©LUCKOHNEN/Getty Images

Santa Marta & Around

The departments of Atlántico and Magdalena sit northeast of Cartagena, where the highest coastal mountain range in the world, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, begins to rise from the sea. The increasingly charming Santa Marta and the beautiful coastal and mountainous attractions around it – namely Parque Nacional Natural (PNN) Tayrona, Ciudad Perdida, Minca and Palomino – are some of Colombia's most visited attractions.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino

Santa Marta

This hacienda is where Simón Bolívar spent his last days in 1830 before succumbing to either tuberculosis or arsenic poisoning, depending on whom you…
Cabo San Juan del Guía

Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona

Cabo San Juan del Guía is a beautiful cape with a knockout beach. It's also by far the most crowded area of the park, although lack of road access deters…
Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona

Santa Marta & Around

This dazzling slice of mountainous jungle, vast boulders and golden-white sand makes up one of Colombia's most stunning national parks and is a popular…
Casa Museo Gabriel García Márquez

Santa Marta & Around

This excellent museum is housed in a reconstruction of the house where García Márquez was born in 1927. The original house was sold by the family and…
Museo del Oro

Santa Marta

Oro (gold) is only half of what this fabulous museum is about. Housed in the impressively renovated Casa de la Aduana (Customs House), which features in…
Pueblito

Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona

From Cabo San Juan del Guía a scenic path goes inland and uphill to the small indigenous village of Pueblito, providing some splendid tropical-forest…
Playa Cristal

Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona

This gorgeous boat-in beach on Bahía Neguange used to be known as Playa del Muerto (Beach of the Dead) – little wonder they decided on a name change. It's…
Cañaveral

Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona

Cañaveral is as far as you can go in the park by road. From the car park a trail leads west to Arrecifes and Cabo San Juan del Guía. The beaches in…