Travel guide: Boyacá

Cabins with fireplaces, colonial towns and mountain air

• Villa de Leyva: a cobblestone plaza and colonial center, 3-4 hours from Bogotá.
• Paipa and Iza have hot springs; Lago de Tota has a pale-sand beach.
• Rentals here are mostly cabins with fireplaces, not fincas with pools.

Villa de Leyva

Villa de Leyva (about 2,150 m above sea level) has a cobblestone main square of about 14,000 m² (roughly 150,000 sq ft), one of the largest in the country, and a well-preserved colonial center. The country houses are in the veredas (the rural districts around a town) outside the village. The Festival del Viento y las Cometas (a kite festival) takes place in August and the Festival de Luces (a fireworks and lights festival) in December. On those weekends the town fills up and you should book weeks ahead.

Paipa, Tota and the towns of Sugamuxi

Paipa (about 2,500 m above sea level) is Boyacá's hot-springs town: next to Lake Sochagota there are thermal pools open to the public. Iza also has hot-spring pools. Lake Tota (about 3,015 m above sea level) is the largest natural lake in Colombia, and on its shore is Playa Blanca, a pale-sand beach more than 3,000 meters (about 9,800 ft) up. Ráquira is known for its pottery and Monguí for its basilica and for making soccer balls.

Getting there

Leave Bogotá on the Autopista Norte toward Tunja, on the Briceño-Tunja-Sogamoso divided highway. Paipa is on that road, about 3 hours away. Villa de Leyva is reached from Tunja, less than an hour further; in total, 3 to 4 hours from Bogotá. Buses run to Tunja, Paipa and Villa de Leyva from Bogotá's bus terminals.

What they won't tell you

At Tota and in the higher parts of Paipa, nights drop below 8 °C (46 °F). A cabin without a fireplace or hot water is a hard night. Ask about both before you book. Boyacá's secondary roads are mountain roads, winding and often foggy: it is best not to drive them at night.