Colombia travel guide
Shrugging off its edgy reputation, Colombia is a tantalising mixture of Andean foothills and Amazon jungle, pre-Columbian sites and Caribbean beaches – get there soon
Once South America's kidnap capital, most of Colombia is now wholly safe and thrillingly uncommercialised – in 2010 Wanderlust readers voted it their favourite emerging destination worldwide.
Opportunities for climbing, trekking and diving are excellent. You can bathe in pools of volcanic mud, acres of flowers, remote coffee fincas high in the mountains and a CD library’s worth of music festivals. To top it all there are some superb historical sites.
The jewel in Colombia’s colonial crown is the beautiful city of Cartagena, full of wonderful old buildings lining flower-filled streets, with a fascinating history rich in emeralds and pirates. After a day of history, the city also does a smart line in international-standard beach resorts.
To the east lies Tayrona National Park, where visitors share the beaches with pelicans, enjoying an idyllic vista, the pale blue waters of the Caribbean offset by the snow-capped mountains of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
Outside the centre, head to Zipaquirá to explore the awesome cathedral carved out of a rock-salt mine – a true wonder of this mysterious country. Inland, high up in the mountains, is Ciudad Perdida – an ancient centre of the once-great Tayrona culture.
South-west of Bogotá, in the lush valleys around the little town of San Agustin, lies the country’s most impressive pre-Columbian site: the Valley of the Statues.
Wanderlust recommends
- Find a Lost City. The Cuidad Perdida gets its name for a reason. Colombia's answer to Machu Picchu - but 650 years older - was only discovered in 1972, and off-limits for much of the time since. Six-day rugged hikes will find it - with a guide
- Chill on a Beach. Equatorial Colombia should be a great place to swim, but the Pacific Coast is wet and not especially secure. Fortunately its Caribbean Coast is idyllic. Cartagena and Santa Marta are the most developed resorts, San Andres and Providencia are beautiful islands, and Koralia beach, back on the mainland, is the ultimate in chic
- Saddle up for the Valley of the Idols. The pre-Colombian sculptures at San Agostin in the south portray child sacrifice and more, but are beautifully scattered in verdant, rolling countryside. Rent a horse to tour the sites
- Get Cured. Down by the southern border with Ecuador, Las Lajas is a fairy-tale church built across a narrow gorge. Stacks of discarded crutches attest to its healing properties. The church is always busy with indigenous Indians, a rarity in Colombia
- Go for Gold. The metal that fired Spain's period of empire was usually melted down for easy transport home. See the sculptures that got away in Bogota's magnificent Gold Museum.
- Live Like a Drug Lord. The head of the Medellin drug cartel, Pablo Escobar, once offered to pay Colombia's national debt. Instead he was hunted down by the police (and the Cali Cartel took over his business). Escobar is still something of a hero in his hometown, Medellin: step in his footsteps and look around his villa with a special Drug Lord tour.
- Spa Surprise. At the Volcan del Totumo near Cartagena you can bathe in hot volcanic mud. It's not the world's most impressive cone - think a five-storey building rather than a challenging trek - but the mud column stretches a mile and a half down
Wanderlust tips
Most Colombians eat breakfast and dinner at home so some restaurants close in the evening. Make lunch your main meal of the day.
Be careful with electric showers in cheaper hotels as the wiring can be dodgy and always carry your own toilet paper – many places don’t provide it.
Happy, good-natured Colombians turn into angry maniacs behind the wheel so look both ways when you cross the road, look again and don't assume drivers will stop.