Colombia is a country full of rich and unique places to visit. Their museums, mountains, rivers, and history are all well worth exploring, but that isn’t all. Even their towns are full of uniqueness, life, and history that can keep any tourist or explorer entertained for a long time.
There may be places in a town we search out specifically, but sometimes tourists forget to look at the town as a whole and embrace the area, history, and life that created the town as it is today.
Keep reading to learn more about some of the most stand-out towns to visit during your trip through Colombia. No matter what you look forward to while traveling, you will find it all in these towns and cities below.
Santa Cruz de Mompox
If you want to see historical architecture while walking through a city, Santa Cruz de Mompox might be a good place to visit. It has a lot of history from colonial times and kept many of its buildings and designs from that period.
There are also many festivals throughout the year that the city hosts, enthralling locals and tourists alike. There are film, jazz, and music festivals commonly held in the area, as well as a lot of religious ceremonies held there.
There are many historic buildings to explore if history and culture are your things. However, they also have a lot of handcrafts thanks to their unique goldsmith techniques. Make sure you have enough money so that you can buy some of these beautiful crafts and trinkets to take home later.
San Gil
If extreme sports or nature is more your thing, it may be worth visiting San Gil. Though the town is small, it offers a lot of exciting adventures. There is white water rafting in the area, paragliding, mountain biking, horseback riding, waterfalls to climb down, and even forest trails to hike through.
The city itself is gorgeous. As another colonial-style town, it offers beautiful historic buildings such as the cathedral. There are also mountains, rivers, and canyons that give tourists plenty of exploring to do in the area.
Whether you spend a week or a day in San Gil, you will find yourself with plenty of options on how to spend your day. The hotels in the area are cheap, allowing you to spend money on tours and guides for many outdoor adventures.
However, it isn’t all outdoor adventures and old buildings. If you like to spend a day shopping and trying new food, you won’t find yourself disappointed. There are modern shopping malls, chain stores, and various restaurants to try.
Pasto
Pasto is a town that often gets overlooked as nothing more than a quick place to stop when traveling to Ecuador from Colombia. However, while it doesn’t have much that stands out, it is a cute and quaint town that is well worth spending a day or two exploring.
If you visit at the right time, you might even get to catch a part of the festivals that go on in the area.
The people of Pasto also have a fair number of handicraft experiences, such as wood carvings, embossed leather, wool, sculptures, and more. There are plenty of items to view and possibly purchase while exploring the area.
The town is also full of art museums and parks, and many different kinds of food. Some meals are unique to the area, such as guinea pigs, while others are more palatable to those that don’t want to stray too far from their normal meals.
So while on the surface, it may not seem like there is much to see, Pasto is known as the surprising city, and you can see why. On the surface, it seems like a normal town but has a lot of religious, cultural, and natural sights to see.
Cartagena
Cartagena is one of those cities that fully represents Colombia. It is full of colorful buildings that catch the eye, and narrow streets reminiscent of colonial design. It fully embraced the colonial design and has managed to preserve a lot of the style and history while growing and modernizing.
Cartagena is yet another city that has it all. There are breath-taking natural features that include tours to local islands, beaches, mountains, bird-watching, and more.
If that isn’t your thing, they have tours of the historic sights, culinary masterpieces, the true Colombian experience, and more. You can stay in a regular hotel for cheap, or spend a little extra money to stay in some of the most romantic colonial houses and hotels near the islands to make the most of your trip.
There are traditional Colombian restaurants in the area if you want the full experience, but there are also many different levels and types of cuisine to try as well, so you are never bored with your food.
Bogota
Bogota is the capital of the country. Despite being one of the most visited cities in Colombia, it isn’t overly hyped up. Like with every major city, there is a lot of crime, poverty, and trash, but some areas of the city are too pretty to pass up.
Whether you want to tour a museum or get a feel for the Colombian nightlife, you can find it in Bogota. It is about the same size as London and is packed with various restaurants, historical buildings, bars, and more.