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Barichara's red-tiled roofs and cathedral from above, with the green hills of Santander beyond in evening light

Sample journey · 8–10 days

Colombia's cobbled heartland, from Villa de Leyva to Barichara

Bogotá, Zipaquirá, Villa de Leyva, Barichara, Guane & the Chicamocha canyon

Photo: Ricky Beron / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

Most journeys in Colombia hurry from Bogotá to the coffee region or Cartagena. This one turns north, into the mountains of Boyacá and Santander, where colonial towns have survived almost unchanged. Villa de Leyva, with its vast cobbled square, sits in a dry valley where fossils of sea creatures turn up in the fields, and Barichara's houses of earth and stone line the edge of a plateau above a deep valley. From here, a stone road restored in the 19th century, and older than the town itself, leads down to the village of Guane.

It's a journey for people who like to walk old streets slowly, sit in squares and eat where the locals eat. Drives range from an hour to five or six hours on one day, most stops have three nights, and the stays are small hotels in old houses with courtyards full of bougainvillea. Bogotá's altitude, around 2,600 m, can be felt in the first days, so the start is gentle, and lower Barichara is warmer and easier.

The route

The journey

  1. Bogotá
  2. Zipaquirá
  3. Villa de Leyva
  4. Ráquira
  5. Barichara
  6. The Camino Real to Guane
  7. Chicamocha canyon
  8. Bucaramanga
  1. An illuminated cross in a niche of rock salt in the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá

    01Days 1–3 · Bogotá & Zipaquirá

    A high capital and a cathedral underground

    Two nights in Bogotá, in the old La Candelaria quarter, to let your body adjust to the altitude. On the second day, a slow walk: the Gold Museum with its thousands of pre-Columbian pieces, the Botero Museum and narrow streets of painted houses, then in the evening a hot ajiaco, the chicken and potato soup. On the third morning, about an hour or an hour and a half north to Zipaquirá. Here, deep underground in old salt mines, a cathedral has been carved from the salt: long tunnels with Stations of the Cross cut into the walls and a huge central nave. Afterwards, about two and a half hours more through the green pastures of Boyacá to Villa de Leyva, arriving just as the lamps come on in the square.

  2. A cobbled street between white walls with green doors and flowering bougainvillea in Villa de Leyva

    02Days 3–6 · Villa de Leyva

    White houses in a dry valley

    Three nights in Villa de Leyva, a town founded in the 16th century that has kept its face of whitewash, wooden balconies and cobbled streets. Its square is one of the largest in the country, and in the morning, before the weekend visitors arrive, it seems almost empty. The valley around it was once a seabed: on a nearby farm, the fossil of a huge marine reptile, a kronosaurus, is kept where it was found in a field. The next day, the pottery village of Ráquira, where clay pots and baskets line the streets, and an old monastery in the hills. For those who'd like to walk, the Iguaque sanctuary, whose mountain lake was sacred to the Muisca, or horses on the valley trails. Evenings are slow: dinner in a courtyard under the stars, and cool mountain air that calls for a jumper.

  3. A Barichara street with tiled roofs and green hills in the distance

    03Days 6–7 · Barichara

    A town of earth and stone on the edge

    The longest day of the journey: around five or six hours on mountain roads through Boyacá into Santander, with lunch on the way. The road winds, but it's beautiful: pastures give way to sugar cane, and the air slowly warms. Three nights in Barichara, one of the best-preserved towns in Colombia. Its houses are built of rammed earth, its roofs of red tile, and its streets are paved with the tawny local stone that masons still cut by hand. The first day is simply for walking: from the cathedral to the lookout on the cliff edge above the Suárez River valley, past workshops where paper is made from agave fibre, and small cafés in courtyards. In spring, Santander eats roasted giant ants, a local delicacy worth trying at least once.

  4. Barichara's rooftops and church towers among the greenery, seen from the hillside

    04Day 8 · The Camino Real to Guane

    On foot along the old stone road

    In the morning, while it's still cool, the walk along the old Camino Real to Guane begins. This stone-paved path, once used by the Guane people and later by traders and mule trains, was restored in the 19th century and today runs for about nine kilometres. It mostly descends through dry scrub with cacti and great boulders, some with fossil shells set into them. It usually takes two or three hours, and you'll want good shoes, a hat and water, as there's little shade. Guane is a small, quiet village with a white church, a square under the trees and a modest museum of fossils and Guane artefacts found nearby. After lunch and a cold fruit juice, back to Barichara by car. For those who'd rather not walk, a shorter section or a whole day in town.

  5. The Chicamocha River winding along the floor of the deep canyon between dry, cactus-dotted hills in Santander

    05Days 9–10 · The Chicamocha canyon & Bucaramanga

    Across the canyon by cable car

    On the last day, about an hour and a half to two hours by road to the Chicamocha canyon, one of the deepest in South America. From the lookout in the park on the rim, you can see the river winding far below between bare, rust and green slopes. A cable car descends right across the canyon to the river and climbs up the other side, a long, quiet ride during which the landscape opens in all its scale. A monument to Santander's history also stands on the rim. In the afternoon, about an hour and a half more to Bucaramanga, a green city of parks, and a final night. On the tenth morning, a flight to Bogotá and on home, or a short flight to Cartagena for a few days by the sea.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    The salt cathedral

    A sanctuary carved into old salt mines deep beneath the hills of Zipaquirá.

  2. 02

    Villa de Leyva's square

    One of the largest cobbled squares in the country, best early in the morning when it's almost empty.

  3. 03

    The Camino Real

    A stone road of about nine kilometres from Barichara to Guane, through scrub studded with fossils.

  4. 04

    The Chicamocha canyon

    A cable car across one of the deepest canyons in South America.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • At a slower pace

    The long drive to Barichara can be broken with a night on a coffee or sugar-cane farm on the way, and one more night in Barichara with no plan at all.

  • More active

    Nearby San Gil is known for rafting, caves and waterfall trails, fun for older children and active travellers.

  • With the Caribbean

    From Bucaramanga it's a short flight to Cartagena: after the mountain cool, a few warm days in the old town and by the sea.

  • With the coffee region

    Starting with the coffee farms and wax palms before returning to Bogotá stretches the journey to two weeks and shows two very different sides of the Andes.

Practical considerations

  • In the mountains, the drier months are usually roughly December to March and July to August, but the weather varies from year to year and a short shower is possible any time. Over Christmas, Holy Week and long weekends the colonial towns fill with Colombian visitors.
  • Bogotá stands at around 2,600 m and Villa de Leyva at around 2,100 m, with cool evenings. Barichara and the canyon are lower and warmer, so bring both light and warm layers.
  • Mountain roads wind, and journey times depend on traffic and roadworks, so we allow more time than the map suggests. The Camino Real is stone and uneven in places, and best walked in the morning.
  • We check current entry requirements for Colombia and regional travel advice before you travel.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

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