Colombia, for most travellers is unknown territory - a place of cocaine barons, guerrillas and mysterious lost cities. It's the land of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and his One Hundred Years of Solitude - a tale as magical as the country itself. Far from being a place to avoid, complex and hospitable Colombia still offers some of South America's most varied landscapes, flora and fauna. As you travel through this diverse country, you'll discover a changing panorama of climate, architecture, topography, wildlife, crafts and music.

Best time to visit

January to March (the dry season).

Essential experiences

Visiting Cartagena - a living museum of Spanish colonial architecture; beachcombing at Parque Nacional Tayrona, on the Caribbean coast; photographing the enigmatic stone statues at San Agustin - a pre-Hispanic ceremonial funeral site; hanging out in the great cosmopolitan metropolis of Bogotá; hiking to Ciudad Perdida, one of the greatest pre-Hispanic cities found in the Americas, hidden in a lush rainforest.

In a few words, Colombia is

Coffee, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, emeralds, lost cities, El Dorado and football.

Did you know?

Colombia claims to have the highest number of species of plants and animals per unit area of any country in the world. Laguna de Guatavita, the sacred lake and ritual centre of the indigenous Muiscas, is where the myth of El Dorado originated.