Best of Colombia

Welcome to Bogotá! Ignite your travel Columbia love affair in its colorful capital – a cultural, historic and artistic center on the edge of the Andes. You'll be welcomed to the city by your Travel Host at Bogotá Eldorado International Airport and transfer to your Cité Hotel in the city's entertainment and shopping district.

You'll feel the buzz of Zona Rosa before you see it but there's no better way to begin your discovery of all the highlights of Colombia than a bird's-eye view of sprawling Bogotá. Treat yourself to a high-altitude journey up to Monserrate by cable car for out-of-this-world panoramic views of the city or keep your feet firmly on the ground and immerse yourself in the energy in the streets surrounding your hotel.

Find a spot to enjoy local rhythms and a tamale or two before kick-starting your Colombia holiday at a Welcome Reception where you'll get to know your Travel Director and fellow travel companions and get excited for the new experiences that are waiting to be explored over the next ten days. (WR) Stay: Cité Hotel

History comes alive during this morning's trip to La Candelaria. Here your Bogotá tour reveals the city's Spanish colonial roots and you'll have an opportunity to see the Cathedral of Bogotá and Liévano Palace, the city hall.

Discover Colombia's rich mineral heritage when you visit the Gold Museum before heading to the city's most famous food market, Paloquemao, where you'll meet your warm host, a local chef, will guide you past the lively stalls full to bursting with juicy exotic fruits, fresh vegetables, herbs and meats. It's just a small taste of what's to come on this Colombia tour and you'll be more than ready for your exclusive Be My Guest lunch by the time you arrive at Criterión by Rausch, one of Latin America's best restaurants.

Prepared exclusively for the group, it's a delicious way to start your afternoon; perhaps one enjoyed with an Optional Experience to Zipaquirá. Beyond the opportunity to learn about the formation of salt and the fascinating mining process to extract it, you'll descend into an underground world of salt and explore the Salt Cathedral, an exquisite Catholic church carved into the subterranean walls of the salt mine. (B/BMG)

Board your flight to Colombia's famed Coffee Triangle, a UNESCO-designated landscape you'll get to navigate on the back of one of the much-loved 1950s Willys Jeeps. On this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience, you'll visit El Paraíso Finca, a family-owned organic coffee plantation where you'll Connect with Locals, joining your warm host Carlos Arturo Valencia and his family for a traditional “Sancocho” stew prepared by his wife, Stella, and paired with a cup of his own coffee.

You'll hear what it's like to live and work on a coffee plantation, as well as Colombia's history of coffee that spans several centuries and what it takes to create the rich Arabica for which Colombia is justifiably famous. You'll also have a chance to pick your own coffee and develop a deep understanding of what it takes to cultivate the highest-quality coffee beans.

Tonight's Stays with Stories at La Herencia immerses you even more in coffee plantation life as this traditional Colombian family home-turned-boutique-hotel is surrounded by nature and coffee farms. You'll gain a real sense of how generations of coffee plantation families have lived in this area and feel like you're a family guest in a luxurious colonial-style country home. (B/BMG) Stay: La Herencia Hotel

Rural Colombia beckons and we seek out the world's tallest palm trees in Cocora Valley on a guided hike through the Los Nevados National Natural Park, learning about the national tree of Colombia. On this epic travel Columbia experience, you'll have an opportunity to plant a Quindio wax palm – your contribution to preserving this endangered species of tree for generations to come. Today the beloved Jeep® Willys make another appearance and it's a sight you'll be talking about all through your delicious lunch at a local trout farm in Salento.

Here you'll Dive Into Culture and enjoy homemade hearty Colombian food al fresco surrounded by tropical fruit trees. Thoroughly enriched by your day in the countryside, you'll stop in Filandia and head to its La Colina Iluminada, a rather curious wooden structure providing panoramic views of nearby towns and cloud forests. A day that will stand out as a highlight of your Colombia holiday, you'll reminisce over your first-hand experience of local rural life during dinner with your travel companions at your boutique hotel. (B/L/D)

We start the day with a scenic drive through farmland and jungles bound for Pereira Airport where we'll board our short flight to Medellín, the ‘City of Eternal Spring'. Unsurprisingly, the city is renowned for its flower farms, orchids and butterflies – an environment so pleasing you'll understand why the locals are so positive, energetic and warm hearted.

Your Local Specialist will join you as you drive to Santa Elena, a pretty mountain town known for its floral exports; an industry you'll get to grips with when you visit a local ‘finca' for an unforgettable MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience where you'll meet the ‘silletero' (flower farmer) who'll share how flowers have been grown in the area for centuries and the tradition of making ‘silletas', the traditional flower-laden wooden structures the ‘silleteros' fashion and carry on their backs during parades.

Beautiful blooms are the order of the day, and you'll end it off with an unforgettable dinner at Medellín's Botanical Garden, a 35-acre oasis in the heart of the busy city. You'll feel thoroughly restored as you Dive into Culture and stroll beneath the trees through this exquisite wonderland of green working up an appetite for dinner with the group. (B/RD) Stay: Diez Hotel Categoría Colombia

Today's exploration of Medellín will be expertly guided by a Local Specialist who will reveal the city's extraordinary transformation. You'll Connect with Locals at the Antioquia Museum for an introduction on how art has evolved over the 400-year history of Antioquia. For lunch, Dive into Culture at Las Berracas de la 13, sampling Bandeja Paisa, historically the breakfast of choice for local farmers.

Full and happy, today you'll come face to face with the incredible transformation of Medellín on this afternoon's visit to the infamous Comuna 13. You'll take the famous aerial lift system and escalators to this elevated neighborhood which was ground zero for the turf wars between Pablo Escobar's drug cartel and government forces.

A local community leader who grew up in Comuna 13 and now runs a social project in the community leads this fascinating MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience during which you'll learn how black youths are reconnecting with their roots through music and art and how your visit helps the social project expand on its great work – an extraordinary story you'll be sharing with friends and family for years to come and a real highlight of any trip to Colombia. (B/L)

After a short flight we arrive in Barranquilla, a haven for musicians, writers and painters and home to one of the country's most beloved celebrations, the Carnival of Barranquilla. Your Local Specialist will share the joy of this four-day UNESCO-listed carnival which honors Colombian culture and tradition through music, dance and colorful parades.

You'll Dive Into Culture, with your first-hand meet and greet with a Carnival Queen, learning how she presides over The Great Parade when folk dance groups, fire breathers and colorful floats compete against each other and festival-goers take to the streets in fun costumes all dancing to the rhythms of cumbia, porro and puya.

A scenic drive along the coast will bring us to Cartagena, a city with a rich colonial history as a port which was frequently subject to pirate raids, giving rise to its maze-like layout. The evening is yours to spend as you wish, perhaps trying out some of the street food options in the Old City or finding a Caribbean beach retreat for cocktails and a bite to eat. (B/L) Stay: Hyatt Regency Cartagena

Join your Local Specialist for a walking tour through Cartagena's historic center, passing the La Torre de Reloj, the famous 17th century Clock Tower built to connect Getsemani with old Cartagena. Discover an important part of Catagena's history when you Dive Into Culture and visit the Palace of the Inquisition, an elegant fortress behind whose walls the Spanish Inquisition previously performed acts of torture.

You'll also visit San Pedro Claver Convent before learning about literary giant and Novel Prize winner, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, or “Gabo” as he is known by all Colombians. Your guide will point out the places mentioned in his books and you'll learn how he came to live in the city he once lovingly described as a place of “amethyst afternoons and nights of antic breezes”.

This evening's unforgettable Dive Into Culture experience in the historic heart of the city is Mar y Zielo, a gastro bar housed in Casa de la Escribana. Beyond the beautiful setting, you'll be guaranteed a gourmet experience enhancing favorite local dishes with a modern twist and develop a deep appreciation for local Colombian cuisine perhaps inspired to try your hand at it yourself after your Colombia tour. (B/RD)

Your Choice of sightseeing this morning could see you embark on a guided tour of Cartagena – an opportunity to immerse yourself in the city's history and culture. You'll visit the Fortress of Castilla San Felipe de Barajas perched atop San Lázaro hill overlooking the city. You could choose instead to tour the fishing village of La Boquilla where you'll learn all about the locals' seafaring traditions and their Afro-Caribbean heritage.

On this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience, you'll watch your hosts perform a folklore show, then canoe through the mangroves to see the local fisherman at work, plying the waters in their artisanal fishing trade. Through this  visit, you'll be helping to preserve traditions that have spanned generations and support the Afro-Colombian youth who live in La Boquilla.

Famed food writer, chef and explorer Anthony Bourdain tipped off the world to the mouth-watering ceviche served up by this afternoon's lunch stop at La Cevichería, tucked within the old walls of Cartagena. Cartagena's food experiences continue and it doesn't get more local than boarding a colourful ‘Chiva' bus, which will ferry you to your restaurant for tonight's Farewell Dinner at Marea Restaurant in Getsemaní. (B/L/FD)