Colombia Holidays
Colombia Holidays
South America's most exciting destination — colonial cities, coffee mountains, Caribbean beaches and Amazon jungle
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Flight Time
10–11h from London (via Madrid, Bogotá or direct)
Best Time
December to March (dry season on Caribbean coast); June to August (dry season in Andes)
Country
Colombia
Suppliers
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Colombia Holiday Guide
Colombia is South America's most exciting destination — a country of extraordinary diversity that has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past two decades. The combination of colonial cities, Andean mountains, Caribbean beaches, Amazon jungle and one of the world's great coffee cultures makes it unlike anywhere else on earth.
The classic Colombia itinerary combines Cartagena (3–4 nights for the colonial old town and Caribbean coast), Medellín (2–3 nights for the city and day trips to the Coffee Region) and Bogotá (2 nights for the Gold Museum and La Candelaria). This circuit can be done comfortably in 10–12 nights and covers the highlights of the country.
For beach lovers, adding Santa Marta and Tayrona National Park (2–3 nights) gives you some of the most spectacular Caribbean coastline in South America. The Lost City trek (4–6 days) is one of the great adventure experiences in the Americas and can be added to a Santa Marta stay.
The Coffee Region (Salento and the Valle de Cocora) is best visited as a 2–3 night extension from Medellín — the wax palm valley is one of the most beautiful landscapes in South America and the coffee farm tours are genuinely fascinating.
San Andrés is a separate trip — a Caribbean island with extraordinary diving and snorkelling, best combined with a few days in Cartagena. The Colombian Amazon (Leticia) is for serious wildlife and adventure travellers — a 2-hour flight from Bogotá into genuine wilderness.
We search across Travelpack and JTA Holidays for the best Colombia deals — call us on 01282 960 460 for tailored itinerary advice.
Where to go in Colombia
Average Temperatures
Jan
27°C
Feb
28°C
Mar
29°C
Apr
28°C
May
27°C
Jun
28°C
Jul
29°C
Aug
29°C
Sep
27°C
Oct
26°C
Nov
26°C
Dec
27°C
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Call 01282 960 460Top 8 Things To Do in Colombia
The colonial cities, coffee mountains, Caribbean beaches, Amazon jungle and extraordinary culture that make Colombia South America's most exciting destination.
Cartagena — The Most Beautiful City in the Americas
Cartagena de Indias is one of the most beautiful and best-preserved colonial cities in the world — a UNESCO World Heritage Site of extraordinary colour and atmosphere. The walled old city (Ciudad Amurallada) is a labyrinth of cobbled streets lined with bougainvillea-draped mansions, flower-filled balconies, baroque churches and lively plazas. The city walls themselves (built by the Spanish to protect their gold shipments) are 13km long and up to 17m high — walking them at sunset is one of the great travel experiences in South America. The Getsemaní neighbourhood, once rough, is now one of the most vibrant and creative barrios in Colombia — street art, craft cocktail bars and some of the best food in the city.
Medellín — City of Eternal Spring
Medellín's transformation from the world's most dangerous city to one of its most innovative is one of the great urban stories of the 21st century. Sitting in a valley in the Andes at 1,495m, it has a perfect climate (average 22°C year-round — hence 'city of eternal spring'), a world-class food and nightlife scene, extraordinary street art, the famous cable cars and escalators connecting hillside comunas to the city centre, and the Botero Plaza — an open-air sculpture park featuring 23 bronze sculptures by Colombia's most famous artist, Fernando Botero. El Poblado is the main tourist neighbourhood — safe, walkable and packed with restaurants, bars and boutique hotels.
Coffee Region — Eje Cafetero
The Coffee Region (Eje Cafetero) in the central Andes is one of the most beautiful landscapes in South America — steep green mountains covered in coffee plantations, banana trees and wax palms (Colombia's national tree, the tallest palm in the world), dotted with colourful colonial towns. The UNESCO-listed Coffee Cultural Landscape covers the departments of Caldas, Risaralda and Quindío. Salento is the most visited town — a perfectly preserved colonial village with brightly painted buildings, excellent coffee farms to visit and the extraordinary Valle de Cocora, where giant wax palms rise 60m above the cloud forest. Coffee farm tours (fincas cafeteras) offer a fascinating insight into the production of the world's finest arabica coffee.
Tayrona National Park — Jungle Meets Caribbean
Tayrona National Park on Colombia's Caribbean coast is one of the most spectacular natural parks in South America — a 150km² protected area where the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains (the world's highest coastal mountain range) plunge directly into the Caribbean Sea, creating a series of extraordinary beaches backed by dense jungle. Cabo San Juan is the most famous beach — a perfect crescent of white sand with turquoise water, accessible only on foot through the jungle (a 2–3 hour hike from the park entrance). The park is also home to the Kogi and Arhuaco indigenous peoples, descendants of the ancient Tairona civilisation, who still live in the Sierra Nevada according to their ancestral traditions.
Bogotá — Culture, History & the Gold Museum
Bogotá, Colombia's capital at 2,600m in the Andes, is one of the most culturally rich cities in South America. The historic La Candelaria neighbourhood is a dense grid of colonial churches, museums and street art — the Museo del Oro (Gold Museum) houses the world's largest collection of pre-Columbian gold artefacts (over 55,000 pieces), including the famous Muisca raft that inspired the legend of El Dorado. The Monserrate mountain (3,152m) towers above the city and is accessible by cable car or funicular — the views over the vast urban sprawl of Bogotá are extraordinary. The Usaquén and Zona Rosa neighbourhoods offer excellent restaurants, craft markets and nightlife.
The Lost City — Ciudad Perdida Trek
The Ciudad Perdida (Lost City) trek in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is one of the great multi-day hikes in South America — a 4–6 day round trip through dense jungle to a pre-Columbian city built around 800 AD, predating Machu Picchu by 650 years. The city was built by the Tairona people and 'rediscovered' by treasure hunters in 1972 (it had never been lost to the indigenous Kogi people, who still consider it sacred). The trek involves river crossings, steep jungle climbs and camping in the forest — arriving at the 1,200 stone steps that lead up to the terraces of the Lost City is one of the most dramatic moments in South American travel.
San Andrés — Caribbean Coral Reefs
San Andrés is a Colombian island in the Caribbean Sea, closer to Nicaragua than to the Colombian mainland, surrounded by the 'Sea of Seven Colours' — a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of extraordinary coral reefs and crystal-clear water. The island has some of the best diving and snorkelling in the Caribbean — the barrier reef is the third largest in the world, with visibility regularly exceeding 30m. Johnny Cay is a tiny coral island just offshore with brilliant white sand and turquoise water. The island has a distinct Afro-Caribbean culture, English Creole language and a relaxed, unhurried atmosphere quite different from mainland Colombia.
Colombian Food & Coffee Culture
Colombian food is one of South America's great undiscovered cuisines — a rich mix of indigenous, Spanish and African influences. Bandeja paisa (the national dish — a vast platter of beans, rice, ground beef, chicharrón, fried egg, plantain and avocado) is the definitive Colombian meal. Arepas (corn cakes) are eaten at every meal. The coastal cities have extraordinary seafood. Medellín has one of the best restaurant scenes in South America. And Colombian coffee — grown at altitude in the Andes, hand-picked and sun-dried — is widely considered the finest in the world. A coffee farm tour in the Eje Cafetero, ending with a cup of freshly brewed single-origin arabica, is one of the defining Colombia experiences.
Explore Colombia on the Map
Key areas, beaches and attractions across the island.
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