With just the brew of altitude and precipitation, the terraced slopes of the Zona Cafetera yield nearly half of Colombia’s coffee crop on just over 1% of the country’s total area. The conjunction of agreeable temperatures, lush green valleys, and impressive snow-capped peaks make it perfectly adapted for curious travelers as well.
Villa de Leyva is where time stands still. Declared a national monument in 1954, the town has been preserved in its entirety and virtually no modern architecture exists. The result is a colonial town par excellence - a place where the streets are still cobbled and the walls still whitewashed. It’s easy to see the [...]
Often overlooked by travelers rushing on to illa de Leyva, Tunja, the capital of Boyacá and a bustling student center, has plenty to offer the discerning tourist, with fine colonial architecture, an imposing central square and elegant mansions adorned with some of South America’s most unique artwork.
Like San Agustín, Tierradentro is a remote and enchanted place where green, mist-shrouded hills hold the remains of a civilization that disappeared centuries before Europeans first arrived here. Whereas San Agustín is noted for its statuary, Tierradentro is remarkable for its elaborate underground tombs. So far, archeologists have discovered about a hundred of these unusual [...]
From the sultry, palm-filled Valle del Cauca to the barren grandeur of the Andes, southwest Colombia encompasses an astonishing variety of natural beauty. Along the coast, mangrove swamps and long sand beaches give way almost immediately to dense jungle. Yet a little over 100km inland stand the snowy slopes of the towering Nevado de Huila [...]
Santa Marta’s grace as a colonial city has faded under newer concrete buildings, but its proximity to the sea still makes it an attractive destination. For Colombians, this is one of the most popular tourist towns in the country, offering liberal amounts of sun, rum and long stretches of sandy beachfront property.
Set in a lush, low-lying and steaming hot valley near the banks of the Río Cauca, Santa Fe de Antioquia is the region’s oldest settlement - and its best preserved. Found-ed in 1541 by Jorge Robledo, it served as the capital of Antioquia until 1826, when the government moved to Medellín.
For a small city, San Gil packs a lot punch. With the riverside Parque El Gallineral, a quaint 300-year-old town square and a host of ecoadventure tours ranging from rafting to rappeling, there’s no shortage of things to do and see.
Geographically near Nicaragua, historically tied to England and politically part of Colombia, the islands of San Andrés and Providencia may at first glance seem a little schizophrenic. But after experiencing its isolated beaches, pristine coral reefs and unique island flavor, there is no doubting the reasons to visit the far-flung archipelago.
Covered in coconut palms and cut by sharp ravines that turn into rivers after rain, the seahorse-shaped San Andrés is the largest island in the archipelago, covering 27 sq km. It’s the main commercial and administrative center of the archipelago. As the only transport hub to the mainland, it’s the first and last place you [...]