Attraction
Castillo San Felipe de Barajas
A Spanish colonial fortress, a triangular stronghold of batteries, ramparts and tunnels on the San Lázaro hill that guarded the city's land approach.
Colombia is one of South America's most varied destinations, with Caribbean and Pacific coasts, the Andes and a share of the Amazon. Cartagena, on the Caribbean, is its best-known colonial city, with walls, forts and islands offshore. Bogotá, the capital, sits high in the Andes and is home to the Museo del Oro, while Medellín has reinvented itself around cable cars, museums and a spring-like climate. The coffee region around Salento and the Cocora Valley, the Caribbean beaches and rainforest of Tayrona National Park near Santa Marta, and the island of San Andrés are other favourites. Colombian food, coffee and music, from cumbia and vallenato to salsa, are highlights wherever you travel.
Attraction
A Spanish colonial fortress, a triangular stronghold of batteries, ramparts and tunnels on the San Lázaro hill that guarded the city's land approach.
Attraction
Medellín's principal art museum, founded as the Zea Museum in 1881 and home to a large donation of works by Fernando Botero beside Plaza Botero.
Attraction
An open-air square of 7,000 square metres in central Medellín displaying 23 bronze sculptures donated by Fernando Botero, framed by two of the city's landmark buildings.
Attraction
Around 11 km of colonial walls and bastions enclosing Cartagena's historic centre, free to walk and at their best around sunset over the Caribbean.
Attraction
A 13.2 hectare botanical garden opened in 1972 in northern Medellín, with more than 1,000 living species, the timber Orquideorama, a butterfly house and a lagoon.
Attraction
A white colonial palace on Plaza de Bolívar that housed the Holy Office tribunal until 1821 and is now the Museo Histórico de Cartagena.
Café
The Plaza Santo Domingo outpost of Café San Alberto, the multi-award-winning coffee estate from Buenavista in Quindío, serving its coffee and running tasting experiences.
Café
Pergamino's Laureles café, set in a traditional house and ranked 38th in South America's 100 Best Coffee Shops 2026, serving traceable coffee from 1,500 partner growers.
Café
A bookshop and café on a corner of a colonial house in the walled city, combining Colombian and Latin American literature with coffee, music and drinks.
Café
Medellín's historic Swiss pastry house, opened as a tea room on Junín in 1930, famous for its frog-shaped chocolate sapitos, moritos and almond alfajores.
Café
An artisan bakery and social enterprise in the walled city led by Noma pastry chef Talia Richard, baking with native Colombian fruits and ingredients.
Café
A two-floor Laureles roastery and café that buys its coffee from growers in Medellín's La Sierra neighbourhood, ranked among South America's 100 best coffee shops in…
Hotel
A 28-suite boutique hotel in El Poblado built around a garden atrium, home to chef Juan Manuel Barrientos's Elcielo restaurant and awarded one Michelin Key.
Hotel
A grand hotel in the 17th-century convent of the Poor Clares in San Diego, with a pool, spa, cloister garden and the acclaimed Restaurante 1621.
Hotel
A luxury boutique hotel of 20 rooms and 11 suites formed from three colonial houses in the walled city, with Alma restaurant, Aurum Spa and a…
Hotel
A 123-room design hotel near Provenza, with rooms graded by size from XS to 3XL, a poolside bar and a popular cocktail lounge.
Hotel
An 86-room luxury hotel in a 17th-century cloister on the Plaza de Santa Teresa, with a rooftop pool and terrace overlooking the old town and the…
Hotel
A 42-room design hotel steps from Provenza in El Poblado, known for its 18th-floor Envy Rooftop bar, all-day brunch restaurant and a full gym with sauna…
Bar
A three-floor cocktail bar in a historic house in the walled city, ranked No. 3 in The World's 50 Best Bars 2026 and run on a…
Bar
A downtown tango bar founded in 1957 by Gustavo Arteaga, famed for its collection of some 7,000 78 rpm records and live orchestras on Saturdays.
Bar
A classic cocktail bar and café on the Plaza San Pedro Claver, listed among The World's 50 Best Bars 51-100 and selected by 50 Best Discovery.
Bar
A rooftop cocktail bar in El Poblado founded by bartender Juan David Zapata, ranked 22nd in The World's 50 Best Bars 2026, with city views and…
Bar
Getsemaní's best-known salsa bar since 2006, with live bands most nights, a packed dance floor and a Cuban-inspired setting on the corner of Calle de la…
Bar
A hi-fi listening bar near Provenza, open since 2024, pairing vinyl-only music on a high-fidelity system with a creative cocktail list in a warm, wood-lined room.
Restaurant
The El Poblado restaurant opened in 2009 by Carmen Ángel and Rob Pevitts, serving contemporary dishes built on Colombia's biodiversity, with a tasting menu and a…
Restaurant
Chef Jaime Rodríguez's acclaimed Getsemaní restaurant, reinterpreting the produce and traditions of Colombia's Caribbean region; No. 48 in The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025.
Restaurant
A refined restaurant in a historic house on Calle del Santísimo, serving contemporary cooking inspired by Colombia's biodiversity and Caribbean produce, with craft cocktails.
Restaurant
Chef Juan Manuel Barrientos's flagship in his home city, serving multi-course tasting menus inspired by Colombian biodiversity inside the Michelin Key-rated Elcielo Hotel in El Poblado.
Restaurant
Chef Laura Londoño's El Poblado restaurant, known for slow-cooked sharing plates that blend Asian techniques with Colombian produce, and one of the most-booked tables in the…
Restaurant
The Sofitel Legend Santa Clara's signature restaurant, serving six- and ten-course tasting menus of Colombian ingredients within the walls of a 1621 convent.
Thing to do
A hillside district in western Medellín known for its outdoor escalators, murals and hip-hop culture, now visited by close to two million people a year.
Thing to do
The historic barrio just outside the walls where Cartagena's independence movement began, now known for murals, the Plaza de la Trinidad and lively evenings.
Thing to do
An archipelago of about 28 small islands under an hour by boat from Cartagena, with white-sand beaches, coral reefs, snorkelling and an oceanarium.
Thing to do
Medellín's cable-car network, launched in 2004 and now six lines long, gives visitors an aerial ride over the hillside neighbourhoods and up to Parque Arví.
Thing to do
A walk up Medellín's largest urban nature park, a protected hill with pre-Hispanic burial sites, an open-air butterfly house and views across the whole Aburrá Valley.
Thing to do
A row of 23 late 18th-century vaults built into Cartagena's walls, once used as storerooms and prison cells and now filled with craft and souvenir shops.
Tour operator
A PADI 5 Star dive centre on the Plaza de San Diego running dive and snorkelling trips to the coral reefs of the Rosario Islands national…
Tour operator
A Medellín family-run tour company whose tip-based Free Walking Tour of the city centre has run twice daily since 2013, alongside food, fruit and neighbourhood tours.
Tour operator
A Cartagena boat company with its own fleet, offering private day trips to the Rosario Islands and night tours of the Bay of Cartagena.
Tour operator
The Comuna 13 graffiti tour run since 2011 by Casa Kolacho, the hip-hop collective whose tour income funds a free hip-hop school for young people in…
Tour operator
A community-run outfit in La Boquilla offering canoe trips through mangrove tunnels, birdwatching and traditional fishing with local fishermen.
Tour operator
A three-hour walking food tour of El Poblado with five tasting stops, from patacones and bandeja paisa to arepa de chócolo, ending with coffee at Pergamino.
Distances are long and the Andes make road journeys slow, so most visitors fly between the main cities, such as Bogotá, Medellín and Cartagena, and use buses or private transfers for shorter trips.
The climate depends on altitude more than season. December to March is generally the driest period in much of the country, including the Caribbean coast, and is also the busiest time to travel.
Popular choices include Bogotá, Medellín, the coffee region around Salento, Santa Marta and Tayrona National Park, and the island of San Andrés.