Colombia Trips

Colombia packs several countries’ worth of scenery into one. On the Caribbean coast, colonial Cartagena, the jungle-and-beach of Tayrona National Park and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta set the scene, the last of these home to the trek to the Lost City, Ciudad Perdida. Inland rise three ranges of the Andes, holding Bogota and Medellin, the coffee farms and wax palms of the Zona Cafetera, and the glaciated high country of El Cocuy. Beyond them lie the Amazon around Leticia, the whale-watching coast of the Pacific, and the wide plains of the Llanos. It is one of the most varied countries in Guided South America tours and a rising star for hiking tours.

The headline adventure is trekking: the walk through the Sierra Nevada to the Lost City, and the harder high-altitude circuits of El Cocuy. But Colombia is just as much about its cities and culture, from the plazas of Cartagena and the reinvented Medellin to coffee tastings in the Zona Cafetera and a food scene that has come of age. Nature lovers are spoiled too: the country records more bird species than any other on earth, humpback whales gather off the Pacific in season, and the Amazon begins at Leticia. Expect world-class wildlife tours alongside rich cultural tours.

Sitting on the equator, Colombia has no summer or winter, only drier and wetter spells that shift by region. The main dry seasons, roughly December to March and July to August, are the best for trekking, and are when the Lost City and El Cocuy are at their most reliable. The Pacific whale-watching season runs from about July to October. The Caribbean stays warm and fairly dry for much of the year, while the Andes are cool and spring-like whatever the month, so in the mountains altitude matters more than season.

Trips across Colombia, shorter to longer:

1. Guided Lost City Trekking Tour 6 days trekking the Sierra Nevada to Ciudad Perdida, the Lost City of the Tayrona.
2. Guided Cocuy National Park Trekking Tour 7 days on the three high trails of the glaciated El Cocuy.
3. Guided Colombia’s Caribbean Coast and Lost City Tour 10 days combining the Caribbean coast with the Lost City trek.
4. Guided Cities and Food of Colombia Tour 14 days through the cities and cuisine, from Bogota to the coast.
5. Guided Colombian Family Adventure Tour 15 days of family-friendly highlights across the country.