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Travel Guide

What to do in Villa de Leyva

Posted on October 27, 2018
what to do in Villa de Leyva, how to get to Villa de Leyva, hiking, adventure, food tips, where to eat, vacation

Villa de Leyva is a dreamy place. The Spanish tiles, cobbled roads, every restaurant’s vibe and the combination of dessert and forest make it one of Colombia’s most beautiful towns. Only 3 hours and 4 tolls away from Bogota, it’s a great place to rest, go on some adventures and enjoy its unique culture. In this blog post, you’ll get tips on where to go on adventures and where to eat, two of Lala and my favorite things to do. This is what to do in Villa de Leyva (and how to get there too, below!).

You may also be interested in reading: how to get to Mongui, a town that competes with Villa de Leyva for Boyacá’s most beautiful town.

What to do in Villa de Leyva

*Note: the map with all the following places and how to get from Bogota to Villa de Leyva is at the end of this travel guide!

Hiking at the Iguaque Fauna and Flora Sanctuary

We do this hike up to Iguaque Lake (Laguna de Iguaque) every time we go to Villa de Leyva. We’ve done it 7 or 8 times and have enjoyed it every time. After a 30 minute drive on an unpaved road you get to a center where to pay to enter. Then you walk a little to a hostel and restaurant they have, and there you begin the steep hike up to the lake through forests and paramos. For more information about this park, read this blog post with everything you need to know!

Eat at Antique

One of many traditions we have as a family is eating at Antique after hiking. That is, of course, after sleeping a couple of hours. Antique is one of those beautiful restaurants you can find in Villa de Leyva for a special occasion. It can be pricey, but after a tough hike and on vacation you just have to treat yourself. If you earn in dollars, or another well-off currency, though, this will be an amazing meal at a good price.

Eat Dessert at La Galleta or at Pastelería Francesa

Villa de Leyva is diverse when it comes to cultures. Two places I love to taste two different cultures and at La Galleta and at Pastelería Francesa. At La Galleta, you can find desserts from Colombia and the world, but my recommendation is you eat the miloja, which has bunches of layers with cream in between and Arequipe on top. It’s the best dessert I’ve ever had. At Pasteleria Francesa, you can experience French pastries. I have three words to describe the place: chocolate, chocolate and chocolate. Eat anything and everything that has chocolate! Both these places are marked on the map below.

Hike up to el Santo (the Saint)

If you still have energy after hiking up to Iguaque Lake or if you prefer a shorter, easier but equally beautiful hike, you can walk up to the statue of the Saint that towers over Villa de Leyva. You can see it in the distance from town. To get to the trail, go to Calle 12 and walk towards the mountains. In other words, if you’re in the main plaza facing the church, take the road to the right towards the mountain. That road, Calle 12, will take you directly to the start of the trail.

Eat at Sutamarchan

Sutamarchan is a town about 20 minutes from Villa de Leyva. It is so tied to my family’s experiences in Villa de Leyva that I had to include it in this list. We always eat there on our way back to Bogota – it’s known for its Fritanga. Fritanga is unhealthy, but delicious—all friend meat products. It is an extremely traditional Colombian meal and Sutamarchan is one of the best places for it. How to get to Sutamarchan: exit Villa de Leyva on Carrera 12, which you can take one block down from the plaza which the mountains on your left. Follow the signs towards Sutamarchan and Chiquinquira. When you get to Sutamarchan, take a left on the corner with the restaurant Fabrica de Longaniza and eat there… it’s our favorite place.

Ride a Bike in the Desert

One of the best things you can do in Villa de Leyva is ride your bike. Here are some routes you can take, but the funnest way is to go where you want. I recommend you get lost in the small desert, where there’re some awesome hills. It’s almost like BMX! I marked the dessert on the map below. You can find companies that rent bikes and can guide you in Villa de Leyva.

How to get to Villa de Leyva

On Public Transportation:

  1. Go to Terminal Salitre or Terminal del Norte in Bogota, two different bus terminals.
  2. Take a bus straight to Villa de Leyva for $23.000 Colombian pesos ($8 USD).

In a Car:

With a GPS: enter “Villa de Leyva” into Google Maps or Waze and follow the directions.

Without a GPS:

  1. Exit Bogotá going North, following signs to Tunja. You’ll go by Tocancipá, Suesca, the Sisga Dam, Chocontá and Puente de Boyacá (the Boyacá bridge, where Bolivar fought the battle that won Colombia its independence from Spain).
  2. After Puente de Boyacá, take the next U-turn and then turn right where there’s a sign pointing towards Samacá.
  3. Follow this road all the way to Samacá. When you get to the town, get to Calle 4 following the main road, where you’ll turn left and then to the plaza, where you’ll turn right. On this road you’ll be on route to Villa de Leyva.
  4. Not much later, the road will end. Turn left.
  5. Right after the next toll (called peaje Sachica) turn right where a sign points to Villa de Leyva. That road will take you straight to town.

Some things to know:

–          I recommend you go to Villa de Leyva on a weekend that isn’t a holiday or vacation because this town is very touristy and can get really full.

–          However, if you don’t mind crowds, Villa de Leyva has amazing events like the Kite Festival in August.

–          All of Villa de Leyva’s streets are cobbled and all its structures are similar: white walls and Spanish tiles. It’s so nice.

–          Take cash to pay for services you can’t pay with a card.

–          The rainy season is between April and May, and October and November.

I hope this helped you get to know what to do in Villa de Leyva. Enjoy your trip!

If you like adventures, read this blog post about outdoor adventures close to Bogota!

Travel Guide

How to get to Matarredonda Ecological Park

Posted on October 10, 2018
outdoor adventures close to bogota, how to get to matarredonda ecological park, hiking, paramo, frailejon

Matarredonda Ecological Park (Parque Ecológico Matarredonda in Spanish) is a perfect place to rest from the city. It’s a beautiful, small and not very well-known park. It’s only 1 hour from Bogota (depending on where you are and the traffic) and is a gorgeous paramo with water everywhere and an easy hike. A paramo is an alpine ecosystem that only occurs close to the equator. One hike ends at a lake and another one goes to a lake and a waterfall. They’re both about an hour a half trek and are not very steep. This is how to get to Matarredonda Ecological Park.

La Chorrera, Latin America’s sixth tallest waterfall, is only 30 minutes from there! Click here to read how to get there!

How to get to Matarredonda Ecological Park

*The map to get to Matarredonda Ecological Park from Bogota is at the end of this travel guide.

On Public Transportation:

  1. Starting in Bogota, take a bus with the companies Transoriente or Cootransfómeque on Calle 6 with Av. Caracas (its on the map below). The bus costs $10,000 Colombian pesos ($3.5 USD), although it may be less because you aren’t going all the way to Choachi, and the trip lasts about an hour. Buses leave between 5:15 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. every day.
  2. Tell the bus driver you’re going to Parque Ecológico Matarredonda, which will be on your right (be watching for it in case the driver forgets).

In a Car:

With a GPS: enter “Matarredonda Ecological Park” into Google Maps or Waze and follow the directions.

Without a GPS:

  1. In Bogotá, look for Calle 26 going east (or towards the mountains) and stay on it following the signs to the Circunvalar.
  2. Then, follow the signs that indicate that Choachi is to the left. The road upwards begins right after an Universidad Distrital campus.
  3. A few minutes from there, the road makes a confusing U-turn. Be watching for it and stay on the main road.
  4. Stay on this road for about 30 minutes until you see the entrance to Matarredonda Ecological Park on your right.

What to do at Matarredonda Ecological Park

El Marquez del Once: this famous lookout point over Bogota is best known by the cyclists that climb up Bogota’s Eastern mountains every day. It is a great place to have breakfast before hiking or a late lunch after hiking a few hours. Make sure you get the classic Colombian agua-panela, cheese and arepa. See where it is on the map below.

Eat at the Entrance: just like at el Marquez del Once, you can eat at the park entrance, where theres a nice restaurant with traditional food. You might have to eat at one place on the way there and at the other on the way back!

Cerro Guadalupe: even closer to Bogota is Cerro Guadalupe, the mountain with the statue of the Guadalupe Virgin that’s across from Monserrate. Its a great place to visit after hiking the Matarredonda paramo. From Bogota, it’ll be on you right. From Matarredonda, it’ll be on your left. It’s marked on the map below for your convenience!

Stay all day: my recommendation for Matarredonda Ecological Park is to get there early (9 or 10 in the morning) to be able to do both hikes. At a slow pace, both hikes will take a maximum of 5 hours and they’re easy, so it’s worth getting to know them all. That way, you get some exercise, breathe a LOT of fresh air and can be back home by 4 or 5 to take it easy the rest of the day.

Some Things to Know:

–          Make sure you take cash to pay the bus and whatever you buy in places that don’t take your card.

–          There are no tolls on the way to Matarredonda Ecological Park.

–          Entering the park costs $8,000 pesos ($3 USD).

–          The park’s schedule is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day.

–          Camping costs 12,000 pesos ($4 USD) per person.

–          You don’t need a guide because the trails are very well developed.

–          Click here for a link to a map of the full two hikes.

–          For more information, call this number: 3178657320 or email vjmatarredonda@gmail.com.

I hope this helped you learn how to get to Matarredonda Ecological Park and that you go enjoy the place!

If you like hikes, I suggest you read this blog post on Chingaza National Park, one of Colombia’s most amazing national parks.

Travel Guide

How to get to the Laguna Verde de Tausa

Posted on April 9, 2018
camping, hiking, Green Lagoon, how to get to the Laguna verde de Tausa, outdoor adventures close to Bogota

Lala and I had a blast with 3 other couples at the Laguna Verde (Green Lagoon in English). We called the trip a quadruple date. It was awesome. Now, the Laguna Verde is an aquifer that actually creates the river that feeds the Neusa Dam! When I was camping at the Neusa Dam, I felt very deep in nature even though I was still close to civilization, so you can just imagine how wild the Laguna Verde feels. You get see thousands of frailejones (probably my favorite plant) and other alpine plants and a beautiful, pristine lake on a trail that, though it isn’t well known or highly hiked, is really well preserved. We met the guy who owns the property – a ginormous property that includes the lake. He keeps the trail preserved and is really cool about letting people in. He didn’t charge us anything! And he gave us his phone number, so you can call him before going, just for him to know. I totally recommend you go to this wonderful, off-the-beaten-track spot! This is how to get to the Laguna Verde de Tausa (Tausa is the closest town).

Misiades Salazar’s (the owner) phone number: (571) 312 4938840

How to get to the Laguna Verde de Tausa

*The map to get to the Laguna Verde from Bogota is at the bottom of this post!

In a car

With a GPS (highly recommended): type in “Laguna Verde Tausa” in Waze or Google Maps. Make sure you picked the one in Tausa, Cundinamarca, Colombia and follow the directions.

Without a GPS:

*Some tips before you read: (1) this will all make more sense if you can see it, and Google Maps has Street View all the way to step 8, so use it to get your bearings, and (2) you’re probably going to have to ask locals for directions as you go, so brush up on your Spanish!

  1. In Bogota, drive north on the Autopista and leave the city. Keep heading north until you reach the first bridge. Don’t go over it. Follow directions to Chia, taking a road to the right, which will then curve to the left, under the bridge.
  2. Stay on this road until the next bridge. Go over this bridge, staying on the right. Continue on this road until you see a Homecenter on your right. Shortly after, you’ll take a right where there’s a sign for Zipaquira and Ubate.
  3. Stay on this road until you get to yet another bridge. Stay on your left to go over the bridge, which will take you to the right, following the sign to Ubate.
  4. Shortly afterwards, you’ll run into a round-about. Take the third exit, staying on the main road.
  5. From here on out, having a GPS is best because you’re going to take a left on a corner where you’ll see two stores named ‘Viejo Mao’ and ‘Alejo 2.’ There are no signs to Cogua or the Laguna Verde.
  6. Stay on this main road, and you’ll get to Cogua. Where the road seems to end, take a right and then immediately take the next left. Then, still in Cogua, stay left where three roads intersect.
  7. Soon enough, you’ll get to an obvious fork in the road. Go left. If you take a right, you’ll see a sign that says LA PAZUELA 2, and you’ve gone the wrong way. Stay on the road to the left.
  8. After you pass the Rio Borracho (Drunk River), take a right on a downward sloping dirt road to the right. Drive down to a house at a small intersection before the beginning of the trail and park there. The house is at the very bottom, where everywhere else you go is up.
  9. Walk to a fork in the road. To the left, it goes up, and to the right, it goes down. Take the road to the left, go through a gate, and begin the hike! It’ll last about an hour.

On public transportation

  1. You can get on a bus that says ‘San Cayetano’ at Bogota’s Bus Terminal (Terminal de Transporte) or at the North Bus Terminal (Terminal Satélite Del Norte).
  2. Take this bus for a while, passing Cogua. Tell the bus driver you’re getting off at the entrance after the Drunk River to go to the Laguna Verde. He probably won’t know English, so say: “Voy para la entrada a la Laguna Verde después del Rio Borracho.” Good luck!
  3. You’ll be dropped off at a downward sloping dirt road to the right. Walk a good 15-20 minutes to the beginning of the trail, following the main road.
  4. You’ll get to a fork in the road. To the left, it goes up, and to the right, it goes down. Take the road to the left, go through a gate, and begin the hike! It’ll last about an hour.

Check out our video!

What to do at the Laguna Verde:

Camp: the friend we made, the man who owns the property that includes the Laguna Verde told us to give him a call if we ever want to camp, for two reasons. First, just to let him know so he can make sure everything is good and second, because he offered to rent us a small house there is on the property. The house is in really bad conditions, though, so I would just camp outdoors… right next to the lake. Much better, huh?

Breathe fresh air: I only mention this because I think it’s important to do it consciously!

Have a long picnic: there’s a few really nice spots quite close to the lake to have a picnic and enjoy the view for a good long time. Bring your choice of food and enjoy! The ground will probably be soggy, because this ecosystem is just very wet, so bring a blanket or jacket to sit on or just get your bum wet, it won’t hurt!

Go on a double, triple or quadruple date: seriously, there’s no better way to enjoy nature than with friends. So grab some people you love and go on this adventure!

Take pictures: of course! Pick up your camera and capture some earthy, wet, moody, beautiful shots in this gorgeous place.

Some things to know:

  • Though our friend, who owns this property, will let you in for free, the township of Cogua doesn’t really love people going to the Laguna Verde because it’s such an important body of water (it feeds the Neusa Dam and 17 towns). Please take care of this wonderful place – don’t leave your trash, try to stay on the trail – so that it doesn’t get taken from us. It’s true, this place should be pristine because of its importance, but I also think it’s important for people to enjoy special outdoor places like this one. Both can be true. Let’s keep it that way.
  • Call Misiades Salazar at (571) 312 4938840 just to let him know you’ll be going!
  • Like I said, everything is free: entrance to the property and parking at a farmer’s house, but give the people some money as thanks. They aren’t obliged to help us out, but they do.
  • A car can make it all the way to where the trail begins in good conditions, but definitely not if the road is wet. If it’s been raining, you’ll have to park further up the road or be in a car with 4-wheel drive.

Now that you know how to get to the Laguna Verde, make sure you go! So recommended. Let us know how it went!

If you saw a big lake on your way to Laguna Verda, it was actually a dam. The Neusa Dam! Click here to find out how to get there.. or click here to see a list of places to have outdoor adventures close to Bogota!

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