Colombia: Bogotá, Medellín, the Coffee Region and Cartagena

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Bogotá

   El Dorado International Airport (BOG) to your hotel in central Bogotá

   • Environ 45 min de route
   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Bogotá
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into El Dorado International Airport (BOG), about 15 km west of the historic centre. A driver meets you in the arrivals hall for the drive in, which takes 40 minutes to an hour depending on traffic. Bogotá sits at about 2,640 m on a high plateau in the Eastern Andes, so it is cooler than most visitors expect: days are mild, evenings need a jacket, and the first flight of stairs leaves you short of breath. Take the afternoon slowly, drink plenty of water and go easy on alcohol tonight. Your hotel is central, within walking distance of La Candelaria, the colonial quarter of steep cobbled streets, painted houses and student cafes. At about 6 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the days ahead: the two flights, the Cocora walk and what to pack for the Caribbean. Then we walk to a welcome dinner nearby, a first taste of Colombian cooking, from arepas to a slow-cooked stew.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at El Dorado International Airport (BOG)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Temps libre : Free until the 6 pm briefing

   Activité : Arriving a day early gives you time to rest at altitude and see the Zipaquirá Salt Cathedral, a full day out from Bogotá; we can book the extra night.

2. Jour 2 : Bogotá: Monserrate, La Candelaria and the Gold Museum

   Central Bogotá to Monserrate, then La Candelaria on foot

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Bogotá
   Détail du jour 2

   We leave at 8 am for the base station of Monserrate, the mountain that stands over the city to the east, and ride the cable car or funicular up to the white sanctuary at about 3,150 m. The morning is when the air is clearest, and the view runs across the whole savanna of Bogotá before the clouds build; on Sundays pilgrims fill the summit, so we plan around it where we can. Back down, your guide walks you through La Candelaria: the Plaza de Bolívar with the Cathedral and the Capitol, the little Chorro de Quevedo square where the city is said to have been founded, and the Botero Museum, where Fernando Botero's rounded figures hang beside the European paintings he gave to the nation. Lunch is ajiaco, the chicken, corn and potato soup of the capital. Then we spend an unhurried 90 minutes in the Gold Museum, one of the largest collections of pre-Hispanic goldwork in the world. The rest of the afternoon and the evening are free.

   Compris

   • Monserrate by cable car or funicular
   • La Candelaria walk with your guide: the Plaza de Bolívar, the Chorro de Quevedo and the Botero Museum
   • Ajiaco lunch in La Candelaria
   • The Gold Museum (Museo del Oro)

   Activités en option

   • The National Museum of Colombia, in the free afternoon
   • A game of tejo in the evening

   Temps libre : Late afternoon and evening free

   Activité : About 3 hours on foot on steep cobbled streets at altitude; we walk slowly and stop often. The Gold Museum closes on Mondays and the Botero Museum on Tuesdays, so departures are set so that this day falls between Wednesday and Sunday.

3. Jour 3 : Fly to Medellín, an afternoon in Comuna 13

   Bogotá to Medellín by air, then Comuna 13

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Medellín
   Détail du jour 3

   We leave the hotel at about 8 am for the flight from Bogotá to Medellín, roughly an hour in the air. José María Córdova airport sits up in Rionegro, and the road down through the Túnel de Oriente brings you into the Aburrá Valley in about 45 minutes. Medellín lies at about 1,500 m, warm by day and mild at night, so the weather feels like spring all year. Lunch is a sit-down paisa meal, beans, rice, plantain and arepa, then a local guide who grew up in Comuna 13 takes us through the neighbourhood: the outdoor escalators that opened in 2011 on a hillside once reached only by long stairways, the murals that tell the story of the violence of the 1990s and the military operations of 2002, and the small businesses and hip hop that grew out of it. We ride the Metro back from San Javier station to the city. The evening is free in El Poblado or Laureles, where we stay.

   Compris

   • Flight from Bogotá to Medellín
   • Paisa lunch in Medellín
   • Comuna 13 with a local guide from the neighbourhood, including the outdoor escalators
   • Metro ride from San Javier station

   Activités en option

   • A salsa class in the evening

   Temps libre : Evening free

   Activité : Comuna 13 is about 2 hours on foot on steep streets and steps; the escalators carry you up most of the hill.

   

4. Jour 4 : Guatapé and the rock of El Peñol

   Medellín to El Peñol and Guatapé, and back

   • Environ 4 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Medellín
   Détail du jour 4

   We leave Medellín at 8 am to reach El Peñol ahead of the late-morning day tours, about two hours east through the green hills of eastern Antioquia. The rock is a granite monolith about 200 m high, with a staircase of roughly 700 steps built into a crack in its side. From the top the reservoir spreads in every direction, a maze of green islands and inlets made when the Peñol-Guatapé dam flooded the valley, and the old town of El Peñol with it, in the late 1970s. After the climb we cross to Guatapé for a lakeside lunch and a walk with your guide past the zócalos, the brightly painted reliefs along the base of every house, from sheep and saints to bicycles and coffee pickers. In the afternoon a boat takes us out on the reservoir for about an hour. We are back in Medellín by about 5 pm, with the evening free. Weekends and Colombian public holidays are very busy here, so we visit on a weekday where departures allow.

   Compris

   • El Peñol entry and the climb
   • Guatapé town walk with your guide
   • Lakeside lunch in Guatapé
   • Boat ride on the Guatapé reservoir

   Option plus facile : Skip the climb: wait at the viewpoint cafes at the foot of the rock, then join the town walk and the boat.

   Option plus active : Climb El Peñol, about 700 steps up and a separate stair down, at your own pace.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Medellín

   Activité : Roughly two hours by road in each direction, paved but twisting; sit at the front if you get carsick.

   

5. Jour 5 : Over the mountains to Salento

   Medellín to La Pintada, Santa Rosa de Cabal and Pereira, then Salento

   • Environ 6 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Salento
   Détail du jour 5

   This is the trip's one long road day. Medellín and Salento are about 260 km apart, around six hours of driving on winding mountain roads; flying would mean two airport runs and, on most days, a change of plane, so the road is the quicker link. We leave at 8 am and break the drive into three stretches. The first runs south down to the Cauca river at La Pintada, where we stop for coffee and to stretch. The second climbs into the coffee country of Caldas, past steep slopes of coffee bushes, plantain and shade trees, to a sit-down lunch around Santa Rosa de Cabal, known across Colombia for its chorizo. The last stretch, about 90 minutes, passes Pereira and climbs to Salento, a village at about 1,900 m on a ridge above the Quindío valley, where we stay three nights in the same hotel. We arrive around 4 pm. At dusk, climb the steps at the top of Calle Real to the viewpoint over the Cocora valley, where we walk tomorrow.

   Compris

   • Drive from Medellín to Salento with your guide, with a coffee stop at La Pintada
   • Sit-down lunch around Santa Rosa de Cabal

   Temps libre : Evening free in Salento

   Activité : The longest day in the vehicle, over the 4-hour cap because there is no shorter practical link; three stops break it up. If you get carsick, sit at the front and take something before we leave.

6. Jour 6 : The Cocora Valley and the wax palms

   Salento to the Cocora Valley by jeep, the loop walk, and back

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Salento
   Détail du jour 6

   At 8 am we ride out of Salento's main square in Willys jeeps, the old workhorses of the coffee country, about 30 minutes along the valley to Cocora. We start early because the morning is usually clear and cloud tends to build after midday; your guide picks which way round to walk the loop on the day. The Quindío wax palm is Colombia's national tree and among the tallest palms in the world, its thin grey trunks rising out of cattle pasture to tufts of leaves far overhead. The easy group walks out to the palm meadows and back. The rest of us do the full loop: the palm meadows, the climb to about 2,860 m at La Montaña, cloud forest with a detour to the Acaime hummingbird reserve, where feeders draw several species close, and the Quindío river valley with its run of wooden suspension bridges. Everyone meets for a late lunch of trout, the local dish, on the valley floor. The jeeps take us back to Salento by mid-afternoon, and the rest of the day is yours.

   Compris

   • Willys jeep from Salento to the Cocora Valley and back
   • Walk among the wax palms with your guide
   • All Cocora trail fees and the Acaime hummingbird reserve
   • Trout lunch in the Cocora Valley

   Option plus facile : Walk to the wax palm meadows and back, about 2 hours on a gentle climb, then wait for the group at the valley floor or take an early jeep to Salento.

   Option plus active : The full loop through the palms, La Montaña, the Acaime hummingbird reserve and the river valley, about 12 km and 5 to 6 hours.

   Temps libre : Late afternoon and evening free

   Activité : The full loop climbs about 600 m to roughly 2,860 m on trail that is often muddy; waterproof walking shoes and a rain jacket are essential.

   

7. Jour 7 : A coffee farm and Filandia

   Salento to a family coffee farm, then Filandia, and back

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Salento
   Détail du jour 7

   This morning is about the bean. A short drive out of Salento brings us to a family coffee farm on the hillsides of the Quindío, where the farmer walks us through the whole chain: seedlings in the nursery, bushes growing under shade trees, ripe red cherries picked by hand (the main harvest here runs roughly from October to December, with a smaller one around April to June), then pulping, fermenting, washing and drying in the sun. We roast a batch, grind it and taste it beside the farm's other coffees, learning to tell a washed coffee from a natural one. Lunch is at the farm. After a rest we drive about 45 minutes to Filandia, a quieter village than Salento with the same painted balconies and a tall wooden lookout tower that looks over the coffee hills towards the Cauca valley. We are back in Salento by about 5 pm. The evening is free, and your guide can find you a game of tejo, Colombia's gunpowder-target sport, if you want one.

   Compris

   • Coffee farm tour with tasting and roasting
   • Lunch at the coffee farm
   • Filandia with your guide, including the lookout tower

   Activités en option

   • Tejo in Salento in the evening

   Option plus facile : Stay in Salento for the afternoon instead of going to Filandia.

   Temps libre : Evening free

   Activité : The farm walk is about 1 to 2 hours on steep, sometimes muddy paths between the coffee rows.

8. Jour 8 : Fly to Cartagena, sunset on the walls

   Salento to Pereira or Armenia airport, then by air to Cartagena

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Cartagena
   Détail du jour 8

   A relaxed breakfast, then about an hour's drive down to the airport at Pereira, or Armenia depending on the day's schedule, for the flight to Cartagena. Some days have a direct flight; on others we change in Bogotá, and with the connection the journey can take most of the day, so nothing else is planned and lunch is on the way. You land into heat: Cartagena is at sea level on the Caribbean, usually around 30°C and humid, a world away from the cool hills you left in the morning. A short drive takes us to our hotel in or beside the walled city. In the late afternoon, once the sun has dropped, your guide walks the group up onto the city walls for sunset over the sea, a first look at the domes, bell towers and wooden balconies inside, and a cold drink. Tonight is free: Getsemaní, the neighbourhood just outside the walls, has the liveliest evenings, with music and street food in the Plaza de la Trinidad.

   Compris

   • Flight from Pereira or Armenia to Cartagena
   • Transfers to the airport and to your hotel in Cartagena
   • Sunset walk on the city walls with your guide

   Temps libre : Evening free

   Activité : Flight times are set with your final itinerary. If a connection in Bogotá lands us after sunset, the walk on the walls moves to day 9, before the farewell dinner, and tonight starts with a short walk to the nearest square.

9. Jour 9 : Cartagena: San Felipe and the walled city

   Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, the walled city and Getsemaní

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Cartagena
   Détail du jour 9

   We start at 8 am, before the heat, at the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, the largest of the Spanish forts that defended the port, on the hill of San Lázaro just outside the walls. Its ramps, batteries and tunnels were built against the attacks by sea and land that Cartagena suffered through the colonial centuries, including the British siege of 1741. Then a local guide takes us into the walled city, listed by UNESCO in 1984 with the port and its fortresses: through the Clock Tower gate, across the Plaza de los Coches where enslaved Africans were once sold, past the church of San Pedro Claver and the Plaza de Bolívar, and into the Palace of the Inquisition. Lunch is your choice in the old town. The afternoon is free for the hottest hours: the pool, a nap, or the Zenú Gold Museum, which is free to enter. At dusk we walk through the street art and small squares of Getsemaní to a farewell dinner together.

   Compris

   • Castillo San Felipe de Barajas
   • Walled city walk with a local guide
   • The Palace of the Inquisition
   • Getsemaní walk with your guide
   • Farewell dinner

   Activités en option

   • A rum tasting or a salsa class in the free afternoon
   • The Zenú Gold Museum (free entry)

   Temps libre : Afternoon free

   Activité : About 3 hours on foot in the morning, on cobbles and the fortress ramps, in strong sun; bring a hat and water.

10. Jour 10 : Cartagena and home

    Cartagena old town to Rafael Núñez International Airport (CTG)

    • Environ 15 min de route
    • Petit-déjeuner
    Détail du jour 10

    The last morning is free. If you are up early, walk the walls once more while the light is low and the streets are being swept, or take a slow breakfast and a last coffee in one of the walled city's shaded squares. Las Bóvedas, a row of vaulted rooms built into the northern wall in the late 18th century and now craft shops, is a good place to look for hammocks, woven mochila bags and coffee to take home. Check-out is usually around noon, and the hotel can hold your bags if your flight is later. Rafael Núñez International Airport (CTG) is only about 3 km from the old town, around 15 minutes by road, and our driver takes you there in time for your flight. Book any flight leaving Cartagena on this day: there are some direct international routes from CTG, and many more connect through Bogotá. Allow three hours at the airport for an international departure. Your guide says goodbye at the hotel or the airport, depending on flight times.

    Compris

    • Drop-off at Rafael Núñez International Airport (CTG)

    Temps libre : Morning free

    Activité : Book any flight from Cartagena on day 10; transfers run to your flight time.

Faune et météo : Colombia has no summer or winter. The Andes have two wetter seasons, roughly April to May and October to November, when the Cocora trail is muddier; Cartagena is hot and humid all year, wettest from September to November.

• Bogotá2 nuits
• Medellín2 nuits
• Salento3 nuits
• Cartagena2 nuits