Unique Colombia Tour

Day 1: Arrive in Bogotá – Welcome to Colombia

Welcome to Bogotá! You will be picked up at El Dorado Airport by our prepared private transportation service and taken to your hotel. You can relax during your approximately 30-45 minutes drive to your hotel. On the way to your hotel, your English-speaking guide can give you all the recommendations you may like in order to get the most of your stay in Colombia. Bogotá is a diverse and multicultural city with a blend of modern and colonial architecture. The predominant colors in Bogotá are the green of the city’s many parks and the eastern mountains overlooking the sanctuaries of Monserrate and Guadalupe.

🏚️ Accommodation: Best Western Plus 93 Park Hotel.

Day 2: Farmers Market & Discover Bogotá (B, L)

Savoring Paloquemao (20 of the best food tours around the world by The Guardian) – “This is where Bogotá’s top chefs come shopping,”
Browse Paloquemao market’s stalls for fruity tropical bounties such as guanábana (soursop), feijoa, pitahaya (dragonfruit), and lulo piled up in perfect pyramids. The iconic market square of Bogotá is a must. Whether to try a steaming almojábana, buy a freshly rose-cut or undertake the search for that unknown fruit you tried in the delicious juice in the morning. Immerse yourself in the delicious flavors of Colombia.
• Meet & Greets with chefs, producers, and owners.
• Tasting of amasijos, fruits, artisan cheeses, local fruit juice *, empanada *, and popular dish (tamale or suckling pig).
• Visit the square and the Paloquemao flower market.
• Ingredients walk: Includes stops at stalls of tubers, vegetables, vegetables, avocados, herbs, and peppers.
• Lunch in La Candelaria
You will then visit the Colón Theater, San Carlos Palace, San Ignacio Church, Nariño Presidential Palace, Bolívar Square, City Hall and the Cathedral. Also, enjoy a visit to the Museo de Oro (Gold Museum). After you have experienced these treasures of the city, you will enjoy a wonderful view of a cable car ride to Monserrate hill. *Please take note that the Gold Museum is closed on Mondays. We do not operate Monserrate on Sundays due to the number of devotees visiting the hill this day. Instead, we visit the Botero Museum.

🏚️ Accommodation: Best Western Plus 93 Park Hotel.

Day 3: The Salt Cathedral & Guatavita Lake (B, L)

Transfer to the town of Zipaquirá located 49 kilometers from Bogotá. On the way, panoramic view of the Sabana countryside and El Puente del Común. Upon arrival, we will have a preferential entrance to the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá considered the first wonder of Colombia. Inside we will visit the stations of the Cross, the Dome, the Narthex labyrinth, and the three naves. After visiting the mine, a short city tour around the colonial town of Zipaquira.
Afterward, we will visit the Lake of Guatavita, a sacred place for the Muiscas, where the legend of El Dorado was born. This is the place where the indigenous immersed their selves, covered in gold, to make offerings to their gods. Return to the hotel.

🏚️ Accommodation: Best Western Plus 93 Park Hotel.

*It requires a minimum level of hiking. You can either choose to visit the beautiful town of Guatavitá. Guatavita Lake is closed on Mondays.

Day 4: Fly to Medellín (B)

You will be picked up at the airport by our prepared private transportation service and taken to your hotel. You can relax during your approximately 30-45 minutes drive to your hotel. You will be free the rest of the day to spend your time o your own.

🏚️ Accommodation: Díez Hotel or similar.

Day 5: Adventure On A Coffee Farm & Discover Medellín (B, L)

After you’ve had some time to enjoy breakfast at the hotel, you’ll head out for a cultural experience on an authentic working coffee farm 45 minutes from Medellin. You’ll pass through Antioquia’s gorgeous green landscape on your way to the farm. At the coffee farm, you’ll learn the entire process of making coffee from the plant to the cup and you’ll get to know the daily life of Colombian coffee cooperatives that still produce coffee in a traditional and fairway.
The coffee Finca (farm) that you visit is very typical of many small family businesses in Colombia that produce an exclusive coffee that, of course, you will get to taste. You’ll stroll through the coffee plantation as the farm manager explains the origins of coffee, starting with growing the healthiest plants through to collecting the red coffee cherries that are eventually processed into dried green coffee beans. After building up a healthy appetite from the fresh country air, you’ll sit down for a hearty and delicious traditional Colombian-style lunch.
When your appetite is satisfied, you’ll learn about the roasting process that takes the odorless green coffee bean and converts it into the rich brown bean that we all know and love; full of flavor and succulent aroma. Listen closely as the coffee farmer explains the key characteristics of a great coffee, both in scent and taste, and shares how to prepare a great cup of coffee at home.
After seeing the involved, manual process required to grow, harvest, dry, roast, grind, and then brew a cup of coffee you’ll never take this everyday drink for granted again. At the end of the tour, you’ll have the opportunity to buy freshly roasted coffee straight from its source, the perfect souvenir from Colombia to share with family & friends (or drink all on your own)!
In the afternoon, you will discover the beautiful city of Medellín, start your day along the river avenue and arriving at the city center where we will visit the Plaza San Antonio, Botero square, entrance to the Museum of Antioquia, then, step to the metro station where we will take a panoramic tour to the metro station cable, there we will approach this transportation system and climb up to the commune of Santo Domingo wise, where we will make a cultural interpretation tour reaching the viewpoint of the city. Return to the University station where we will have assistance from the specialized driver.

🏚️ Accommodation: Díez Hotel or similar.

Day 6: Traditional Silleteros & Comuna 13 (B, L)

Today, you will visit the El Pensamiento “Silletera” farm where you will get acquainted with the whole process of making a “Silleta”. Prior to this, we will take a panoramic tour through Placita de Flórez, a market square in the city where farmers (“Silleteros”) commercialized products and flowers they produced in their plots.
“Silleteros” are closely linked to the history of Antioquia because when roads were impassable, they did not allow the use of pack animals. “Silleteros” with their ingenuity achieved the exchange of products and mobilization of people on their backs (with saddles).
Today, we have traces of such a wonderful culture in our region. We continue with the Route to Santa Elena and Arví Park to visit a famous and traditional farmers’ market where you will be able to buy several products and crafts from the village.
Finally, we will arrive at El Pensamiento, a “Silletera” where you will enjoy the history, culture, traditions about the elaboration of a saddle (similar to those that go out to the “Silleteros” Parade every year, in the framework of The Fair of Flowers), to continue with a delicious typical lunch.
*The farmer’s market closes on the first day of the week. In that case, you will visit the main park of Santa Elena.

In the afternoon, you will visit the “Comuna 13” (commune 13) carrying outa historical, aesthetic, and political tour designed and executed by some street artists of the hip-hop movement of that area. Through graffiti, stories that move and inspire hope, and the search for better living conditions for the community are shown. After, a short trip by metro and Metrocable from where you can see an unparalleled panoramic view of the city will follow. At the end of the day, you will return to your hotel.

🏚️ Accommodation: Díez Hotel or similar.

Day 7: El Peñol & Guatapé (B, L)

Today, you will be going through the municipality of Peñol until reaching Guatapé, The most colorful town in Colombia. Guatapé offers a peaceful break from the city, while also featuring a stunning panoramic view of nature and the surrounding scenery from the top of its hill.
Start with the beautiful view of the reservoir that provides 30% of the energy of Colombia and has an extension of 64 km2. Visit the Rock of Guatapé which is approximately 220 meters high, and optionally with additional cost, you can climb 649 steps until you reach the viewpoint with a 360-degree view of the Guatapé reservoir and its neighboring lands.
Then, you will be transferred to Guatapé, the most colorful town in Colombia. It is also one of the most colorful towns in the world. In fact, you’d have to try pretty hard to find a street in Guatapé that wasn’t worthy of being admired and photographed!
Enjoy a walk through the streets, where a specialized guide will inform you about the history of typical houses, its ¨zocalos¨, and this unique culture.

🏚️ Accommodation: Díez Hotel or similar.

Day 8: Fly to Santa Marta (B)

You will be picked up at the airport by our prepared private transportation service and taken to your hotel. You can relax during your approximately 60-90 minutes drive to your hotel.

🏚️ Accommodation: Hotel Villa María Tayrona or similar.

Day 9: Tayrona National Park (B, L)

Tayrona National Park – a sanctuary of nature and archaeological remains that invite an encounter with oneself. Mangrove swamps, corals, algae prairies, thorny scrubland, and magical dry, humid, and cloud forests proliferate and are home to a surprising variety of vegetal and animal species that bear witness to life.
Flora and fauna observations are especially interesting here, especially birdwatching, which includes the threatened Andean condor. Aside from its natural and archaeological attractions, Tayrona Natural Park is a great site for eco-tourism, thanks to the diversity of its sea waves and diving sites. The Chairman archaeological site is known as Pueblito and the stone paths that lead to it are very attractive to tourists.
The Tayrona Natural Park is home to over 100 mammal species, among them howling monkeys, pumas, deer, and several species of bats. Over 300 bird species coexist with them, condors and lone and white eagles, being the main ones.
The park is also home to 31 reptiles, 15 amphibia, 202 sponges, 471 crustacea, and more than 1,000 more marine species. Dolphins and marine turtles are frequent visitors; the latter for the purpose of spawning.
Today, you will enjoy two hours of hiking trail each way (medium level), where you can appreciate the beauty of the beautiful park and be submerge into their jungle and waters.

🏚️ Accommodation: Hotel Villa María Tayrona or similar.

Day 10: Taironaka and The Valencia Waterfall (B, L)

Today, you will be picked up at your hotel to take you for an hour’s drive to the Valencia Waterfall. Here, you will be taken for a 25-minute walk along the trail surrounded by the flora and fauna of the region. This trail will lead you to a beautiful waterfall.
Later, you will be taken for a 40-minute drive to Taironaka parking, then a 10 minutes ride on a boat will take you to a natural reserve located on the shores of the river Don Diego where you will be able to see the terraces where the Tayrona Indians used to build their homes.
In Taironaka you will have the opportunity to swim in the waters descending from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta to the river.

🏚️ Accommodation: Hotel Villa María Tayrona or similar.

Day 11: Transfer to Cartagena & Enjoy Getsemaní (B, D)

Today, you will be picked up at your hotel in the Tayrona Area and you will be taken to your hotel in Cartagena. Relax in car service during your approximately 4-5 hours drive, enjoy beautiful landscapes during your road trip.
Welcome to the beautiful city of Cartagena! It is time to enjoy this beautiful walled city at night through the traditional neighborhood of Getsemani. Live the bohemian environment of the place while you admire its streets decorated with graffiti.
Then, visit Trinidad square where you can enjoy the magic of the nocturnal life and some street shows. In the end, you’ll enjoy dinner in a local restaurant.

🏚️ Accommodation: Hotel Santa Catalina or similar.

Day 12: Discover Cartagena (B, D)

The reason the city is designed like a fortress is that it was the principal shipping port of gold from the New World back to Spain. The stone ramparts helped protect it from countless pirate attacks, including from the most famous of all: Sir Francis Drake. On top of this history, you will visit myriad plazas, the church and the monastery of San Pedro Claver, the Basilica Minor cathedral, and you’ll stroll along narrow cobbled streets lined with colonial houses featuring bougainvilia-draped balconies.
Visit the modern neighborhoods of Bocagrande and Manga. You will see the contrast between modern architecture and the beauty of the old houses from the twentieth century. Then, you will visit the Castle where the Spaniards sought to protect the city from the attacks of the English in the seventeenth century, “El Castillo De San Felipe de Barajas”.

The warmth and tastiness of Cartagena’s cuisines are mainly due to the generosity of the local cooks. For this experience, local families open the doors of their homes and kitchens so you can learn how to prepare firsthand the most authentic dishes of Cartagena’s recipe books: from bites to a full menu.
Step away from mainstream tours and get inside the most authentic kitchens in local neighborhoods and family homes. Take your apron out and learn how to cook like a true Cartagenian with traditional techniques in a festive ambient. A completely local experience! Connect with Cartagena and its gastronomic culture in one of the most authentic experiences possible: its heart and true flavor. Feel at home in the kitchens of family houses and add with your hand new flavors to your personal collection!
Prepare the most emblematic recipes of traditional cuisine. This experience is designed to discover authentic recipes.
Refreshing welcome drink (fruit-based). It will be available during the entire class.
Step by step cooking class of the recipe/ menu of your choice. The class will be guided by a traditional cook. We encourage all guests to partake in all the preparations. Local fruit drinks. Table service. All experiences, food, and beverages are included.

🏚️ Accommodation: Hotel Santa Catalina or similar.

Day 13: Majagua Island (B, L)

Indulge yourself in the warm, crystal waters of the Caribbean. You will be picked up from your hotel and taken to the Pier. The Rosario Islands are an archipelago made up of 27 islands, located 45 minutes from Cartagena in a National Park on the Colombian Caribbean coast. They are only about an hour from the beautiful city of Cartagena. Beautiful, diverse, and well worth a visit, for a day or even longer.
The Rosario Islands are an integral part of one of Colombia’s most important national parks. The only park in the country that is primarily underwater. As such, the islands and surrounding waters are remarkably well preserved and protected, meaning that you can enjoy their wonders as nature intended.
San Pedro de Majagua Island, Cartagena: Enjoy lunch at San Pedro de Majagua, located on Isla Grande, and owes its name to Pierre Daguet, a French painter who in 1955 created his house and studio there. You’ll enjoy coral beaches and a variety of fauna of the reef, ideal for relaxing and swimming.

🏚️ Accommodation: Hotel Santa Catalina or similar.

Day 14: Depart Cartagena (B)

It’s time to say goodbye to Colombia! Enjoy your last morning in Cartagena with a leisurely breakfast and walk along the sea. A representative will meet you at your hotel and drive you to the airport for your connecting flight home.
Come again!