Boutique in the historic centre
Casa Verde Boutique Hotel
A restored 1920s house in the old quarter; the terrace looks straight at the cathedral.
Magdalena
Santa Marta y Tayrona
In barely forty kilometres, the highest coastal range in the tropics drops from 5,700 metres to the sea. Santa Marta lives at the foot of that gradient: five centuries of city, four indigenous peoples who still govern the mountain and a coastline of enclosed bays we call Tayrona.
Why go
What makes this destination unique
No other Colombian destination concentrates such a gradient: in a single day you can pass from the dry forest of the Tayrona to the cloud forests of the Sierra and on to the coffee slopes of Minca. The mountain remains Kogui, Wiwa, Arhuaco and Kankuamo territory, and that changes the way it is travelled: you do not visit it, you ask permission.
- When to goDecember to April, with January and March the best window: dry skies and firm paths in the Tayrona. The park closes three times a year for spiritual and ecological rest.
- Getting thereSimón Bolívar Airport (SMR), fourteen kilometres from the centre. From Bogotá, an hour and a half with Avianca, LATAM, Wingo or JetSmart. Overland transfer to the Tayrona: around forty-five minutes.
What to see
What you should not miss
Where to stay
Hotels we recommend
A selection of houses with character. We work with others too: tell us what you are looking for and we will propose the one that fits.
Grand hotel facing the bay
Hilton Santa Marta
Two hundred and sixty-one rooms facing the sea; the Sikunu bar occupies the sixteenth floor, with an adults-only infinity pool.
Design lodge beside the Tayrona
Senda Watapuy
Cabins with a private pool looking over the río Piedras, five minutes from the park's El Zaino entrance.
A family house above the sea
Finca Barlovento
Three generations of the same family on the rock where the río Piedras meets the Caribbean. Very few rooms.
Beach retreat at Buritaca
Gitana del Mar Beach Retreat
Palm-thatched bungalows facing a beach with no neighbours, with spa and yoga, fifteen minutes from the Tayrona.
Where to eat
The destination's table
The kitchens worth a reservation. We take care of the booking and the transfer.
Mediterranean and Greek
Ouzo
Open since 2011 on the Parque de los Novios; it remains the reference table of the old town.
Chef's cooking with a maritime accent
Lamart
On the Callejón del Correo. Ceviches and hand-made pasta with nods to Italy, Spain, Peru and Thailand.
Caribbean fish and shellfish
Donde Chucho
It began in 1992 with a ceviche cart in El Rodadero. Today it is the city's seafood institution.
Caribbean and international
Burukuka
A terrace raised above El Rodadero, with a hundred and eighty degrees of bay. Book for the sunset hour.
Does this destination interest you? We build it into a tailor-made route.
Request a proposalHotel and restaurant information is for reference and is confirmed at the time of booking. The recommendations do not imply any commercial relationship with the establishments mentioned.
Let's begin
Ready to design your journey?
An advisor will reply with a first proposal and the alternatives available for your dates.