33 Hidden Gems in Colombia You Shouldn’t Miss
Looking for unique experiences in Colombia?
Colombia has some incredible hidden gems that will give your trip the icing on the cake! Here we’ll dive into some of Colombia’s best-kept secrets, unique tours and off the beaten path experiences!
When we are planning our travel, we are always asking ourselves, what types of experiences do we want to have? Adventures? Tours? Culinary Classes? Food Tastings? Relaxation? Bustling cities?
Then, it usually comes back to wanting an experience beyond what a typical Google search or blog post shares as the top things to do in Colombia. We want to find the secret spots in Colombia, the unique experiences that aren’t on every tourist’s list.
So, that is what we are going to give you here. A list of the best-hidden gems in Colombia, some adventurous tours, some culinary experiences, some relaxation, some good old fun and some that are typical tourist spots (but we have some extra insight into).
Hope you find this list of unique experiences in Colombia helpful and inspirational as you plan your amazing trip!
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33 Top Hidden Gems & Secret Spots in Colombia
As you are planning your trip to Colombia with kids or without kids, here are some unique tours and adventures that we found throughout the country.
We will break the activities and tours down by region in Colombia so that you can best plan out your experiences.
Almost all of these are family friendly activities in Colombia. We did most of these with our kids (and infant baby)! However, I’ll note when a tour or activity may not allow young kids.
📍 Hidden Gems in Bogotá
We want to take you beyond a simple Google search, to help you find unique things to do in Bogotá!
1. Egipto Tour
Just a truly unique tour that isn’t overrun with tourists (yet!). Think of Comuna 13 in Medellin before it became a wildly popular tourist destination. Most locals still have a negative dangerous cognition about El Barrio Egipto – and rightfully so given its past.
However, some community members are really trying to change this. This tour is likely like nothing you’ve ever done. You can check out more about it in our video here.
2. Zipaquira by Train Salt Cathedral
Visiting one of 3 Salt Cathedrals in the world is pretty cool, but taking a train makes it more fun (especially for kids). Just note that the train only runs on certain days, so book accordingly.
3. Food Tasting at Paloquemao Market, in Bogota
This is just a perfect way to try all the local Colombian fruits and veggies and get to experience this large local market.
4. Take the Funicular Railway to Monserrate in Bogota
Enjoy panoramic views of Bogota via the Monserrate Funicular Railway. A fun, easy ride to the top of Monserrate to look down on the city!
5. Emerald Museum Bogota
Literally a gem! Emeralds in Colombia!
You can visit this museum in the heart of Bogota, at the top of a tall building. You’ll hear the history of emeralds, experience a replica of the mining process, and view many emeralds and jewelry on display.
Our daughter is really into gems, so this was especially fun for her. However, if you aren’t that into Emeralds but want a similar experience, there is a very similar experience inside the Salt Cathedral in Zipaquira.
6. Cooking with Catalina at Con Contrasena
She was fantastic with kids and just an overall fun experience! We picked out some of the fruits and veggies that we cooked with at the Paloquemao Market first – so that is a perfect way to combine the two experiences.
📍 Hidden Gems in Barichara
Barichara is off the beaten path of the typical tourist as is. However, here are some extra tips and secret spots in Barichara!
7. Glamping Barichara
We were determined to do a little glamping in Colombia. As you’ve probably gathered, we are all about various experiences. While we aren’t much into camping (okay, it’s actually just me), I do love a good glamping experience.
And this one deserves a spot on our list: Nativo Glamping
It’s located about a 10-minute tuk-tuk ride (yes, you can ride the fun colorful tuk-tuks!) outside of Barichara. The owner and chef are really nice and make the whole experience.
We stayed for a week and had the chef onsite cooked us a variety of meals. It seemed that he could whip up any request! We even had him do a little cooking class with our kiddos!
It was just a nice chill vibe, great location and fun glamping experience.
8. Take a Hike Along the Ancient Camino Real from Barichara to Guane
This hike is very family-friendly and has shade along the way! It’s an ancient trail with a lot of history. While there isn’t much in the small village of Guane, there is an absolutely fantastic restaurant called Ojala, which serves delicious fresh food – perfect after a nice hike!
9. Paper Making Class in Barichara
This is absolutely a hidden gem in Barichara. You can take a tuk tuk ride or walk to Taller de Papel, a paper factory in Barichara. It’s a beautiful space, where you can experience the entire process of making paper by hand.
Here, they make paper from a variety of plants, such as Pineapple, Corn, Bananas and so much more.
Plus, there is a cute little shop where you can purchase paper jewelry, notebooks, home decor and paper!
10. Chicamocha Longest Cable Car Ride (Teleférico)
Located in Chicamocha National Park (between Bucaramanga and Barichara), you will find one of the world’s longest cable car rides! Pair it with a hike and picnic in the park for a perfect outdoor adventure!
Do note that the drive from Bucaramanga to Barichara is quite windy – lots of twists and turns.
📢 Note: Check to see which days the cable car is closed each week.
📍 Hidden Gems in Villa de Leyva
These are some of Villa de Leyva’s secret spots that will make your trip more memorable!
11. Bean to Bar Chocolate Tasting in Villa de Leyva
We stumbled upon this cute little chocolate shop in the heart of Villa de Leyva. They had some of the most delicious chocolate. (There were a few chocolate shops in town and none as good quality as this one. Believe me, we try all the chocolate shops!)
We popped in and the owner was super nice, explaining how she creates each bar, the various delicious unique flavors and gave us samples.
Needless to say, we walked out with a least 10 bars. Absolutely worth a visit. It’s definitely a hidden gem in Villa de Leyva for a tasty treat.
12. Sugar Cane Farm: Panela in Colombia
As you can probably tell by our posts, we love a good organic family farm! This panel farm outside of Villa de Leyva was one of our favorites. We were greeted by two of the cutest twin boys, sons of the farm owner.
Here we learned all about Panela’s production. Panela is a sugar cane product that has a unique maple-type taste. We walked into the sugar cane fields to learn how sugarcane is cultivated, and harvested. Then, we went back to the family factory to process the sugarcane into panels. processed.
We enjoyed a delicious lunch with the family, aqua de panela and even got to take home some bricks of panela as a souvenir from Colombia!
13. Gachantiva Arepas Making
Another unique experience in Colombia! Outside of Villa de Leyva is a little town called Gachantiva. We drove just outside of town to a family’s home, where they showed us how to make Arepas on a wood burning stove.
The experience was out of a book and a fun hands-on cooking class in Colombia!
14. Dinosaur Museum
A last-minute decision, we decided to stop by the Museo Paleontológico de Villa de Leyva. It was a perfect worldschooling lesson on history for the day. It’s a super small museum but lots of great fossils and a guided tour is included in the ticket price.
15. Dip in the Natural Spring
This is quite a secret spot in Villa de Leyva. Within walking distance from the town center is a little natural spring. You need to pay a small entrance fee, but really it’s just locals – and only a few at most. It’s a brisk refreshing way to cool off! (I’m not referring to the more popular Pozos Azules!)
📍 Hidden Gems in the The Coffee Triangle (aka Eje Cafetero / Pereira Region)
There are some really fun, unique tours in the Coffee Axis or Coffee Triangle in Colombia. Here are a few that you can consider adding to your itinerary!
16. Jeep Willy Ride
Riding in a Jeep is one of those experiences you really need to have in Colombia!
Pair it with a visit into the jungle to an amazing organic farm in Colombia called Las Brisas del Cacau. You will absolutely love this off the beaten path experience and will guarantee to be one of your most memorable tours in Colombia.
17. Marsella Las Brisas del Cacau
Take a Jeep from Marsella out into the jungle, passing through cute rural Colombian towns and eventually getting to Luis Fernando & his wife’s beautiful organic Colombia farm called Las Brisas del Cacau.
While coffee tours in Colombia tend to be sought out, this cacao tour is so much better!
You won’t be disappointed. The tasting of all the farm fruits, the absolutely delicious lunch they prepare, the who chocolate process. One of our favorite tours in Colombia!
18. Filandia
A cute colorful town, much like Salento but less crowded! Of course, go to Salento – it’s a fun experience and near Cocora Valley. But, if you find yourself near Filandia, check it out and make sure to eat at Aro Iris.
19. Cocora Valley Hike Through Giant Wax Palms
This is a tourist attraction for sure, but the tip is to actually do the hike. Most of the tourists do the short loop or come for the photos near the bottom with the Wax Palms.
Get a guide and do one of the longer versions of the hikes (we just did the 2 hour or so loop and got away from the majority of the tourists that way)!
Plan accordingly – when we hiked Cocora Valley, we experienced just about every type of weather. From hot sun to misty fog and cool rain!
20. Local Family Friendly Waterpark Resort
This type of resort is usually not our first choice of accommodations when we travel, to be honest. However, I have to say that we had a lot of fun here. Hotel Campetre las Camelias is a very popular resort with nationals (Colombians)!
There are multiple pools, waterslides, waterpark fun, lazy river, small amusement park, mini golf, kids’ movie nights, magician nights, a little train ride and playground and more. As we find with most resorts like this, the food was mediocre but better than we anticipated.
💡 TIP: Check out this Family Friendly Colombia Itinerary, where we go into more details about many of these experiences and hidden gems in Colombia!
📍 Hidden Gems in Cartagena
While Cartagena is a tourist mecca, here are some unique activities and secret spots around Cartagena!
21. Hotel Las Islas Baru
It’s worth the hike out to Baru to enjoy this eco resort in Colombia. The accomodations are really cool – we choose a two-story bungalow style with private plunge pool overlooking the sea!
Breakfast buffet was amazing. And we loved that so much was included – paddleboarding, boat ride to their private island, yoga room, bikes to enjoy the nature trails, etc.
22. El Totumo Mud Volcano
Okay, it’s touristy, but the tip is to go in the late afternoon when the sun isn’t so blazing hot and most of the day tourists have left. I wrote in detail about tips to deal with the locals if you scroll to Day 16 in this post!
23. Fishing Experience La Boquilla
A cool way to support the local fishing community located outside of Cartagena as they work to protect their mangroves and eco-system.
📍 Hidden Gems in Santa Marta Colombia
Around the Caribbean coast of Santa Marta Colombia are some of our favorite off-the-beaten-path activities in Colombia!
24. Tubing down the Don Diego + Hike Taironaka
Take an easy short hike to Taironaka and arrange to go tubing from there. We had the river to ourselves for 30 minutes or so before seeing another person.
At first, we were told that our 7 month old baby couldn’t go, but we ended up bringing him! The water was really low and shallow and crystal clear so it was an easy decision.
He basically slept in the calm tubing experience the whole way and we just relaxed and enjoyed ourselves – trying to keep an eye out for baby Caymans. Eeek – but I guess only very small ones are sometimes spotted sun bathing on the river banks.
25. La Ciudad Perdida
We didn’t get a chance to do this jungle hike to the Lost City. I was told over and over that it would be too hard with a baby. However, our 8 & 10 year old would have had no problem.
If you have the time and like a little adventure, absolutely consider doing this multiple-day hike. I’ve heard it’s incredible.
26. Visit Nueva Venecia (Pueblos Palafitos)
You’ll need to catch a boat in order to access this fishing village on stilts. Nuevva Venencia or Pueblos Palafitos are unique places to visit in Colombia. These fishing villages are literally located in the middle of the sea.
Locals access their houses, schools, shops, restaurants via canoes, as their “streets” are literally canals and waterways.
27. Trek through Tayrona National Park
You can read all about accessing hikes in Tayrona Park. Tayrona National Park offers stunning hikes with views of the Caribbean Sea.
We highly recommend staying at Cayena Beach Villa which offers gorgeous bungalows, delicious food, large pool, yoga hut and beachfront access!
📍 Hidden Gems in Medellín Colombia
Medellín is one of the most visited cities in Colombia. However, you can still find some secret spots in Medellín!
28. El Penol – Climbing the Big Rock outside of Guatape
I have to be honest, it’s touristy. Get there as early as possible to beat the tourist buses if you can. The drive is a few hours outside of Medellin, so plan accordingly. And if you want something really unique, check out a helicopter tour to El Penol!
29. Medellin Comuna 13
Not really a hidden gem, although I’m always surprised when people haven’t heard of Comuna13. So, it’s going on this list!
30. Marinilla Guitars Sergio Garcia
Located outside of Medellin, this is definitely a hidden gem. You’ll need to arrange with Sergio to see how he makes absolute custom guitars by hand. He is a waiting list weeks and week long and every single one the guitars is made in his little workshop. It’s pretty incredible.
31. Guitar “ Factory”
You’ll have to contact our Medellin guide & driver for this one. They knew we were interested in the guitar-making process, made some calls and we took a pit stop to this guitar factory.
My husband and kids went to pop in quickly and ended up staying for an hour getting a complete spur-of-the-moment tour of the small guitar production. They couldn’t stop talking about how cool it was but no one had a phone or camera on them to capture any photos.
If we had planned better, I would have figured out a way to buy some of these handmade guitars as gifts from Colombia!
📍 Seasonal Colombian Hidden Gems
A few extra hidden gems in Colombia for you, depending on the time of year you visit!
32. La Macarena. Boat to the red rivers of Caño Cristalitos = of Sierra de la Macarena National Park (only seasonal when the waters are multi-colored)
33. Bahia Solano on the Pacific Coast for Whale Watching (seasonal only)
* Bonus (not seasonal)! Traditional bamboo rafting on La Vieja River in Quimbaya (we were told that babies can’t do this but it sounded like a cool experience in Colombia)
Conclusion: Hidden Gems in Colombia
I hope this guide of unique things to do in Colombia is helpful to your trip planning. You may have found a few hidden gems in Colombia, a few fun adventures, some family-friendly experiences, a slew of secret spots and of course some culinary delights.
Should you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out!