A wonderful introduction to Colombia, "Highlights of Colombia" itinerary takes you to Bogota, the Coffee Region, Cartagena and the best of Caribbean coast in the north.

Arrive in Bogota from United States or from elsewhere in Latin America; there are frequent flights from Panama City and Quito. Spend no less than three nights, the Highlights of Colombia itinerary is based on 4 nights in the capital. From Bogota fly to the Coffee Region, to Pereira in Risaralda, stay four nights. From Pereira fly to Cartagena for 5 nights, plenty of fine accommodations to chose from, go to Rosario Islands, only a one-hour boat journey across Cartagena Bay, 2 nights, swim and snorkel, then return to Cartagena and from there proceed overland to Santa Marta and on to Tayrona National Park, where you’ll stay three nights in a remote, rustic cabana with stunning views of the ocean.

Highlights of Colombia Itinerary
21 days, 20 nights

Day 1: Surprising Bogota

Bogota lies roughly in the center of the country on a wide and fertile plain, over 8,500 feet above sea level. Despite its close proximity to the  Equator on account of the high elevation Bogota has pleasant moderate average temperatures throughout the year. Though studded with fine examples of colonial architecture as well as contemporary skyscrapers, charming neighborhoods, trendy clubs, restaurants and cafes, touring Bogota one gets surprised most with the variety and quality of its cultural scene. Bogota hosts a respected literary festival, an international theater festival, movie festival and a book fair. Its Rock al Parque, Rock in the Park, is hailed as the biggest rock festival in Latin America attended by over quarter million listeners. Opera and operetta (Zarzuela Season) takes place in May and June, jazz and contemporary dance festival during months of July and August. The film festival is in October, International Gastronomy Fair in November and Handcrafts Fair in December. First of January starts the bullfighting season. But it is not only culture and variety of events Bogota has carved a name for itself in Latin America and around the world. A cosmopolitan metropolis of some seven million people Bogota Mass Transit System is considered a model for any metropolitan transportation system and one of its unique features is an extensive bicycle paths network, the well-known Ciclovia.

Bogota is divided into four zones and 20 districts. The Central Zone is the heart of the city. It’s here that lies the historical area of La Candelaria as well as the key governmental, administrative and financial institutions. The business core extends into the Northern Zone where are also located some of Bogota’s most prominent museums and cultural institutions. This is the zone of cultural activities and fashionable neighborhoods, a focal point of the upscale Bogotenos. Southern Zone is the sector of blight and shanty towns, overcrowding and misery. Western Zone is the sector of industry, athletic parks and it’s also where the El Dorado International Airport is located.

Arrive in Bogota. Meet and greet at the airport, transfer to hotel and rest of your day at your own leisure.

Overnight in HOTEL CHARLESTON, located in the exclusive northern zone of Bogota.

Day 2: Sunday in Bogota’s La Candelaria

A full-day tour of Bogota’s historical La Candelaria neighborhood, the historic district centering around Bolivar Square, named after Simon Bolivar, the George Washington of Columbia. En route drive through the busy downtown area, past the Tequendama hotel, connected to the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar where drug deals often took place, past the Colpatria Towers, the second tallest building in Latin America. On the La Plaza de Bolivar visit the Cathedral, the seat of the Archbishop, admire the National Capitol where the Columbian Congress meets, as well as other government buildings. Walk along narrow cobblestone streets lined with fine colonial buildings with red tile roofs and overhanging balconies. Drive by the Palace of San Carlos (the Presidential Palace), the Teatro Colon and numerous churches of all denominations, from Franciscan and Dominican to those of Jesuits and Capuchins. Walk along Calle 10, a pedestrian zone, and mingle with thousands of Bogotenos, all out enjoying their Sunday out strolling the streets and plazas of La Candelaria, a favorite pastime.

Last drive up to top of El Cerro de Monserrate, a peak offering a grand view of the metropolis stretching across the landscape of a flat plain beneath it.

Overnight at Hotel Charleston.

Day 3: Bogota: rest, take a walk, bicycle, sample a terrific restaurant

Full day at your own leisure. Rest, walk around on your own, or we rent a bicycle for you and take you out cycling along one of world’s most remarkable networks of city bicycle paths, the Ciclovia. For dinner go to the restaurant of Andres Carne des Res, an institution in Bogota, and an experience that supports the claim that Bogota has earned a place among the major gastronomic capitals of Latin America.

Overnight in Hotel Charleston.

Day 4: Bogota: Time out for culture in Bogota

A half-day or full-day cultural tour of Bogota, visiting some of Bogota’s many museums and sampling its art and music scene. Visit the Museum of Modern Art and admire its huge collection of paintings, engravings and sculpture. Drive by Luis Angel Arnago Library and learn why Bogota was declared by UNESCO the World Book Capital. Discover why Bogota has been known as the Athens of South America as you go by some of many Bogota’s universities and colleges. Go to the Museo del Oro y Arqueologico, the Gold Museum, housing impressive collection of pre-Columbian artifacts. Visit the Fernando Botero Museum, Colombia’s most famous artist, and admire his unique style. Stroll the Macarena neighborhood, becoming increasingly trendy as artists are moving in and setting up studios. Last have dinner of comida criolla, Colombia’s traditional food, sample your first ajiaco, a creamy soup of chicken cooked with three different kinds of potatoes and served in a large bowl with corn and avocado.

Overnight in Hotel Charleston.

Day 5: Depart Bogota for Pereira, Colombia’s coffee growing area, the Zona Cafetera

A trip to Colombia’s coffee country in the highlands between the western and central Andean mountains promises to deliver a rewarding experience.

Zona Cafetera, the coffee growing region of Colombia, is spread over three administrative departments, Caldas, Quindio and Risaralda, referred to as the coffee triangle, with each administered by a modern capital, Pereira, Armenia and Manizales. The region has been promoted as a major tourist destination, not so much to visit the three towns, but to explore the scenic countryside and partake in outdoor adventure activities such as hiking and horseback riding. Visits are organized to the coffee plantations as day trips but as many have turned their haciendas into bed and breakfasts Colombians prefer to stay right on the premises in the ambiance of the Hacienda. In addition, there are several small and charming towns, pueblos, that offer the opportunity to seek out the soul of the Eje Cafetero, the coffee area.

Fly Bogota to Pereira in the Risaralda Department. Meet and greet at the airport, transfer to hotel and rest of the day at your own leisure.

Overnight at HOTEL SAZAGUA.

A name derived from the language of Quimbaya, an indigenous tribe inhabiting the area, and located only 15 minutes away from the heart of Pereira and 45 minutes away from coffee plantations, Hotel Sazagua may be the best boutique inn in Pereira. Built in style of a Colombian manor house, the hotel has only nine rooms, proving for intimate, homey stay. With wide corridors, floors of colonial tiles, delightful gardens of palms and tropical plants, containing a unique spa constructed of large river rocks, eclectic décor, fine cuisine and attentive service Sazagua is the place where to stay in Pereira.

Pereira is an ideal base to set out from on the so called coffee tour program which contains visiting the plantations along with the surrounding area, including the picturesque colonial towns of Filandia and Salento, the scenic Cocora Valley, a home of Colombia’s National Tree, the wax palm, and Saman forest.

*Upon request we can customize your itinerary visiting Armenia in the coffee growing region, the capital of Quindio department, instead.

Day 6: Coffee tour
 

Today you’ll travel to the Hacienda Venecia in the Department of Caldas, a one-hour drive from Pereira, on a private coffee tour to admire the coffee plantation landscape of "El alto de la Paz," submitted to the Tentative List of UNESCO World' Natural Heritage Sites. Once at Hacienda Venecia you’ll learn about the growing and processing of coffee, from the seed to the cup, as well as get to sample the coffee.

Return to Pereira for overnight.

Day 7: Day tour to Filandia, Valle del Cocora and Salento

Visit the picturesque colonial town of Filandia, about an hour drive away. From here continue to Valle del Cocora in the department of Quindio. Walk or ride a horse into the depth of a forest, admiring the unique flora in the valley. Partake in the Wax Palm Ritual, celebrating the way the local aborigines adored what is the National Tree of Colombia, the wax palm. Finally proceed to Salento, one of the oldest towns within the coffee zone.

Return to Pereira for overnight.

Day 8: Horseback journey through El Valle del Risaralda

Drive to Hacienda el Palomar where you will begin a horseback journey through El Valle del Risaralda, enjoying nice views of Valle del Cauca and Quindio in the distance. After approximately a ride of an hour and half, you’ll enjoy a picnic of cheese and wine, then ride back to the Hacienda.

Return to Pereira for overnight.

Day 9: Fly to Cartagena

Arrive in Cartagena, UNESCO world heritage site on the shore of the Caribbean, a charming walled town of narrow cobbled streets teeming in magnificently preserved colonial architecture of fine plazas, churches, monasteries and mansions. As Portobello in Panama, a key port for the Spanish in the era of conquest on the continent, Cartagena flourished from the flow of riches extracted from the colonies en route to the Occident.

Overnight at CASA PESTAGUA.

Day 10: Cartagena

Tour the gems of Spanish colonial architecture in Cartagena - the Palace of the Inquisition, the Castle of San Felipe de Barajas, the Clock-Tower, visit La Popa monastery, stroll the charming squares and plazas, catch a refreshing breeze along Cartagena Bay, admire local crafts, dine in sophisticated restaurants, relax at poolside of your De Lujo / Luxury Room at Casa Pestagua.

Day 11: Cartagena
Day 12: Cartagena

Day 13: Santa Marta and Tyrona National Park
 

Enjoy a transfer from Cartagena to Santa Marta, about 5 hour drive along the Caribbean coast. After a short drive through one of Colombia’s seaside resort towns continue to Tyrona National Park gateway from which you’ll continue to EcoHabs, a remote resort of luxurious cabanas set on a steep hillside amidst the ambiance of sounds of lush jungle with superb panorama of the rocky shore of the ocean. The only transport inside the park is by horseback or on foot. Needless to say, bring no suitcases, leave those at Casa Pestagua, come light, as little clothing and accessories as possible. Relax, completely unwind for three days and nights!

Day 14: Tyrona National Park
Day 15: Tyrona National Park

Day 16: Tyrona National Park

Day 17: Return to Cartagena

Day 18: Depart for Rosario Private Island
 

One hour boat transfer to Rosario Island, check in at a cabin on a beach at Hotel Majagua, managed by Sofitel Santa Clara. Swim, snorkel or scuba inside the crystal clear waters, sea kayak or walk the nature trails surrounding the resort located within the National Park Corales del Rosario.

Day 19: Rosario Island
Day 20: Return to Cartagena
Day 21: Depart Colombia
 

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