Colorful walls or whitewashed houses, high doors and wooden blinds – the colonial period left Colombia’s villages with a pretty architectural heritage. In the cosy interior patios hummingbirds and butterflys circle the flowers. Splashing fountains provide a relaxing background. Enjoy this charming ambiente in one of the many boutique hotels.
From Villa de Leyva, Guatavita or Monguí you can hike on the paths of the Muiscas. Discover the holy lakes of this indigenous tribe and dive into the legend of Eldorado. Villa de Leyva itself is famous for its huge main square and colonial architecture. Also, worth a visit is the monastery of La Candelaria, an Augustine convent of the 17th century. It is next to a small village called Ráquira, which lives of the pottery.
Voted the most beautiful village of Colombia, Barichara glows with white houses, yellow-red ground and purple bougainvillea bushes. Here on the slopes of the Eastern Cordillera, many creative minds enjoy the warm climate. Enter the studios and watch painters, potters and scultors at work. Barichara is one of these places where you forget the time while walking through its streets.
Another insider tip is San Vícente del Chucurí. A small village in the north of Santander. There we are collaborating with an organic cocoa farm, where you can spend a day and produce your own chocolate.
In the middle of the Magdalena river’s marshes lies Mompox a real hidden gem. Getting there is a bit strenuous but the voyage is rewarding. This is where Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márques got inspired to write “A hundred years of solitude”.
Dicover Colombia’s colonial villages – charming and authentic!