Visit three gems of Colombia’s Caribbean coast on this day trip from Cartagena! You’ll explore the grounds of Santa Marta’s 17th-century hacienda — La Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino — and visit nearby El Rodadero beach after lunch. Your sightseeing tour by comfortable coach takes you along a scenic coastal route, stopping in the port city of Barranquilla along the way. Enjoy picturesque views from the Bay of Santa Marta, with round-trip hotel transport from the Bocagrande area included.
After hotel pickup meet your guide and depart by comfortable coach for Santa Marta, the third largest city in Colombia. (Passengers staying outside Bocagrande will be picked up at Hotel Cartagena Plaza). En route, stop in the city of Barranquilla — the largest port in the northern Caribbean Coast region — before completing the scenic 4-hour drive to your destination.
Upon arrival, pass the picturesque Bay of Santa Maria and visit La Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino, where the military leader Simón Bolívar died in 1830. Take a guided tour of the estate grounds of this 17th-century hacienda and learn how the famous political revolutionary — referred to as El Libertador (The Liberator) — freed Colombia and several other Latin American countries from Spanish rule.
View memorials to Bolívar such as the Altar of the Homeland and the Altar of the Fatherland, and step foot in the Plaza de Banderas to find flags of the Americas on display. You might spot iguanas, parrots, hawks and hummingbirds in La Quinta’s botanical gardens, which showcase orchids, cacti and fruit trees among more than 150 plant species.
Re-board the coach for El Rodadero, a coastal resort town located just 3 miles (5km) south of Santa Marta. You’ll eat lunch at a local restaurant before heading to the wide beach in the afternoon. Enjoy the sun and Caribbean Sea before completing the return trip to Cartagena, with drop-off at your Bocagrande hotel.
