LO MEJOR DE COLOMBIA

Day 1 – Arrival to Bogota

You’ll arrive to Bogota and have a transfer to the Hotel.

Day 2 – CIty Tour of Bogotá

Colombia’s capital, Bogotá, is a city with both modern and antique features. La Candelaria, Bogotá’s historical center, is quite colorful. It is filled with cobblestone streets and small houses that add a certain decor to the neighborhood. On the other hand, the modern district of Bogotá has towered skyscrapers and a couple of parks laid around the city. To get a better view of the city, you can go to Cerro Monserrate. You can visit the Plaza de Bolivar, where a statue of the great liberator Simon Bolivar is located. This plaza, originally called the Plaza Mayor, was used for civil and military purposes, as a marketplace, as bull ring and gallows.

Day 3 – Guatavita and Zipaquira

Depart from Bogotá and head north passing the towns of Tocancipá and Gachancipá, where you’ll eventually stop to visit Guatavita town.

Visit the town of Guatavita and the lake of Tominé, striking with its white painted houses, a beautiful square and tranquility feeling. Sunday is market day and so there is much more activity in town.  After lunch, you’ll depart towards Zipaquirá. After a journey of roughly 45 minutes, you’ll reach the impressive Salt Cathedral, a true achievement of engineering. The name Zipaquirá comes from Zipa, the leader of the Muisca tribe and the chief of these rich salt mines. The excursion begins by visiting the cathedral in a tunnel that passes the fourteen Stations of the Cross and continues to the dome. The dome is lit in such a way that it allows one to contemplate the universe and the relationship between man and nature. Later, you’ll reach the enormous cross carved into the saline rock, Carlos Enrique Rodriguez’s masterpiece. The cross found in the central nave of the Cathedral, stands tall at 16m in height and 10 meters in width. Later you will the salt mine where an amazing auditorium is located. It can seat up to two hundred people, host film screenings and events such as fashion shows.  Continue a 2-hour trip to Villa de Leyva in the afternoon. Upon arrival to Villa de Leyva you’ll check-in to the hotel.  Villa de Leyva, one of the area’s most beautiful towns, was founded in 1572 by Hernàn Suàrez de Villalobos who named it after Andres Dias Venero de Leyva, the first president of Nueva Granada. In colonial times, Villa de Leyva played a central role in independence developments. Today, the city is a colonial jewel with a main square measuring 14.000 m2 surrounded by Spanish style houses, small alleys, cobblestone streets and the XVII century parochial church.

Overnight: Posada de San Antonio

Option Plan: Bed & Breakfast Standard Room

Day. Villa de Leyva

You’ll have a full day in Villa de Leyva, and what better than to enjoy this colonial jewel by visiting its cultural and ecological attractions; the Colonial Art Museum, the Monastery and Convent del Carmen and the Museum of Maestro Acuña. He was an incredibly important painter, sculptor, and writer, who along with other artists, created the Bachué movement, which sought to recover the roots of the Chibcha ancestors. After that you’ll visit the Fossil Museum, founded in 1977 and located 5,5 km away from Villa de Leyva. It was built exactly at the place where a 120-million-year-old marine reptile was found. Nearby is the Desert Garden of Fibas, an ecological park specializing in desert flora, with attractions like the magic garden, a sun shower, and spectacular views. You will get the chance to bathe in the waterfalls and stargaze while sitting in the main square drinking “Canelazo”, a typical drink from the area.

Return to the hotel and overnight stay.

Overnight: Posada de San Antonio

Day 6.  Convent de Santo Ecce Homo and drive to Barichara

After breakfast, you can go to the Santo Ecce Homo Convent. Founded by the Dominicans in 1620, this was an important point of evangelization in a region populated by Indigenous communities. The stones laid on the floor were quarried nearby, and they contain tiny pieces of petrified material. After you finish the visit, you’ll head towards Barichara to the hotel.

Overnight: La Nube Posada

Day 7. Camino Real and Rafting

After breakfast, there will be a short trek through Camino Real Guane from Barichara to Guane town; we recommend you start early.  After that, you’ll leave from the jetty on the riverbanks of the River Fonce located 30 minutes from San Gil or Barichara, followed by a short walk to the start point. A technical debriefing will be given and then it’ll be time to start rafting. The trip takes place in an inflatable boat down a freshwater river. The descent is very gradual with no major drops, though over the course of 1 1/2 hours and 9 km long, you’ll experience strong rapids (Grade III) in the first section, gentle waters in the second and end with Grade II rapids before arriving in the San Gil Country Club. During the whole expedition the forest will be in plain sight as well as typical Santanderean landscapes.

Overnight: La Nube Posada

Day 8.  Arrival to Popayan

Early morning transfer from Barichara to Bucaramanga airport, followed by a flight to Bogota for your connection to Popayan.

Transfer Airport / Hotel Popayan.

The house where the hotel runs were commissioned in the mid-XVII century by Francisco Hurtado del Aguila as his residence. The house has undergone slight changes and restoration in some parts of the architecture, yet it keeps its original colonial style.

Overnight: in the Hotel la Plazuela

Day 9. Popayan

Half-Day City Tour Popayan (4 Hours)

You’ll have a half-day visit to the historic center of the town founded in 1537. Around the Parque Caldas are the main religious and government building, as well as the city’s original construction, such as the Torre del Reloj, considered one of the symbols of the city, built between 1673 and 1682 and finished in 1737. You’ll continue towards the Puente de Humilladero, built-in 1873.  The bridge was built to facilitate access from the city center to El Callejón (currently barrio Bolívar). You will visit the Santo Domingo church, a baroque style church designed by the Spanish architect Antonio García, as well as the Iglesia de San Francisco, considered the most beautiful baroque church in town are the main attraction.  Another interesting site is the Museo de Arte Religioso, which houses an interesting collection of religious art, and the Casa Museo Mosquera, the Settecento style house that belonged to General Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera.

Free afternoon.

Overnight: Hotel El Monasterio

Day 10.  San Agustín

You will have a transfer from Popayan to San Agustín, four and a half hours, and stay the night at Hacienda Anacaona. It is a two-story colonial coffee plantation house, with an eclectic decoration of antiques, old everyday objects and bamboo roofs and stairs. It is located in the outskirts of San Augustin, 3 km in distance.

Overnight: Hacienda Anacaona

Day 11. San Agustin Archeological Park and Arrival to Santa Marta

The day starts with a visit to San Agustín Archaeological Park, declared a Cultural World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1995. You will see the enormous stone statues and will walk to see the different man-made plateaus that have been built for the stone monuments. It is a place for ceremonies of high importance to the local people.  You will then walk on to the ceremonial Fuente de Lavapatas before heading up the hill to the Lavapatas terrace from which you will enjoy remarkable views over the surrounding countryside.

After the visit you will return to San Agustin and Pitalito for your flight back to Bogota with connection to Santa Marta.

Upon arrival to Santa Marta you will have a transfer to the Hotel.

Overnight: Hotel Casa Isabella

Day 12. Full-Day Tayrona National Park – Neguanje Beach 

You’ll leave early in the morning towards Taganga, then Riohacha and finally  Tayrona National Park, in the northeast.

The National Park is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and covers an area 17,000 km2. It has dreamlike sandy beaches lapped by turquoise blue waters, coral reefs, huge ocean boulders, densely rich jungle vegetation, mangroves, and the famous Ciudad Perdida (The Lost City).

The trip follows a winding road through the scenic tropical forest before opening out onto what is known as the Sea of the Seven Waves, a natural viewpoint from which one can enjoy the beautiful scenery.

After that, you’ll descend to the Playa de Neguanje into the Bay of Gayraca and hop onto a local boat where the fishermen will then sail around the cove to Playa Cristal. This beach stands out because of its extraordinary beauty and because it is an ideal place to enjoy the beauty of the coral reefs. Later in the day, you will return by boat to Gayraca Bay and back to Santa Marta or Taganga the same way.

Overnight: Hotel Casa Isabella

Note: there is a choice to stay overnight in Tayrona Park if the officials have given permission to the Hotels inside the Park to operate.

Day 13.  One day at leisure in Santa Marta

Enjoy your day at leisure, here you could go diving and make the best of your time in the Santa Marta region.

Overnight: Hotel Casa Isabella

Day 14 and 15.  Cartagena

In the morning transfer to Cartagena. Explore Cartagena on your own.

Overnight: Hotel Don Pedro de Heredia

Day 16.  Cartagena

City tour of Cartagena.   PM. Flight to Bogota for your connecting flight back home.

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