Ever since Rodrigo de Bastidas became the first European to set foot on Colombian soil in Santa Marta in 1525, there’s been a long history of foreigner fascination with the country’s Caribbean coastline, and hundreds of thousands – Colombian holidaymakers chief among them – follow in his footsteps annually. In addition to hot weather and cool breezes,Cartagena boasts splendours from the town’s past role as the main conduit for the Spanish crown’s imperial plundering. For its extensive fortifications and colonial legacy, the walled city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.
The 1600km coast holds a wide variety of landscapes from the inaccessible dense jungles of the Darién Gap on the border with Panama to the arid salt plains of the Guajira Peninsula. If it’s a tropical paradise you’re after, try the white, jungle-fringed beaches of Tayrona National Park near Santa Marta. The translucent waters around the fishing village ofTaganga number among the most inexpensive places in the world to learn to scuba dive. Inland, travel back to the sixteenth century in sleepy Mompox and cross paths with coca-chewing Kogis on a mesmerizing five-day trek to the Ciudad Perdida.
While the vast majority of travellers come straight to Cartagena by night bus from Medellín, it’s possible to break your journey in the appealing beach town of Tolú and do a day-trip to the Islas de San Bernardo archipelago.
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