Colombia Highlights
Bogotá
Shrouded by clouds in the northern Andes, the Colombian capital grew 20-fold in the second half of the 20th century. Layers of history peel away like the rings of an onion: outlying shanty towns give way to towering skyscrapers of polished steel and glass; grand government palaces tower over quaint colonial villas. The city's Museo del Oro is reputedly the finest gold museum in the world.
Santa Fé de Antioquia
Set among rolling hills northwest of Bogotá, Santa Fé is a beautifully preserved colonial town whose two-storeyed houses are decorated with brightly painted balconies. At weekends people travel in from the countryside on chivas - open-sided buses covered in gaudy paintings, some by renowned local artists.
Los Nevados National Park
This is a walker's paradise, through the lush hillsides in the heart of Colombia's coffee-growing region. The park's highest peak is the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, which erupted in 1985, wiping out the town of Armero on the other side of the cordillera.
Cali
Colombia's third biggest city and home to some of the country's liveliest music and dance clubs. Although dominated by modern skyscrapers it also has some beautiful colonial and modern churches, including San Francisco, La Merced, La Ermita and San Antonio.
Popayán
This colonial city is famous for the beautifully restored white cathedral in its main square, the Parque Caldas. Popayán's Easter processions are known throughout the Catholic world.
Puracé National Park
An outstandingly beautiful nature reserve to the east of the city of Popayán, with volcanoes, lakes, waterfalls and natural thermal springs. The park's range of altitude, from 2,500 to 4,800 metres, accounts for its varied wildlife, which includes bears, condors and tapirs.
San Agustín
One of South America's most important archaeological sites, the mysterious stone statues of San Agustín are all that remains of an unknown lost culture. The 500 carvings found in the Magdalena Valley around the village of San Agustín, include images of both native animals and mythical beasts, and are thought to date between the 6th and 12th centuries AD.
Tunja
North of Bogotá, this historic city is a good base for exploring the small villages and towns scattered around the Boyacá highlands. One of the most popular such towns is Villa de Leyva which, with its cobbled streets lined by low, whitewashed, tile-roofed houses, has become a national monuments.
La Ciudad Perdida
Buried deep in the jungle of Sierra Nevada in Magdalena, this is the Lost City of the Tairona people, only "discovered" in 1975. Larger than Peru's Machu Picchu, the Tairona's city is one of the largest ever built on the continent, with wide boulevards and road links.
Cartagena de Indias
One of the most dazzling of South America's colonial jewels, Cartagena is perhaps the most romantic and yet least well-known. Perched on the tropical Caribbean coast, saturated by heat, music and feverish dreams, this fortress city of the Spaniards is a living museum. One of its finest buildings is the Palacio de la Inquisición, on the Plaza Bolivar, with its fort-like Cathedral adjoining.
Mompós
South of Cartagena on an island in the Río Magdalena, Mompós was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1995. The city has some of the finest examples of colonial architecture in Colombia. Of particular note is the yellow church of Santa Barbara, with its Moorish-style octagonal tower.