Colombia

Starting Price:	£2,759.00
Trip Length:	13 days
Includes airfare allowance from London (UK)

Interests:

Horseback riding
Snorkeling/Scuba
Sun/Beaches

Tayrona National Park

Bogotá Cityscape

Cartagena

Nature and Beaches: Bogotá, Providencia, Cartagena and Tayrona

Description Pricing Itinerary Hotels

Lie out on the beach, explore the jungle, and view the skyscrapers while you explore Colombia through this highlight tour. You’ll see a capital city filled with cultural highlights, coral-colored sand, the Caribbean coast, Colombian jungle and more.

In the morning (after full-day Bogotá), you’ll head to two Caribbean islands: San Andrés and Providencia. (The two were declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2000 along with Santa Catalina, another island that you’ll have the option to visit. San Andrés boasts beaches with coral-colored sand that look out on a clear, blue and green sea, and Providencia, just a 20-minute flight from San Andrés, is home to solitary bays and a seashore that proves that Providencia is aptly named. Lie out on the beach or try out water sports such as snorkeling or diving. (Snorkeling and diving are highly recommended; San Andrés and Providencia are surrounded by some of the most beautiful and complex coral formations in the world.) From there, you’ll head to Cartagena, a city filled with historic streets, alley ways and stories. Take in the old, walled city’s tiled roofs, balconies and courtyard gardens.

Last up: Tayrona (a national park with a high concentration of biodiversity), where you’ll explore the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and 37,000 acres of white Caribbean beaches.

We offer a choice of 3-, 4- and 5-Star hotels as well as deluxe options. In Bogotá the deluxe option is the Sofitel Bogotá Victoria Regia, and in Cartagena the deluxe option is the Casa del Arzobispado or the Quadrifolio Hotel. Casa Harb is the deluxe option in San Andrés. Accommodation in Tayrona National Park is in Ecohabs, round, ecologically-friendly, two-floor cabins with thatched roofs (in the style of Tayrona Indian architecture). Note: All Ecohabs have private bathrooms and are set on a stone base. Please inquire about these options with one of our travel consultants.

This tour includes airfare allowance from London (UK), on non-holiday dates. You do not need to fly via London; Yampu will fly you the most direct way to your city of destination. Depending on your travel dates and proximity of travel, we will quote you the most economical surcharge from your city or country of origin.

Additional information on this trip:

Days of Week the Trip can Start:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Dates this trip is NOT available for online booking (please submit a regular request):
06 April - 12 April

20 December - 02 January
Visited Cities:
Bogota, Providencia Island, San Andres, Cartagena, Tayrona National Park

Day 1

Bogotá
Upon arrival transfer to your hotel. Bogotá is a modern capital city with stand-out cultural, intellectual and social draws as well as rich colonial heritage.

Day 2

Bogotá City Tour
After breakfast start in on our private tour to the historic center known as La Candelaria. Old “casonas” (grand houses marked Spanish influence) with iron windows, thick wooden doors, balconies and internal patios and gardens line the ancient streets. La Candelaria unfolds around the Plaza Bolívar, named after Simón Bolívar, El Libertador. Originally called Plaza Mayor, it was used for civil and military events and as a marketplace, bull ring and execution platform.

The cathedral beside the square (on the land where Bogotá’s first church was built in 1539) holds weighty collection of liturgical, textile and ornamental objects collected over four centuries. Next to it is the Capilla del Sagrario, known for its superior architecture, and nearby is the Capitolio, built between 1847 and 1926. Influenced by Ionic, Neoclassical and Renaissance styles, it is made of white stone built by several generations of stonemasons. The central area is occupied by the Salón Elíptico, where the meetings of congress take place. The wings house the current Cámara de Representantes and Senate. Busts of former presidents as well as General Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera and Rafael Núńez (the composer of the national hymn) line the internal patio. The tour finishes up in the Palace of Justice.

From there, you'll go to the Museo Botero home to the artwork of Picasso, Renoir, Dalí, Matisse, Monet and Giacometti, to name a few (donated by the artist Fernando Botero and others). After that, you'll head to the Museo del Oro whose collection features nearly 34,000 gold objects and 20,000 in stone, ceramic, textiles and precious stones from the Quimbaya, Calima, Tayrona, Sinu, Muisca, Tolima, Tumaco and Magdalena cultures. The Museo de Oro's collection is considered one of the most meaningful and substantial collections of its kind—worldwide.

Afternoon at leisure. (We recommend checking out another city museum if you're up to it.)

Day 3

Bogotá – San Andrés – Providencia
After breakfast at the hotel transfer to the airport for flight to San Andrés and then a connection flight to Providencia. Upon arrival transfer to the hotel.

Providencia, just a 20-minute flight from San Andrés, is home to solitary bays and a seashore that proves that Providencia is aptly named.

Day 4

Providencia Island
Day set aside for beach activities or excursions on the island’s various beaches. A visit to the neighboring island of Santa Catalina, connected by a colorful wooden bridge called “lovers' bridge,” is recommended. Santa Catalina was rumored to be the famous Treasure Island, and many organized expeditions there, particularly the English.

Day 5

Providencia Island
Day at leisure for beach activities or excursions.

Day 6

Providencia Island – San Andrés
After breakfast, transfer to the airport for flight to San Andrés and transfer to the hotel.

Though Christopher Columbus may have discovered San Andrés on his second voyage, the English and the Dutch controlled it for over 30 years in a rare collaboration. The English were in charge of colonizing, and the Dutch managed commercial exchange in the Antilles. Nowadays, the island is well-known for its beaches.

Day 7

San Andrés
Day at leisure for beach activities. An excursion to Johnny Cay and Acuario is recommended.

Day 8

San Andrés – Cartagena
After breakfast transfer to the airport for departure by flight to Cartagena. Upon arrival transfer to your hotel.

Day 9

Cartagena City Tour
After breakfast you'll take a private tour of the city’s colonial district. You'll start off in Parque Bolívar, a central part of the district, surrounded by large trees and four fountains with a statue of El Libertador at their center. Around the square you'll see the Museo del Oro and the Palace of the Inquisition distinguished by its baroque entrance door. The meetings of the tribunal took place in the palace, and the palace also housed the prison and torture chambers for the alleged opponents of the Catholic church. Your tour continues to the Santo Domingo church and the cathedral and ends in the Ramparts and the Museo de Las Fortificaciones. Afternoon at leisure.

Day 10

Cartagena
Day set aside for personal activities. We recommend an excursion to Islas del Rosario.

Day 11

Cartagena – Tayrona National Park
After breakfast 4-5 hour private transfer to Tayrona National Park. Upon arrival check-in at Ecohabs.

Day 12

Tayrona National Park
Free day. Explore Pueblito, lie out on the beach, try snorkeling, go horseback riding, rent a bike or just kick back.

Day 13

Tayrona National Park – Santa Marta
Morning transfer to Santa Marta airport after breakfast followed by a connection to Bogotá to take flight back home or overlap with an add-on of your choice.

Suggested Hotels by City and Category *

Bogota
3-star	Dann Norte
4-star	Morrison
5-star	Sofitel Victoria Regia
Deluxe	Charleston Bogota
Providencia Island
3 or 4-star - 1 nt package	Includes flight from ADZ, Breakfast and Dinner, 1st night and transfers. Hotel Miss Elma, Posada del Mar, Hotel Agua Dulce, Hotel Miss Mary, Hotel Cabanas Relax
3 or 4-star - additional night	Hotel Miss Elma, Posada del Mar, Hotel Agua Dulce, Hotel Miss Mary, Hotel Cabanas Relax
4-star	Sol Caribe Providencia, Pirata Morgan
San Andres
3-star	Coco Plum, or similar.
4-star	Casablanca, or similar.
Deluxe	Casa Harb, or similar.
Cartagena
3-star	Hotel Caribe, Almirante Estelar, Hotel La India Catalina, or similar.
4-star	Hotel Hilton Cartagena (Bocagrande area), Hotel Bovedas de Santa Clara (Old Town), or similar.
5-star	Sofitel Santa Clara (Old Town), La Merced Hotel Boutique (Old Town), or similar.
Deluxe	Casa del Arzobispado Hotel Boutique (Old Town), Quadrifolio Hotel Boutique (Old Town), La Passion Hotel, or similar.
Tayrona National Park
3-star	Ecohabs

* Subject to confirmation at time of booking

Occupancy Type	3-Star	4-Star	5-Star	Deluxe
Double	£2759	£2967	£3287	£3890
Single	£4369	£5037	£5250	£6554

Yampu Tours is a trading name of Yampu Tours & Travel Ltd – Registered in England, Company No: 6054303 ATOL Number: 9522 VAT Number 919 1679 90 – 0800 011 2424 – Email Us

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