Tel: +65 9111 7338 | Email: travel@luxexplorer.com
Tel: +65 9111 7338 | Email: travel@luxexplorer.com

An introduction to Colombia

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From$6,437 per adult
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From$6,437 per adult
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9 days 8 nights
Max People : 8

an introduction to colombia

Always wanted to visit Colombia but have no clue on where to begin planning? Do not fret, we have the perfect tour for you! Including must-see cities such as Bogota, Cartagena and Medellin, with a few hidden gems along the way. Colombia boasts all of South America’s allure and more.

Travel Style: Private Guided

 

Price Includes

  • Privately guided tours tailored specifically to you
  • Accommodation in hotels & hacienda
  • Domestic flights and private transfers
  • Activities as indicated in the itinerary

Price Excludes

  • International airfares and Visa (if required)
  • Travel Insurance
  • Cost arising out of flight cancellation/road blockades and events beyond our control
  • Optional Tours
  • Personal and other expenses such as bar bills and laundry not stated in the itinerary
  • Porterage at hotels and airport
Highlights
  • Stay at a coffee hacienda amidst the beautiful Colombian highlands
  • Visit the famous salt cathedral Zipaquira around an hour from Bogota
  • Retrace the footsteps of Gabriel Garcia Marquez in tropical Cartagena
  • Enjoy a roof-top cocktail and watch the sun set over beautiful Cartagena
Itinerary

Day 1Arrival to Bogota

Welcome to Bogota, the capital of Colombia, where most visitors begin their experience in the country.. Meet and greet at the airport and transfer to your hotel for check-in. Spend the rest of the day at leisure to rest or explore the city.

Overnight: Casa Medina, Four Seasons Hotel

Day 2 Bogota

Today, our local guide will bring you on a city tour. Known for its diverse population and artistic vibes, Chapinero is a Bogota highlight you can’t miss. Bogota’s hipster centre, Chapinero is teeming with unique cafes and restaurants, bars playing live Colombian music, and people just chilling out. It’s also home to one of Bogota’s centres of gastronomy, Zona-G, an area that offers numerous fine-dining options.
While you’re in the neighbourhood, be sure to stop by Iglesia Nuestra Senora de Lourdes, a stunning church dating back to 1875. Boasting beautiful stained glass images and immaculately preserved Gothic architecture, you would be remiss to pass on experiencing this gorgeous cultural landmark. Make a pit stop at Mercado de San Pelayo, the local arts and crafts market. The market has the biggest selection of vendors on Sundays, but is open every day of the week. This is a great place to snag a few interesting souvenirs, or just embrace the local culture. Don’t forget to visit the vibrant heart of Bogota, La Candelaria, with landmarks like the colonial-era cathedral and neoclassical Capitol flanking Bolivar Plaza. Narrow streets lined with shops selling emeralds and handicrafts lead to cultural hotspots like the Gold Museum, with pre-Columbian artifacts, and Museo Botero, showing international art in a colonial mansion.

Overnight: Casa Medina, Four Seasons Hotel

Day 3 Bogota - Manizales

In the morning, transfer to the airport for your domestic flight to Manizales. Upon arrival, our guide will give you a city tour. The Colombian city of Manizales is best known for being at the heart of coffee production in the region, but for visitors coming to this beautiful part of the country, there is a lot more to the city than just a hot drink.
After the city tour, transfer to your accommodation located in the countryside, 45 minutes from the city. You will be surrounded by the beautiful coffee landscapes, colorful plants and birds.

Overnight: Hacienda Venecia

Day 4Manizales

Today, go on a coffee tour and be immersed an entire coffee experience around those magic little beans. You will learn about the origin and history of coffee, the worldwide distribution, the different coffee varieties and qualities, as well as about the aromas and properties of coffee, café de Colombia and its institutions and the Coffee Cultural Landscape (World Heritage Site by UNESCO). Walk through the plantation to learn more about the growing and harvesting. After you picked your own beans, you will visit the wet mill (operational weekdays only) to learn about the coffee processing. As roasting is both a science and art – the difference between perfectly roasted coffee and a rejected batch can be a matter of seconds. You will have the chance to taste and see the beans with different grades of roasting to experience the different aromas, as the roasting brings out the aroma and flavour that is locked inside the green coffee beans. This heating process turns the green coffee bean into the fragrant, dark brown beans we know and love.

Then in the afternoon, participate in an unforgettable interactive chocolate workshop that will let you appreciate chocolate in a splendid way. You will pick fresh fruit from the cacao tree and taste the raw cacao bean. After that, the experts will share all their chocolate knowledge with you as you learn about the journey of the dried and fermented bean that magically transforms into chocolate splendour. In the workshop, you will roast and grind your own cacao beans to discover the whole chocolate making process. The cacao experience is full of delicious aromas, colours and flavours. Create your homemade custom chocolate delight with the flavours that match your taste buds to enjoy after the class or as a treat to bring home.

After the classes, you can either relax in your room and take a dip in your private pool or for the adventurous, explore intimately the diversity of nature on the varied hiking trail carved between the mountains and coffee plantations with various levels of difficulty.

Overnight: Hacienda Venecia

Day 5 Manizales

For the adventure seekers, we invite you on an extraordinary full day excursion where you see the changes in elevation, climate and landscape, starting from 1,300 meters up to approx. 4,180 meters above sea level. On the car ride to Los Nevados National Park, you will see beautiful coffee farming landscapes with noticeable mini-ecosystems along the way. The Los Nevados National Park lies in the coffee-growing region in Colombia, encircled by snow-capped volcanic peaks. The park features special and unique flora and fauna. Each visitor falls in love with the strange but beautiful mountainous vegetation and more than 32 species of hummingbirds from the region.

At the Los Nevados National Park, a local guide will take you up to the volcanic landscapes to four carefully chosen stopping point to help you adjust to the climbing altitude. A warm cup of coca tea is served to help avoid altitude sickness and is a tradition in Colombia as well as a remedy. You will observe first hand the Páramo vegetation that grows high in the mountains and is comprised of huge grasses, shrubs, and frailejones (common high-altitude plants from 2000 to 4500 meters belonging to the sunflower family). All of these form the unique appearance of the Páramo Ecosystem. The diversity in the landscape will keep you speechless, as it is a unique experience.

Finally, after visiting the mystical area around the Los Nevados National Park and a delicious lunch, you will arrive at the hot springs Termales del Ruiz to take a dip in the steaming hot water. These hot springs are known for their therapeutic effects, such as soothing stress and encouraging general well-being. But the real birdy delight of the Termales del Ruiz is the 10 species of hummingbird that come and visit the feeders set up in the main garden. You can buy little hummingbird feeders and the hummingbirds come right to your hand to feed – what an experience! After a full day of adventure, you will return back for a good night’s sleep.

Overnight: Hacienda Venecia

Day 6 Manizales - Medellin

Today, transfer to the airport for your domestic flight to Medellin. Meet our guide for a city tour. Medellin’s downtown area, El Centro was formally known as La Candelaria. It has some of the city’s most cultural and historic sights. Stops along the way include Botero Square, home to 23 rotund sculptures donated by the Colombian artist Fernando Botero, and Parque Bolivar, an urban park and one of the city’s oldest. You’ll walk down the lively pedestrian street Pasaje Junin, lined with coffee shops and restaurants, and visit Antioquia Train Station, the French Renaissance style railway station a national monument. After lunch, it’s time to take to the sky and travel along Medellin’s famous cable car. Viewing the city from above, the buildings sprawled across the valley, you’ll see for yourself the huge scale of Medellin. As well as being a cheap and scenic way to view the city, the cable car system played a very important part in the transformation of Medellin.

Overnight: InterContinental Medellin

Day 7 Medellin

Today, spend the day at leisure.

Optional tours:
Visiting El Penol de Guatapé is richly rewarding. Here, a massive boulder rises over a man-made lake of exquisite beauty. You can scale the rock by a spiral staircase built into a cleft in the rock. For a longer day trip, head to Santa Fe de Antioquia, a beautiful old colonial town, 50 miles/80 km northwest of Medellin.

Overnight: InterContinental Medellin

Day 8Medellin - Cartagena

Today, transfer to the airport for your domestic flight to Cartagena. Upon arrival, Upon arrival, explore the city with our guide. The zocalo is the main square where you’ll find the cathedral and parliament building. Head inside the cathedral first and explore the different chapels. Notice how uneven the ground is thanks to all of the earthquakes the cathedral has endured over the last 400 years or so. Then head next door to Templo Mayor. This is a really well-preserved Aztec Temple with a museum that is really interesting. Most of the information is in Spanish, but you can get the gist of things and there are a lot of amazing artifacts that have been removed from the temple and are now stored inside the museum. One last thing to do before lunch is to cross the street and enter into the National Palace. Inside the National Palace are the famous murals painted by Diego Rivera. Follow the crowds and head up the stairs to see these incredibly detailed paintings up close. After lunch, take a walk towards Alameda Central – a nice park near the Zocalo. Here you’ll find the Palacio de Bellas Artes or the Palace of Fine Arts. It has a pretty grand exterior and a very art deco interior.

Overnight: Casa San Agustin ( 2 nights)

Day 9Cartagena

Finally, soak up the history and the sunshine in Cartagena, the jewel of the Caribbean and one of Latin America must-see destinations. Founded in 1533, this historic town is extremely well preserved, and wandering through its colourful streets is like taking a step back in time. Explore the city with an expert guide who will provide a fantastic introduction to this colourful city and its equally vibrant past. On one of your free days, we suggest a trip out on a private speedboat to cruise the Rosario Islands, snorkel with tropical fish and enjoy a beach-side picnic lunch.

Day 10Departure

Spend the day at leisure until it is time to transfer to the airport for your flight home.

Map

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