Complete Colombia

Begin your trip with complimentary private-lounge access before your overnight flight to Colombia. 

On arrival, a private transfer will see you to your stylish accommodation in the Colombian capital’s colonial centre. It’s the perfect launchpad for a private tour of Bogotá’s La Candelaria – its historic heart. You’ll begin with the Plaza de Bolívar to showcase its 19th-century cathedral, pair of palaces and the National Capitol – the home of the country’s congress and a lesson in Renaissance architecture. Then, continue on to art-filled colonial houses and the Museo del Oro’s collection of pre-Hispanic gold – the largest in the world. If you’ve extra time, we also recommend extending your stay for a day trip out to the Catedral de Sal – a stunning Roman Catholic church built in an underground salt mine.

Stay: Hotel Sofitel Bogota Victoria Regia (Superior)

Bookend your flight west with private transfers, arriving at your antique-furnished, colonial-style property in Pereira. Over the next two days, a pair of private guided tours will showcase its spectacular surrounds. You’ll start with a trip out into the impossibly verdant Valle de Cocora where hikes or horseback rides will bring you among parrots, 60-metre-high palm trees and national-park cloud forests. Along the way, you’ll stop off for an included lunch at a trout farm and a visit to a traditional village. The next day will be given over to a private tour with coffee tasting of the region’s world-famous coffee plantations that terrace its green hills. You’ll stop off for pretty haciendas, toasting houses and, yes, the chance to taste the finished product.

Stay: Casa de Huéspedes Sazagua (Superior)

Today, a private transfer through the Colombian countryside will see you to the country’s second city for a private tour. The next day, your private tour will see you turn out to Santa Fe de Antioquia – a colonial gem where narrow streets are lined with whitewashed buildings, grand churches and a grander cathedral. Following an included lunch, you’ll end with the quieter colonial charms of San Jerónimo.

Stay: Hotel Patio del Mundo (Superior)

This morning you'll trace how Medellín has shed its chequered, Pablo-Escabar past, to reinvent itself as a welcoming metropolis. You'll fly over historic neighbourhoods by cable car, take in vibrant graffiti with electric stairways and showcase sculptural squares with evocative walks. An afternoon flight out of Medellín, again sandwiched by private transfers, will see you to Cartagena and your boutique accommodation, sited in a 16th-century colonial townhouse. It’s the perfect introduction to the fairytale romance of this Caribbean city. Here, labyrinthine cobbled alleys lead between open-air cafés and welcoming plazas, hemmed in by over eight miles of colonial walls. You’ll take it all in on a private tour, stopping off at handicraft markets built under centuries-old arches and the imposing San Felipe fortress. This 16th-century castle was first built to fight off pirates and invaders.

Stay: Hotel Boutique Ananda (Superior)

You’ll spend today on a boat trip out to the coral islands and gin-clear waters of the Rosario Islands. It’s a national-park gem, an archipelago of islets fringed by lush, tropical greenery. And, along the way, you’ll pause for lunch and the chance to relax on its white-sand beaches. There’s also the opportunity to snorkel among the islands’ marine life; watch as spectacularly colourful fish swim among crazed coral formations.

Stay: Hotel Boutique Ananda (Superior)

Sweeping along the coast, your private transfer will see you to Santa Marta to stay in a historic townhouse, all exposed brick and rooftop terraces. Centrally located, you’ll be poised to explore on a guided tour. Here, everything from indigenous-carved statues and anthropological museums to a grand cathedral and garden-lined mansions evidence Santa Marta’s status as Colombia’s oldest city. You’ll even see the house where that great liberator Simón Bolívar passed away back in 1830. End with a trip out to pretty bays and Taganga – a traditional fishing village.

Stay: Hotel Boutique Don Pepe or Hotel Casa Carolina (Superior)

End your adventure on the unspoilt beaches of Tayrona National Park, where the lush lower slopes of the Sierra Nevada meet the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea. You’ll stay in a luxurious thatched bungalow with private-balcony views of the lapping waves as you head out to explore on a range of activities. Snorkel off the idyllic coast, bike through dense forests, book onto a horse ride and trek out to the ancient ruins of the Tayrona tribes. Or, you can simply while away your days at the spa or the white-sand beaches.

Stay: Cayena Beach Villa (Superior)

A final private transfer will see you to Santa Marta Airport for your overnight flight home, arriving on day 16.