Bahardar, on the southern shores of Lake Tana, is a centre for boating excursions to the lake's islands and Tissisat Falls the most spectacular waterfall on the Blue Nile River.   
There are 37 islands dotted all over the lake and 30 of them house churches and monasteries of great cultural and historical interest.

The nearby monastery of Dek Stefanos contains a priceless collection of icons, manuscripts and the mummified remains of several Ethiopian emperors Yikino Amlak(1268-1283), Zara Yakob (1434-1468 ) and Fasiladas (1632-1665).

They contain beautiful manuscripts, objects of worship and crosses dating back to the dawn of Christianity

The nearest to Bahar Dar are the island of Zeghè with the monastery of Ura Kidane Meret which contains an impressive treasury of ancient illuminated Bibles in the Ge'ez script, and the church of Beta Giorgis, the monastery on the island of Narga Selassie (Dek), the monastery on the island of Dega Estefanos (accessible only to men), and the monastery on the island of Kebran Gabriel, which is one of the most fascinating on the lake (also accessible only to men).