Culture and the Sea - a Sample 14 day Itinerary
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A sample VIP itinerary, visiting different places in Colombia. Those places are a little out of the ordinary. The idea is to get outdoors and get active, with tours focusing on things like nature, local culture… visiting small towns or farms, hiking, relaxing and mindfulness, with small and boutique hotels.
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Day 1: Medellin
You will have a private transfer with English-speaking guide from the José Maria Córdova airport to your selected hotel in Medellin. Please be aware of the sign with your name on it. You will spend the night at Hotel Patio del Mundo in the Al Andalus Room . Included: arrival transfer , English speaking guide Day 2: Medellin City Tour & Flower Farm This full day activity combines a visit of a traditional flower farm in Santa Elena and a Medellín city-tour including a stunning cable-car ride into town. Flowers are the symbol of Medellín and the annual Flower Festival in August is the cultural highlight of the year. Travel to the flower village of Santa Elena located in the highlands above Medellín. Growing flowers has a long tradition in the region and visiting a flower farm to get to know the so-called “Silletero” culture is a unique experience. Afterwards drive to the Nature Reserve “Parque Arví” and take the cable car to Medellín’s Santo Domingo neighbourhood and start your city-tour. The cable car was constructed to make the inner city more accessible to people from the outskirts and allows visitors a glimpse into the lives of the marginalized population. Go on with the cable car to the city centre and downtown Medellín. Listen to local musicians and the traditional “Guasca” music while visiting Parque Berrío. Stroll through the hustle and bustle of downtown Medellín to the famous Botero Plaza with an exhibition of the Colombian artist Fernando Botero, whose sculptures have become a landmark of the city. You will spend the night at Hotel Patio del Mundo in the Al Andalus Room . Included: Activity , bottle of water , local guide , insurance , lunch , snack , transport (private) , English speaking guide Day 3: Medellín - Culinary Community Experience – Social Project for “Foodies” Enjoy a cooking class and lunch at a community based social transformation project, training low income Colombians to cook and sell healthy food from around the globe, at affordable prices using local products. A Canadian chef set up this unique food project several years ago and all funds generated through your visit are reinvested in the community project, subsidizing the training, materials and equipment for low-income project participants, and maintenance for the training center. Prepare a dish together with people from the local neighborhood and experience an authentic cultural-culinary Medellín moment.
You will spend the night at Hotel Patio del Mundo in the Al Andalus Room . Alternative Excursion - History of Transformation + Graffiti Tour - 5 hours + English speaking guide instead of *Exc HD City Medellin - Culinary Community Experience + English speaking guide Medellín - History of Transformation + Grafitti Tour 20 years ago, Medellín was one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Back in the early 90s, when the hunt for Pablo Escobar took place, the head of Medellín's drug cartel was at its peak. Thus the reign of “El Patrón” came to its end. Until the turn of the millennium the struggle about Escobar's successor continued, but since 2002 Medellín began to change. Local politicians started to invest heavily in infrastructure and public education. Today the “City of Eternal Spring” is one of the most innovative metropolises in the world. You will go through the history and present of Medellín and learn more about the transformation of this fascinating metropolis. The City of Medellin offers a great variety of urban arts due to the city’s transformation of the last 20 years. Nowadays, the city is so full of countless artistic expressions of street art that the local authorities declared urban art a cultural landmark of Medellin. Graffiti is not only about strong artistic and cultural elements, it is a way of political expression. See the graffiti of the Comuna 13 guided by some of the local artists themselves. This tour gives you an insight on history and daily life in this area and the importance of street art for social communication and identity.
Included: bottle of water , cooking class , local guide , insurance , lunch , transport (private) , English speaking guide , private excursion , snack Day 4: Coffee Experience – From the plant to the cup! Experience the traditional coffee culture on a typical Colombian farm in Fredonia, Antioquia. On less than three hectares a local farmer and his family produce their own coffee brand and give us the unique opportunity to observe the whole coffee processing from the plant to the cup. Before lunch you stroll through the coffee fields learning more about growing and collecting the coffee beans. After a traditional countryside lunch, you get an insight about the best way to prepare the coffee.
You will spend the night at Hotel Patio del Mundo in the Al Andalus Room . Included: bottle of water , private excursion , local guide , insurance , lunch , transport (private) , English speaking guide Day 5: Medellin- Santa Marta- Palomino You will have a private transfer with English-speaking guide from your selected hotel to the José Maria Córdova airport in Medellin. Your will have a domestic flight from Medellin to Santa Marta. You will have a private transfer with English-speaking guide from the airport to your selected hotel in Santa Marta. Please be aware of the sign with your name on it. You will spend the night at Hotel Casa Tayrona Los Naranjos in a Ocean view Deluxe Bungalow. Included: departure transfer , English speaking guide , arrival transfer , breakfast , room Day 6: National Park Tayrona - Cañaveral Arrecifes - Cabo San Juan The foothills of the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, the highest coastal mountain range on earth, dip their toes right into the sea, in which bays and coves of singular beauty are to be found. The white sandy beaches in this park are bordered on one side by tropical dry forests and on the other side by the crystal clear and blue waters of the Caribbean Sea, making the Tayrona Park one of the most beautiful in the country. Here you can find a variety of trails that pass the rainforest and the tropical dry forest, and have some amazing archaeological sites on their way. We leave Santa Marta to take the scenic coastal road and reach the eastern entrance of the park after approximately 1 hour. From the Cañaveral sector we begin a walk through the tropical dry forest until arriving at the sector of Arrecifes (about 1 hour). Here we have a short break and time to refresh. We continue to Arenilla Beach, the Piscina Beach and Cabo San Juan (about 1 hour), where we have time to enjoy some beach time. At about 4 p.m. we start our walk back to Cañaveral where our car awaits us (approx. 2 hours), and we return to Santa Marta (approx. 1 hour). You will spend the night at Hotel Casa Tayrona Los Naranjos in a Ocean view Deluxe Bungalow. Included: bottle of water , entrance fees , local guide , insurance, transport (private) , English speaking guide , breakfast , room Day 7: Minca, Valley of Marinka and Coffee Farm La Victoria Minca is a small town located 20 kilometers from Santa Marta and 600 meters above the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Its ever-changing temperature and the flowing of the Minca river endow it with an exuberant vegetation and make it home to numerous exotic birds, many of them indigenous. From Santa Marta we leave in a 4x4 car to first visit the coffee farm La Victoria, located 900 meters above the sea, and about 1 hour from Santa Marta. The coffee farm La Victoria makes the most of their coffee in Colombia. The German Micky Weber, owner of the farm, managed to make use of machines dating from the year 1892, turning the place into a real living museum. Their ideas led the farm to self-sufficiency - from electricity to crop fertilizer, everything is produced on the farm. On a tour of approx. 2 hours we learn all about the ingenious process of coffee La Victoria 1892, from the production to the cup of coffee. We also have the opportunity to visit a very special draft beer brewery. The Nevada Beer is produced in the old chapel of the Victoria Farm and uses only water from its own springs. The beer’s taste is, undoubtedly, as exquisite and exotic as its history. With some luck, we also meet Jonas, founder and master brewer from Bavaria, Germany. After a good coffee and/or beer, we continue in our 4x4 and stop to visit Don Camaritas, famous for preparing the best sausages and smoked fish of the region in their traditional oven. We continue towards the beautiful Marinka Valley and visit the Waterfall of Arimaka, where we will have time for a refreshing swim surrounded only by nature. Once arriving in Minca, we have a short tour through this small town of art and nature lovers, and then return to Santa Marta. You will spend the night at Hotel Casa Tayrona Los Naranjos in a Ocean view Deluxe Bungalow. Included: bottle of water , entrance fees , local guide , insurance , transport (private) , English speaking guide , breakfast , room Day 8:National Park Tayrona- Cartagena Private Transport from Tayrona National Park and surroundings to Cartagena. The ride will take approximately 4 hours and bring you along the Carribean Coast to Cartagena, via Ciena Grande. The Fauna and Flora Sanctuary Cienaga Grande, situated between the cities of Santa Marta and Barranquilla, is the largest of the swampy marshes located in Colombia. It is considered to be one of the most strategic and vital water mirrors of the planet, and therefore it was declared a Ramsar Site (wetland of global importance) in 1998, and as a Man and Biosphere Site by UNESCO in 2000. Visitors to this wild fauna sanctuary will get a passionate trip through the lagoons and marshes, interconnected by beautiful natural channels and mangrove labyrinths which will just take your breath away with their unique, exotic beauty. We start our tour with a drive to the village of Tasajera (45 min.) and from there we change to a traditional motorized canoe as used by the local fishermen to visit Buenavista and Nueva Venecia, villages traditionally built on stilts (palafitte). Every village consists of about 300 houses in the midst of this immense swamp. Without any doubt these villages on stilts in the water (and the simple life its inhabitants, established over 100 years ago) will be of great interest, as well as the beautifully colored houses, which are raised and built on piles, and seem to float on top of the water. We will start our tour in Nueva Venecia (New Venice) with a local guide at the Visitor Center. There we will learn about the village’s checkered history, its chapters of violence and social issues affecting the inhabitants for many years. Afterwards we visit a school building and football ground (also built on top of the water), which represent a place of hope for the younger generation and were donated by the famous football player Radamel Falcao Garcia. This tour also allows us to observe plenty of exotic birds like the Northern Shoveler, Great Egret, Blue-winged Teal, Kingfisher and Darters. Our way back in canoe to Tasajera will take about 90 minutes. You will spend the night at Hotel Casa San Agustin in a Deluxe room. Included: transport (private) , Boat , bottle of water , entrance fees , English speaking guide , breakfast , room |
Day 9: City Tour Cartagena
Cartagena de Indias is without a doubt one of the most beautiful cities in America. Its historic downtown, walled by the fortifications built in the colonial time, still preserves its original architecture and nowadays the walled city is shown in an endless number of colors that fill it with life and Caribbean charm. It's fascinating history as one of the pearls of that time, a place where treasures were stored and the largest port for slaves, gives Cartagena, the city declared heritage of humanity by UNESCO, enormous importance. Stories about severe pirates attacks remain present in numerous fortresses that remain intact until today. The city tour starts visiting the hill of La Popa, an old Augustinian convent located at 150 meters in the highest point of the city. From here we have the best view of Cartagena and we can learn the strategies applied to defend the city in the colonial times in relationship with the surrounding topography. Then we visit the greatest fortress ever built by the Spaniards in their colonies, San Felipe the Barajas. In an one hour tour, we can appreciate this military architecture masterpiece built in Coraline stone. Then we explore the historic downtown, wherein a walk of about 2 hours we meet the most representative and beautiful squares, churches and streets. You will spend the night at Hotel Casa San Agustin in a Deluxe room. Included: entrance fees , local guide , insurance , transport (private) , English speaking guide , breakfast , room Day 10: Free Day Cartagena de Indias Cartagena de Indias was founded in 1533 by the Spanish conqueror Pedro de Heredia. This charming Caribbean city was one of the most important ports of the Spanish Empire in America during the colonial era. Nowadays it is one of the most important and preferred destinations for travelers during their stay in Colombia. The city was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1984 due to its historical center, its history and the set of fortresses, walls and military infrastructure built by the Spanish to defend the city from the English pirates during the 17th and 18th centuries. . In the diversity and cultural richness of the city is evident the mixture between the indigenous and African cultures, as well as the Spanish influence. During the colonial era, Cartagena was besieged by the English piaratas who tried to steal the gold that arrived at the port of the city and then was sent to Spain. Due to this the Castle of San Felipe and the walls that surrounded the old city were built. The Castle of San Felipe is in fact, the castle and the largest military fortress built by the Spaniards in America. During the wars of independence, the city was crucial to defeat the Spanish army and that is why Cartagena is called the "Heroic City". Cartagena preserved its architecture, walls and histories and became the most important tourist destination in the country. In the city you can walk among the old streets, walk on the walls, try the traditional cuisine and listen to the musical rhythms of the Colombian Caribbean. You can also visit the modern area of Bocagrande and El Laguito. If you are beach and sun enthusiast, you can visit the Rosario Islands, an archipelago of islands that belong to the city. There you can bathe in the warm crystal clear waters of the Caribbean and enjoy some nice white sandy beaches. You will spend the night at Hotel Casa San Agustin in a Deluxe room. Included: breakfast , room Day 11: Cartagena- San Andres- Isla Providencia You will have a private transfer from your hotel to the airport in Cartagena. Domestic flight from Cartagena to San Andrés Please note: there is an obligatory turism tax for every passenger ("tarjeta de turismo") of 109.000 COP (Colombian Peso). Domestic flight from San Andres to Providencia. You will spend the night at Hotel Deep Blue in an Ocean View Deluxe Room. Included: departure transfer , breakfast , room Day 12-13 : Isla Providencia You will spend the night at Hotel Deep Blue in an Ocean View Deluxe Room. Included: breakfast , room Day 14: Isla Providencia- San Andres- Cartagena Domestic flight from Providencia to San Andres . Domestic flight from San Andres to Cartagena (not included) 2023 Sample Price per person, double occupancy in US$: Included:
* All transfers, entrance fees and excursions as mentioned in the description * Accommodation as mentioned in the description * Local English speaking guides for tours & Spanish speaking drivers for transfers * Meals as mentioned in the description / Hotels always have breakfast included * Domestic flights Prices without the Colombian VAT (19%) The prices shown are without the extra 19% VAT on top as foreign tourists do not have to pay this tax. We can therefore only guarantee this price if we have copies of the passengers´ passports as proof of their nationality. Not Included: * International flights & taxes * Optional Tours * Soft and alcoholic drinks * Tips, extras and personal expenses * Meals not mentioned in itinerary * Laundry services, local and international phone calls Hotels
Hotel Patio del Mundo, Medellin
The villa is an oasis of serenity and well-being, perfectly nestled in the center of the El Poblado Provenza neighborhood close to bars, restaurants, boutiques, museums and parks. As a traditional renovated villa, Patio del Mundo is an invitation to travel. The architectural design of its common space celebrates Colombia’s unique arts and cultures, and each guest room has a character of its own evoking exceptional places from around the world. Casa Tayrona Los Naranjos, Palomino
Our beautiful hotel built in 2016 and recently improved, invites you to experience the tranquility of the area, as it is located just minutes from the Tayrona National Natural Park on the path of Los Naranjos (limits of the NNP). Surrounded by a Caribbean atmosphere and exclusive decoration that evokes the natural and ecological of the area. Hotel Casa San Agustin Cartagena
Influenced by the subtle shades of the nearby Caribbean Sea, the guest rooms and suites feature a blue-hued palette accented by natural fabrics and rich dark woods. Ironwork beds, chandeliers and sconces specially commissioned by local artists share space with vintage pieces, art and artifacts for an overall atmosphere that feels relaxed and residential. Some guest rooms have private plunge pools or Jacuzzis and all feature luxurious Frette linens and citrus-scented Ortigia bath amenities. Hotel Deep Blue, Isla Providencia
Deep Blue is surrounded by verdant tropical forest with a splendid view towards Crab Caye and the dreamlike Caribbean sea. Well-loved for many years for its truly breathtaking views and privileged coastal location, the hotel has a beautifully located restaurant and a shallow infinity-edged whirlpool with an unforgettable panorama. The warm, casual atmosphere of the restaurant and deck over the sea delight all of our visitors. Combined with the stunning views from the sun loungers, the serene ambience makes for a very romantic escape. Our restaurant and deck are the perfect place to unwind whilst sipping island inspired cocktails, catching the sun’s rays or preparing for a dip in the shimmering Caribbean sea. Relax to the sounds of the gently lapping waves whilst reading a book, or for those who prefer more action, a variety of fun activities and experiences can be arranged by our staff, including complimentary use of our sea kayaks to explore the alluring waters of the nearby McBean Lagoon Marine National Park. |
