Unique Cultural Tours
Unique Cultural Tours
Revised 4/5/24
Welcome to your enchanting nine-day journey through Colombia, a land steeped in rich history, diverse landscapes, and vibrant culture.
Experience charming Colombia as you get a taste of Bogotá, wander among the world’s tallest palm trees in Salento, sip the famous Arabica coffee of Armenia, and visit the home of the world’s second-largest Carnival event, Barranquilla. The tour wraps up in the stunning 16th-century city of Cartagena. This is an incredible nine-day trip connecting you with local culture, colonial history, gourmet cuisine, and breathtaking nature. The UNESCO World Heritage sites will inspire you, and you’ll have personal experiences with Colombians that the big companies can’t offer.
Cost: $3,395 double occupancy
Expert bilingual Colombian guide
8 nights in comfortable, hand-picked hotels that reflect local culture
13 meals (8 Breakfasts, 3 Lunches, 2 Dinners)
2 in-country flights during the program
Private, air-conditioned ground transportation in each city
Fees for included activities
Airfare to/from the US
Trip Insurance
9 meals and tips
“Choose Your Excursion” in Cartagena
Experience charming Colombia as you get a taste of Bogotá, wander among the world’s tallest palm trees in Salento, sip the famous coffee of Armenia, and explore the 16th-century architecture of Cartagena. This is an incredible nine-day trip connecting you with local culture, colonial architecture, gourmet cuisine, and stunning nature. The UNESCO World Heritage sites will inspire you, and you’ll have personal experiences with Colombians that the big companies can’t offer. The tour wraps up in Barranquilla, the home of the world’s second-largest Carnaval event. Come travel with us!
Bogotá- Colombia’s largest city
Paloquemao Fruit (and flower!) Market
Culture of Bogotá experience
Armenia-UNSECO region
Arabica coffee plantation educational park
Cacao tour
Merengue/Salsa lessons
Salento/Cocora Valley
Hiking the Cocora Valley
Guided birdwatching tour
Learn Tejo (explosive Colombian game)
Barranquilla
La Casa Del Carnaval
City tour and Lebanese cultural influence
Cartagena- UNESCO World Heritage Site
Historic walled city & Getsemani
Colombian cooking class, optional beach/snorkeling
Sunset in Cartagena activity
Activity Level - Walking up to three miles in a day, often on dirt paths, cobblestones, or other uneven terrain. Elevations up to 9,000 feet.
Yellow Fever vaccine NOT required with these destinations! Check with your doctor for your personal needs, but there are no vaccine requirements for this itinerary.
Experience Colombia:
Three different climates, a mix of city and rural adventures in this emerging tourist destination.
Day 1: Welcome to Colombia!
Arrive at the end of the day in Bogotá. We will get settled and rested up to start exploring tomorrow. You will be picked up at the airport by hotel transportation and taken to our hotel in La Candelaria neighborhood. If you arrive in Colombia before Day 1, we’ll give you the hotel info to book, or make the arrangements for you.
Day 2: Taste of Bogotá
Bogotá is Colombia’s largest city with 8 million people, in the high mountains (8,600’) with consistently cool temperatures in the 70s. Eat a light breakfast because we are headed to the famous Paloquemao Market to taste exotic fruits and snacks. You’ll quickly see why Colombia is the second-largest exporter of flowers in the world.
There are many spectacular things to see in Bogotá, murals, museums, trams, and more, so we’ll have a guided tour as time permits.
After checking in at the airport for a quick flight to Armenia (domestic airfare included in the tour), we’ll have an early dinner. Crepes and Waffles is a social impact business throughout Colombia, and they have a full restaurant in the airport. Savory crepes at a B Corp business, all in Bogotá. You’ll feel good about this!
Our flight to Armenia puts us in the Coffee Triangle of Colombia, so you know what’s coming tomorrow!
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 3: Armenia
After breakfast and fine locally-grown Arabica coffee, we’ll explore this special UNESCO world heritage region by starting at a coffee plantation.
The farm tour includes understanding the native trees that protect the coffee plants, bean picking (typically Nov-Mar), cherry pulping, washing and the post-harvest processes. The tour is an outdoor educational, interactive experience. It will be fun!
In the afternoon, we’ll learn about cocoa grown in the area, with a little chocolate tasting involved.
We’ll head back to the hacienda where we are staying for dinner and dance lessons. Perhaps taste Colombia's national spirit, aguardiente, with its soft notes of anise layered over tropical fruit, and a perceivable sweetness.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 4: Cocora Valley
After breakfast, we’ll take the 1 hour scenic drive to the Cocora Valley, part of the UNESCO World Heritage region. Enjoy a morning hike through the valley of green pastures, cows, hummingbirds, and wax palm trees.
Here is a short video of the hike.
The wax palm trees are described as looking like, “lit sparklers on the Fourth of July with their long skinny trunks topped with an explosion of palm fronds.” These 200’ tall trees are home to unique birds and much of the Disney movie, “Encanto”, is based there.
After a day in Cocora Valley, we’ll check into our accommodations in Salento where we can rest and relax or go out and explore the charming town.
Tonight we’ll play Tejo, an explosive Colombian game reminiscent of corn hole. Even Anthony Bourdain loves this game!
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 5: Salento
Wake up with the sun for an optional birdwatching tour and maybe even see this Sylph hummingbird with its long tail feathers. If you’re not a birdwatcher, you could sleep in and enjoy a leisurely breakfast or take morning photos of the colorful small town.
This is a great place for shopping, and we have a secret coffee house that we like to visit.
We’ll take a late afternoon flight to Barranquilla and enjoy a delicious dinner in this fantastic city. Get ready for coconut rice, a traditional coastal side dish.
Meals: Breakfast
Day 6: Barranquilla
Barranquilla, where the River Magdalena flows into the Caribbean. This industrial port city is the hometown of Latin pop star, Shakira, and hosts the second-largest Carnival in the World (think Rio and Fat Tuesday). We will do a city tour then visit the museum learn about the origins of carnival and the hall of dresses worn by the event queens over the last decades. Learn about the strong Lebanese influence in the culture of this young city, founded 300 years after Cartagena.
After lunch we will drive a couple hours south along the coast to arrive in Cartagena de las Indias. After some free time to freshen up at the hotel, we’ll go out for dinner with live music at Candé, elevated traditional Colombian coastal cuisine.
Meals: Breakfast
Day 7: Cartagena
You have a free day! What’s your adventure, catamaran and enjoying views of Cartagena from the water? Snorkeling? Investigating Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s haunts? Emerald shopping? Book your adventure in advance on Get Your Guide or Viator, or wait to see what inspires you when you’re there.
Rejoin the group at 5 pm for a special sunset experience. Dinner will be Candé Restaurant, a favorite with elegant Colombian cuisine and traditional live music.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 8: Cartagena
This morning we’ll get a tour of the key places in the city, the San Felipe de Barajas fortress, the modern (Miami-like) neighborhoods, the historical center, and our neighborhood of Getsemani.
Following lunch, you could choose to retreat from the sun in your air-conditioned room, take a refreshing dip in the pool, or explore pirate artifacts at a nearby museum.
In the late afternoon, we’ll go to a Colombian-French fusion cooking class followed by dinner. This social impact business is designed to employ single mothers, both in the restaurant and at the market. You’ll come away knowing how to make patacones, have a full belly, and feel good about the local entrepreneurs you met.
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Day 9: Hasta La Proxima
Today you say farewell to your guide, Luis Fernando, and start your own adventure in Colombia.
We hope you fully experienced the richness of Colombia through fun, hands-on exploration, city and nature experiences with free time built in, all while enjoying the structure and security of traveling in a small group on our custom Viva Cartagena! tour.
Meals: Breakfast
