Santa Marta: Colombia's oldest city

Founded in 1525, Santa Marta is the oldest continuously existing city founded by the Spanish in South America, today the gateway to Tayrona National Park and the Sierra Nevada mountain range that rises directly from the Caribbean Sea.

The historic center can be explored on foot; Tayrona Park requires about an hour's drive.

The day begins at the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino, a colonial estate on the outskirts of the city where Simón Bolívar died in 1830, today a museum dedicated to the South American liberator.

Returning to the historic center, low colonial houses still face its streets, where the Basilica Cathedral remains among the oldest cathedrals still in use on the entire continent.

In the afternoon, calm waters more suitable for families characterize El Rodadero, a seaside neighborhood developed starting in the nineteen-fifties in a sheltered bay just outside the center.

For those with more time available, only on foot or horseback along paths in the vegetation can you reach the unspoiled Caribbean beaches of Tayrona National Park.

For Tayrona, it's best to set out early: by midday the parking lots at the entrance fill up and access to the park can be temporarily suspended until spaces open up.

In the room of the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino where Bolívar died, the bed and some original objects are still preserved, in an atmosphere that many visitors describe as frozen in time.