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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.

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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…