The mosque, cathedral, and Coptic Enda Mariam stand within a kilometre of each other and capture the religious balance of the city in three buildings.
For something less obvious, the Medeber recycling market and the Tank Graveyard on the northern outskirts give a very different feel of the city — the practical, post-war, post-colonial side. The Italian-era railway, restored after independence, still occasionally runs steam trains down the spectacular descent to Massawa.