Get your holiday kicks in cultural Colombia

Kick back in Cartagena

The beautiful walled city of Cartagena is a testament to the precision of the Spanish rule. Beautiful blooming balconies make neon-pink canopies above walkways and the locals cook some of the best homemade arepas on the streets (salty maize snacks, fried and filled with butter and cheese). Explore the streets or take in the sunset from the wall with a cocktail by the cannons at the beautiful Café del Mar. Day trip out to the sizzling white sands of Playa Blanca or go scuba diving off Isla Grande. Ask our travel specialists about luxury boutique accommodation in Cartagena – some of the hotels behind the huge stone walls have to be seen to be believed.

Trek through Tayrona National Park

Further up the coast from Cartagena, Tayrona National Park makes a good day trip from a base in either Taganga or Santa Marta. In this park, close to the border with Venezuela, you’ll find a series of some of the most breathtaking beaches in the whole of South America. Suck on ice poles as you walk the jungle trails and if you feel like staying the night as a rustic break on your luxury holiday in Colombia, ask our travel specialists about some of the pretty eco-lodges in the park.

Get your caffeine kicks in Salento

It’s possible to drink enough coffee in Salento – Colombia’s coffee capital – to stay awake and alert for days, which isn’t a bad idea when you realise how much of this country you still have to explore. Salento is rich with beautiful places to stay, coffee fincas (farms) that are happy to give you a tour of the coffee-making process, as well as some of the best fresh-cooked trout on the planet. Look out for butterflies and hummingbirds, which will flutter around you on your trek through the native Quindío wax palms in Cocora Valley.

Ciudad Perdida (“Lost City”) is the impressive site of an ancient city built in 800 AD in the Sierra Nevada, Colombia. Ciudad Perdida will impress even the most unenthusiastic hiker with 169 terraces carved into the jagged mountainside, a network of tiled roads and numerous small circular plazas, creating a fairy-tale scene that’s even older than Machu Picchu. Be warned though, you might want to ask our luxury travel consultants about a nice hotel to stay at afterwards, because to reach the Ciudad Perdida you must first climb 1200 stone steps through dense jungle. You’ll need a nice bed to come back to afterwards.

Speak to our Concierge travel experts today about your Colombian dream holiday and make the most of this up-and-coming travel destination.