3 weeks across Colombia with your rental car

Enjoy Colombias highlights while travelling on your own.

  • diverse landscapes between the Andes and the Caribbean
  • archaeological sites
  • culinary delicacies of the different regions
  • Bogotá and its historical city-centre
  • fascinating flora and fauna
  • production process of the columbian coffee
  • gorgeous caribbean beaches

Your Highlights 

Your journey

Your 3-week trip starts in Bogotá and leads you down to the southern part of Colombia, then you head to the western part and through the coffee plantations to finish your journey in Cartagena in the north.

You will spend 2 weeks of the trip with your rental car which means you can make your holiday even more individual by making stops whereever you want.

Day 1: Arrival in Bogotá

You land in Colombias capital, 2,640 meters above sea level. An english-speaking driver will pick you up at the airport and drive you to your hotel in the historic city centre, La Candelaria.

Enjoy your first evening in the city with its colonial flair.

Overnight stay at the Hotel Casa Deco

Day 2: Bogotá

Design the day as you like it! You can explore the city or simply relax and arrive. We recommend to look at the city form above. Therefore, take the cablecar to the top of Cerro de Monserrate and enjoy the fantastic view!

The city also offers a lot for the ones interested in culture: the gold museum, the Museo Nacional or the Botero Fundación let hearts beat faster!

The two districts Candelaria and Macarena are also worth their time: admire the colonial architecture, enjoy colombian cuisine or stroll through the Usaquén art market.

Overnight stay at the  Hotel Casa Deco

Day 3: Bogotá

Choose one of our three guided tours to explore the city even further:

  • City Tour: The day starts with the cablecar tour up to Cerro de Monserrate and the Basílica de Monserrate. Back in town you visit the historic district Candelaria, the Plaza de Bolívar and the popular pedestrian zone “la septima”.
  • Graffiti Tour: A bogotanic guide will show you a hidden side of the city. Discover the street art, a creative and authentic way of coping with the country’s history, everyday life struggles and social conflicts.
  • Museumstour: An english-speaking guide will introduce you to Colombias culture. You will visit the gold museum, the Museo Botero and the Casa Moneda.

Overnight stay at the Hotel Casa Deco

Day 4: Arrival in Neiva

After breakfast your driver will bring you to the airport where you will pick up your rental car.

Your route to Neiva leads you 5 hours in southwestern direction, passing by the tropical but dry Tatacoa desert.

After arriving at your hotel, feel free to relax at the hotels pool area.

Overnight stay at the Hotel Matamundo

Day 5: Neiva

Explore the Tatacoa desert on your own or join a guided tour:

  • Daytrip: Your guide awaits you in Villavieja. With his jeep he can show you the most spectacular places in the desert and tell you important and fascinating facts about Tatacoa.
  • Night-time trip: Look forward to stargazing in the middle of the desert! The guide will pick you up by bike and show you the best spots to watch the nightsky.

Overnight stay at the Hotel Matamundo

Day 6: Arrival in San Agustín

You’re heading further in southwestern direction, after about 4 hours you will reach San Agustín.

Use the remaining day for a walk through the town or visit the top attraction of the region: the archaeological park “Alto de los Ídoles” and “Alto de las Piedras”

Overnight stay at the Hotel Alto de los Andaquies

Day 7: San Agustín

Visit more attractions on horseback:

  • El Tablón: an archaeological and ethnographic museum where parts of the spectacular Augustinian heritage are exhibited
  • La Chaquira: find centuries-old sculptures and depictions carved out of rocks
  • La Pelota: admire more statues in their natural diverse colorings

Overnight stay at the Hotel Alto de los Andaquies

Day 8: San Agustín

The highlights of todays exploration are the archaeological park San Agustín and “Alto de los Ídoles”, the waterfall “Mortino”, a “trapiche”-factory where sugar cane is processed, the waterfall “Lavapatas” and more stony sculptures and the visit of a sugar cane plantation.

And of course the spectacular landscape and the small villages with their clay huts are not to be forgotten.

Overnight stay at the Hotel Alto de los Andaquies

Day 9: Arrival in Popayan

Your next destination Popayan is a 4-hour drive away from San Agustín in northwest direction.

The city lies 1,737 meters above sea level and is best known for its picturesque alleyways, paved squares and countless small churches.

Overnight stay at the Hotel Casa de Mima

Day 10: Popayan

Choose one of the three offered guided tours to explore the city:

  • City-tour in Popayan: The guide leads you through the alleys of the “white city” and introduces you to the churches, their cultural heritage and more aspects of the colonial past.
  • A day with the Guambianos: Not far from the city Silvia, you can spend a day with the indigenous people of the Cauca Departement, the Guambianos. One of the many highlights will be a traditional dish prepared by the Guambianos.
  • Volcano Puracé: Early in the morning your trip starts into the Puracé National Park. While climbing the volcano, you have the chance to watch cormorants. Once you arrive at the top of the volcano you will be rewarded with a breathtaking view over the region.

Overnight stay at the Hotel Casa de Mima

Day 11: Arrival in Cali

On your way further north you can once again visit the city Silvia which is located about one hour away from Popayan. At the market you can bargain with the locals for their goods.

After two more hourse you arrive in Cali and can choose between

  • a detailed city tour through the alleys, crossing pretty bridges, squares and districts
  • or a Salsa tour which contains a introduction to salsa dancing followed by a small city tour.

Overnight stay at the Hotel Posada de San Antonio

Day 12: The coffee cultivation area

Before your journey continues to the coffee area and the city Armenia, enjoy the morning in Cali.

After 3 hours of driving north you enter the colombian coffee cultivation area. You have many options on how to spend the afternoon:

  • “Parque del Café”: A leisure park/theme park specialised on coffee: you are welcome to enjoy spectacular attractions such as rollercoasters as well as learn about the coffee cultivation and colombian culture.
  • “PANACA”: the Parque Nacional de la Cultura Agropecuaria is a theme park that focuses on the encounters between humans and animals
  • The Botanic Garden Quindío: admire local plants and visit the butterfly house.
  • Enjoy your Finca or make an optional coffee tour

Overnight stay at the Finca La Colina

Day 13: Valle del Cocora

After breakfast you will drive to the Cocora valley and go an a two- to three-hour hike to explore the diverse nature.

Afterwards you stop at Don Elias’ finca where you can learn everything about the colombian coffee and its production process.

The day ends when you arrive in the small village Filandia, which once again offers beautiful colonial-style architecture.

Overnight stay at the Finca La Colina

Day 14: Arrival in Manizales

Your next destination, Manizales, is about two and a half hours north of Filandia.

Once you arrived at your hotel, feel free to join an optional tour at the Hacienda Venecia to get to know the history and development of the coffee production.

Overnight stay at the Finca Romelia

Day 15: Manizales

Manizales is the capital of the Caldas region and a rather modern town. It is ideal for simply strolling through the alleys, and the thermal bath of Santa Rosa de Cabal are perfect for a relaxed afternoon or evening.

There will also two guided tours offered:

  • “Parque Los Nevados”: The National Park in the central Andes displays unique vegetation like the Páramo or the Superpáramo, a very scarce form of vegetation that is typical for high mountain regions.
  • Orchid tour: A visit to the garden and the main building offers a great introduction to the orchid culture, its production and the harmony between the cultivation and protecting the biodiversity

Overnight stay at the Finca Romelia

Day 16: Arrival in Medellín

You’re driving north for five hours until you reach Medellín. Use the remaining day for free activities: stroll through the historic centre, take the cablecar to the former cartel centre of the City of the Eternal Spring, Santo Domingo. The two cities Santa Fe de Antioquia and Guatapé also invite for a little city trip.

Overnight stay at the Hotel Las Rosas

Day 17: Medellín

Medellín offers two guided tours:

  • City tour: Explore the city centre and the historic centre of the City of Flowers. You will see the most important touristic places and relax in the Parque Berrio while listening to local artists and their “guasca” music.
  • “Tour de transformación”: Set off to a journey through the history and the transformation of the city, from one of the most dangerous drug cartel centres to one of the most innovative towns of the present

Overnight stay at the Hotel Las Rosas

Day 18: Arrival in Cartagena

After breakfast you drive to the airport to return your rental car and take a one-hour flight to Cartagena.

You will be picked up at the airport and brought to your hotel. Enjoy the rest of the afternoon with a walk through the town.

Overnight stay at the Hotel Don Pedro de Heredia

Tag 19: Cartagena

Spazieren Sie durch das UNESCO-Kulturerbe und bestaunen Sie den Prunk der Kolonialzeit. Etwas außerhalb laden auch das Fort San Felipe oder die Strände der Insel Rosario oder der Halbinsel Baru zu einem Besuch ein.

Alternativ werden auch die folgenden Touren angeboten:

  • “La Boquilla”: frühmorgens starten Sie vom Hafen in einem kleinen Motorboot, um die Moorlandschaft “La Boquilla” zu erkunden. Während der Fahrt durch den Mangrovenwald und das Moor haben Sie die Möglichkeit, einen Blick auf einheimische Vögel wie Eisvögel, Seiden- und Fischreiher sowie verschiedene Moorvögel zu erhaschen.
  • “Playa Blanca”: eine Bootsfahrt bringt Sie zur Playa Blanca auf der Halbinsel Baru. Dort können Sie Schnorcheln gehen und optional das Oceanario besuchen.

Übernachtung im Hotel Don Pedro de Heredia

Tag 20: Cartagena

Sie können die vier angebotenen Touren in Cartagena auf die beiden Tage aufteilen, wie es Ihnen gefällt.

  • City-Tour: die Highlights der ganztägigen Stadtbesichtigung sind unter anderem das Inquisitionsmuseum, die Plaza Santo Domingo, der Kunsthandwerksmarkt “Las Bóvedas”, das Kloster “Convento de la Popa” mit seinem atemberaubenden Ausblick über Cartagena und die Festung San Felipe, von wo aus SIe den besten Blick auf den Sonnenuntergang haben.
  • “Islas del Rosario”: das Archipel “Nuestra Señora del Rosario” lädt mit seinen 28 kleinen Inseln zu einem spannenden und erlebnisreichen Tag ein.

Übernachtung im Hotel Don Pedro de Heredia

Tag 21: Rückkehr in die Heimat

Nach dem Frühstück bringt ein Fahrer Sie zum Flughafen in Cartagena, wo Ihr Flug nach Bogotá startet. Anschließend kehren Sie mit einem internationalen Flug von Bogotá aus zurück in Ihre Heimat.

Guten Flug!

Tag 22: Ankunft in der Heimat

Ihre Reise mit uns ist un zu Ende und Sie können sich wieder auf Ihren Alltag vorbereiten.

Bis zum nächsten Mal in Kolumbien!

Reisen Sie mit uns quer durch Kolumbien!

Kontaktieren Sie uns gerne für einen individuellen Reisevorschlag! Einer unserer Tourdesigner wird sich mit Ihnen in Verbindung setzen, um die ideale Reise für Sie zu gestalten.

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