Santa Marta: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Santa Marta, founded in 1525, is the oldest surviving Spanish city in Colombia, on a Caribbean bay below the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the highest coastal mountains in the world. In 2024 Colombia cut diplomatic relations with Israel; check the current entry rules before travelling. Half a day on foot; it is hot, so go early or at sunset.
A short history of Santa Marta
Santa Marta was founded in 1525 by Rodrigo de Bastidas, and it is the oldest Spanish city still in existence in Colombia. In the Sierra Nevada mountains above it, the Tairona built the "Lost City" as early as the 9th century; it was rediscovered only in 1972. In the Spanish period the city suffered repeated pirate attacks. On 17 December 1830 Simón Bolívar, liberator of South America, died at the San Pedro Alejandrino estate on the edge of the city. From the Sierra Nevada, the highest mountains in the world so close to the sea, rivers run down to the beaches around the city.
The ten best sights in Santa Marta
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1Cathedral of Santa Marta
The white cathedral of the founder
2Parque de los NoviosThe square of restaurants
3Museo del Oro TaironaTairona gold in the old customs house; free
4Camellón de la BahíaThe seafront promenade at sunset
5Marina Santa MartaYachts and seafood
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6El Morro
A fort on a rock in the bay
7Quinta de San Pedro AlejandrinoWhere Bolívar died
8TagangaA fishing village and dive base
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9El Rodadero
The resort beach south of town
10MincaA mountain village of coffee and birds
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Santa Marta →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Santa Marta:
Free walking tours in Santa Marta
The oldest city
Santa Marta, founded in 1525, is the oldest surviving Spanish city in Colombia, on a Caribbean bay below the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the highest coastal mountains in the world. In 2024 Colombia cut diplomatic relations with Israel; check the current entry rules before travelling. Half a day on foot; it is hot, so go early or at sunset.
- Cathedral of Santa Marta · A whitewashed cathedral, among the oldest churches in Colombia, in which lie the remains of Rodrigo de Bastidas, the conquistador who founded the city in 1525 and was stabbed by his own officers the following year.
- Museo del Oro Tairona · In the Casa de la Aduana of the 1730s, the old customs house, a free museum of the gold, pottery and stone work of the Tairona, the people of the Sierra whose descendants still live in the mountains. Simón Bolívar’s body lay in state here in 1830.
- Parque de los Novios · The lovers’ park, a square of mango trees surrounded by restaurants and bars, the centre of the restored old town in the evening.
- Camellón de la Bahía · The palm-lined promenade along the bay, where families stroll at sunset and the sun drops behind the rock of El Morro. Santa Marta is also the hometown of the singer Carlos Vives and the footballer Carlos Valderrama.
- El Morro · A rocky islet guarding the bay, with a fort and a lighthouse, built against the pirates — among them Francis Drake — who raided and burned the city again and again in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
- Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino · The sugar hacienda where Simón Bolívar, liberator of five countries, died of tuberculosis on 17 December 1830 at forty-seven, poor and rejected; his bedroom and the bed are preserved.
Tayrona
East of the city the jungle-covered mountains drop into the sea in a coast of granite boulders and coves. Tayrona National Park closes for a few weeks each year so that the Kogi, Arhuaco and Wiwa peoples can perform spiritual cleansing; check the dates. A full day or a night in a hammock.
- Taganga · A fishing village over the hill from the city that became a backpacker base and one of the cheapest places in the world to learn to dive; for years it was a favourite of Israeli travellers, with Hebrew signs and menus.
- El Zaino entrance · The main gate of the park, where visitors must watch a short safety talk and may be asked for proof of a yellow fever vaccination; numbers entering each day are limited.
- Arrecifes · A long beach of golden sand reached after about an hour’s walk through the forest, where a sign counts the swimmers who have drowned in its currents; swimming here is forbidden.
- Cabo San Juan · Two calm bays separated by a rocky point topped by a thatched hut where travellers sleep in hammocks, the image on every Tayrona postcard.
- Tayrona National Park · Up in the forest lies Pueblito, the ruins of a Tairona town of stone terraces and paths; the park protects the coast that the peoples of the Sierra consider sacred, as the foot of the mountain that is the heart of the world.
- Palomino · Further east, a village where you walk upriver into the jungle and float back down on an inner tube to where the river meets the sea.
The Sierra: Minca and the Lost City
The Sierra Nevada rises from the sea to snow peaks of about five thousand seven hundred metres within some forty kilometres. Its slopes hold coffee farms, cloud forest and the Lost City of the Tairona. Minca is a day trip; the Lost City is a four- to five-day trek with a licensed guide.
- Minca · A village at about six hundred metres among coffee farms, cooler than the coast, and one of the best places in Colombia to see birds — the Sierra has more endemic species than almost any mountain range on earth.
- Pozo Azul · A chain of cool river pools in the forest a short walk from the village, where locals swim on weekends.
- Marinka Waterfalls · Two waterfalls on a private farm reached by a walk or a motorbike taxi up a dirt road, with pools at their feet.
- Casa Elemento · A hostel high above Minca famous for its giant hammock hung over the valley, from which, on clear mornings, the snow peaks of the Sierra can be seen.
- Ciudad Perdida · Teyuna, the Lost City, built by the Tairona around the ninth century, centuries before Machu Picchu, and reached by some twelve hundred stone steps. It was found by grave robbers in 1972; the trek passes Kogi and Wiwa villages.
- El Rodadero · Back by the sea, the resort beach where Colombian families holiday, with boats out to the small aquarium of the bay.
Getting to Santa Marta and getting around
- Santa Marta Airport · South of town, on the sea
- Bus terminal · Buses to Cartagena, Barranquilla and Palomino
Cheap eats in Santa Marta
Santa Marta eats from the sea and the street: fried whole fish with patacones and coconut rice; cayeye, a breakfast of mashed green banana with cheese and hogao; arepa de huevo, a fried corn cake with an egg inside; and fresh juices of lulo, mango and corozo. A fish plate on the beach costs about eight dollars.
- Parque de los Novios · Street breakfasts
- Taganga · Fried fish on the beach
- Minca · Coffee at the farms
Museums in Santa Marta
Santa Marta’s museums keep Tairona gold and the death of Bolívar.
- Museo del Oro Tairona · Tairona gold
- Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino · Bolívar’s last days
Nature and day trips near Santa Marta
The highest coastal mountains in the world, jungle beaches and cloud forest.
- Cabo San Juan · The bays of Tayrona
- Minca · Birds of the Sierra
- Ciudad Perdida · The jungle trek
Things to do in Santa Marta with kids
With children: river tubing, a giant hammock, calm bays and waterfalls.
- Palomino · Tubing to the sea
- Casa Elemento · The giant hammock
- Pozo Azul · River pools
Holy places in Santa Marta
The oldest cathedral of Colombia, and the sacred mountain of the peoples of the Sierra.
- Cathedral of Santa Marta · The founder’s tomb
- Tayrona National Park · Sacred coast
Nightlife in Santa Marta
Santa Marta’s nights are rooftop bars of the old town, vallenato music and the promenade.
- Parque de los Novios · Bars around the park
- Camellón de la Bahía · The evening promenade
Frequently asked questions about Santa Marta
What is there to see in Santa Marta?
The top sights in Santa Marta are Cathedral of Santa Marta, Parque de los Novios and Museo del Oro Tairona. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Santa Marta?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Santa Marta without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Santa Marta?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Santa Marta, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The oldest city.
How do you get to Santa Marta and get around?
The main ways are Santa Marta Airport and Bus terminal. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Santa Marta, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Santa Marta that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Santa Marta for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.