Best of Colombia
This wonderfully varied family holiday really does tick off all the key highlights of Colombia in an exciting two-week trip. From colourful Salento, you will experience the famous coffee zone with its towering wax palm trees and plantation scenery. Then head to Medellin for a graffiti tour of the once infamous Comuna 13 and to climb the dramatic El Penol rock. End on the Caribbean – first the tropical coastline at Tayrona National Park followed by the truly beguiling and beautiful city of Cartagena. Then time at the beach where the hardest decision is which Caribbean island to choose?!
Highlights
Hiking in the Coffee Zone
The scenic town of Salento
Insiders’ tour of Medellin
Tayrona National Park
Cartagena’s delights
Caribbean beach paradise
15 days from £3,500 pp
Plus international flights from £1,200
As a guide, a two-week holiday in Colombia for a family of four usually costs from £14,000 plus flights, depending on style of accommodation.
Best of Colombia day-by-day itinerary
Day 1 Salento
Bienvenida to the gorgeous country of Colombia! Arrive into either Pereira or Armenia and transfer to Salento, one of the most beautiful villages in the Zona Cafetera, the coffee zone. There are narrow streets lined with brightly painted buildings and a multitude of excellent cafes, artisan craft shops and souvenir stalls. An absolute must during your stay has to be Salento’s famous garlic river trout!
Bienvenida to the gorgeous country of Colombia! Arrive into either Pereira or Armenia and transfer to Salento, one of the most beautiful villages in the Zona Cafetera, the coffee zone. There are narrow streets lined with brightly painted buildings and a multitude of excellent cafes, artisan craft shops and souvenir stalls. An absolute must during your stay has to be Salento’s famous garlic river trout!
Day 2 Wax Palm Valley
An exciting day as you head up into the mountains by ‘Willy jeep’, an iconic vehicle that is ideally suited to the rugged terrain.
Your destination is a valley that is much more remote than the famous Cocora Valley, and far less visited. The bumpy road wends its way ever higher through a stunning landscape of coffee plantations, pine forest and grazing pasture, across a high mountain pass (3,450m) with views of the Cordillera Central and the snow-capped live volcanoes of Los Nevados National Park before descending down into a lush and fertile valley.
Here the sides of the valley are covered in wax palms, the tallest palm trees in the world. These trees grow up to 60m in height so will make the kids feel absolutely minuscule in comparison. Take a hike through the palm groves, spotting the numerous colourful hummingbirds. You will enjoy a picnic lunch whilst learning about the fascinating flora and fauna of the area.
Return back to Salento and enjoy some time in this colourful town. This is a great place to buy souvenirs or just grab a table in the town plaza and enjoy watching the world go by.
Day 3 Wildlife and Coffee
This morning you will take a hike in a small private nature reserve not far from Salento. The reserve is wonderfully pristine with giant white umbrella trees, fragrant eucalyptus and towering cypress. Colombia has the world’s largest number of bird species and more than 300 are found in this area; the hills of the reserve are alive with the warbling of motmots, woodpeckers and trogons, as well as the distinctive call of howler monkeys. Your guide will take you on quiet trails through the reserve – keep your eyes peeled for monkeys, birds, insects and bright red poison dart frogs.
Take lunch in the pretty town of Filandia, its brightly painted houses a colourful contrast to the surrounding verdant mountains. You can have a wander along the narrow streets, stopping to browse in the shops or enjoying an ice cream in one of the many cafes.
In the afternoon, visit a local finca (coffee plantation). This area is in the heart of Colombia’s world-famous coffee-growing region and many of the estates are now open to visitors. This enables you to learn about the process of producing coffee, all the way from crop to cup. Enjoy a walk through the plantation, then see first-hand how the beans are processed before finishing up sampling a steaming hot cup of the finished product.
Day 4 Medellin
Fly to Medellin, a culturally dynamic and diverse city – known as ‘the City of Eternal Spring’. Medellin is a symbol of Colombia’s renaissance. Thirty years ago, this was the most dangerous place in the world, with violence fuelled by warring drug cartels. Today, it’s a wonderfully attractive city, the many plazas dotted with palm trees and bronze sculptures by Botero (Colombia’s most famous artist).
There are lively shopping streets full of stalls, perfect for buying (excellent) fake trainers, football shirts and jewellery as well as leafy suburbs where outdoor living is elevated to an art form, with enticing cafes and restaurants that spill out onto the street.
This evening head to the popular El Poblado district and take on Medellin’s most famous traditional dish, the bandeja paisa. This waistline-challenging plate consists of rice, eggs, beans, meat, chorizo, and avocado and brings a new meaning to the phrase ‘a healthy portion’…
Day 5 Medellin
Start the morning by visiting La Minorista, a large traditional market where you can taste up to 15 different fruits, most of which you have probably never heard of. You will then take a graffiti tour of the infamous Comuna 13, once considered the most dangerous neighbourhood in the world under the rule of the ‘narco’ Pablo Escobar.
Graffiti is not only about strong artistic and cultural elements; it is a way of political expression. This tour is led by the local artists themselves and gives you an insight into the history and daily life in this area and the importance of street art for social communication and identity. This superb tour can be enjoyed on many different levels – older teens will appreciate the drug history and political expression the street art displays, and younger ones will love the explosions of colour and artistry enveloping them.
Read More Days 6 Guatape and El Peñol The Peñol Boulder is one of the most spectacular destinations in the surrounding area of Medellín. A huge ten-million-ton rock that rears 200 metres up out of a lush landscape. There is a crack up the side in which has been wedged a switchback staircase that you can climb (740 steps!) for views of vividly-coloured rivers and lakes with a mountain backdrop – known locally as the ‘best view in the world’. Back on the ground, continue to Guatapé, a vibrantly coloured town preserved in time, where every building is a work of art. Local residents paint their houses in gorgeous bright colours and decorate the bottom of every building with fresco-like panels called ‘zocalos’. Some call it the most colourful town in the world. Day 7 Santa Marta and the Caribbean Coast Day 8 Tayrona National Park You will head into the park on foot, following a path through the jungle to Cabo San Juan, a place famous for a scenic hill that stands in the middle of the sea. Keep your eyes peeled for howler and capuchin monkeys along the way. You’ll walk along beaches and through tropical forest, stopping for fresh fruit breaks and quick dips in the sea (in the safe swim spots). There will be plenty of free time to have lunch and enjoy the beautiful sandy beach at Cabo San Juan before reversing your route back to the entrance (horseback optional). Day 9 River Tubing The rest of the day is free to relax. Day 10-11 Cartagena – Volcanic mud bath and cookery class Cartagena is known as the jewel of the Caribbean and definitely a highlight of any trip to Latin America. The main centre is encircled by huge stone walls more than 13km in length and contains a wonderful maze of ancient alleyways, colonial churches, colourful piazzas and brightly painted houses. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a very family-friendly place to explore on a guided walking tour. You will also enjoy getting ‘stuck in’ on an immersive culinary experience. Cartageneros are proud of their Caribbean cuisine. Apart from tasting it, what would be better than learning how to cook seafood, coconut rice and other specialities of Cartagena’s gastronomy by yourself? At the local Bazurto market, your chef will help you buy all the ingredients then head to the cooking school, in the lively area of Getsemani where you will learn how to prepare the typical dishes – and enjoy the results! Optional activities include rum and chocolate tasting, a drumming class or, for the Strictly Come Dancing fans out there, a salsa tour. In the evenings you can watch the sunset from Café del Mar, have a bite to eat in the famous La Cevicheria, one of the best ceviche and fish restaurants in the city and (for older families) absorb the nightlife from Café Havana. Day 12-14 Caribbean Beach Find yourself a sun-lounger or a hammock, put your feet up, and relax! Days 15 – Cartagena
Today you will enjoy a wonderful full-day excursion to El Peñol and the picturesque town of Guatapé.
Take a flight to Santa Marta – hello humidity! Sitting on the edge of the Caribbean, white sandy beaches are flanked by palm trees whilst behind, a wall of snow-capped mountains rises more than 5,000m high creating a very unique ecosystem. Transfer along the coast to your tropical hotel.
Tayrona National Park is one of the gems in Colombia’s crown, a swathe of rich jungle perched between the blue waters of the Caribbean and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta range. Sandy white beaches surrounded by mangrove swamps, bushes and forests and bathed in the crystal-clear water of the Caribbean Sea, are all part of the park’s many attractions. It is also a protected marine reserve and Colombia’s best-known conservation area.
An enjoyable morning as you head into the countryside around Tayrona, to the beautiful Don Diego river. Take an easy hike into the forest, home to many howler monkeys and macaws, to a small eco-lodge on the banks of the river. Here you will meet your guide and start floating down the river on a giant tube. The views are gorgeous, with the river fringed by groves of bamboo, banana palms and giant ficus trees. You can float at your own pace, stopping to swim for some sections before gently continuing to float down the river.
Drive along the Caribbean coast to Cartagena stopping at Totumo Volcano en route. This is the smallest volcano in the world that you can climb and at the top, take a real mud bath. Feel the health benefits for your skin from the millions of minerals. Some people say you will look 10 years younger!
The best thing to do when you’re in the Caribbean? Head to the beach! You have a choice of Baru Island, home to the famous Playa Blanca, which certainly lives up to its name as one of Colombia’s most beautiful beaches, or Mucura Island, an idyllic coral island and part of the San Bernardo archipelago.
Transfer back to Cartagena for your flight home. Farewell to the Caribbean coast, Andes and coffee lands of Colombia!
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