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Barichara is one of those places you can fall in love with at first sight. This small town about six hours from Bogotá has got to be the most beautiful in all of Colombia.
Introduction to Barichara
Breathtaking Barichara, one of Colombia’s Heritage Towns (Pueblos Patrimonio), is a great place to get away from it all. In fact, Barichara means “place of rest” in the indigenous Guane language. This small, quiet town founded on January 25, 1705, has everything you need to unwind.
Barichara is quiet, charming, and every corner is stunning, not to mention the fantastic views. It’s considered by many to be the most beautiful town in all of Colombia. The best part is that this magical place doesn’t attract the amount tourists that more popular towns like Villa de Leyva and Jardín see.
Getting to Barichara
Barichara is about a half hour from San Gil, the extreme sports capital of Colombia. If you’re staying in San Gil, you can easily visit on a day trip by taking a bus. The bus should drop you off at the main plaza in town.
Getting Around Barichara
Since the town is very small, you can get around on foot. If you’re not keen on walking uphill or on cobblestone streets, you can hire a tuk-tuk in the plaza. They even offer tours lasting about 90 minutes stopping at all the town’s highlights. A positive for tourists is that all interpretive signs are marked in both Spanish and English.
Where to Stay in Barichara
There are several charming colonial homes that have been turned into reasonably priced boutique hotels. You’ll also find hostels and luxury options.
Casona Said (Permanently Closed)
We stayed at Casona Said, which is a small B&B a few blocks downhill from the plaza. There are only a few rooms, all with modern (but small) bathrooms, comfortable beds, and big closets. Our room was one of two that had a balcony.
The hotel also has a sitting area with a TV, a small pool to cool off during a hot day, and offers breakfast. Staff does a great job making sure you’re happy during your stay.
Where to Eat in Barichara
There are plenty of good choices for food in Barichara. You can find everything from traditional Colombian food to pizza and fast food. There are also decent vegetarian options. We had both good and bad luck with the restaurants we tried.
Don Juan (Permanently Closed)
Our first lunch in Barichara was at Restaurante Don Juan. It’s a nice place but it’s definitely taking advantage of tourists. The prices on the menu were much higher than we expected, and we felt the quality of the food didn’t match the prices.
We steered away from the heavier and higher priced items like steak and fish and ordered a tomato soup and burger. They were underwhelming at best, and we still paid more than two full meals should have cost. Furthermore, service was kind of snotty.
Ristorante al Cuoco (Permanently Closed)
For dinner that same night, we ate at Restaurante al Cuoco, which is owned by an Italian man who makes his own pasta. It’s located on Parque del Cementerio on the western edge of town. Attracted by the recommendation in Lonely Planet, we thought it would be a nice romantic dinner.
We sat outside on the patio and were greeted by the friendly owner who went over the special dishes for the night. I ordered tagliatelle with homemade Italian sausage while Marisol ordered a spaghetti with octopus and pesto. My meal was fine, but Marisol’s was extremely oily and the octopus was definitely not fresh. She only had a few bites and was vomiting two hours later.
We also ordered dessert, sharing a homemade tiramisu and gelato made with parmesan cheese. Both came out frozen.
If that’s not enough, our meals were at the table within a few minutes of ordering. If the food was truly fresh, we would have had to wait at least 10-15 minutes for the pasta, sausage, and octopus to be prepared. It’s as if he cooked everything earlier in the day (or maybe before) and heated it up in the microwave. For what we paid, it was terribly overpriced. To top it off, there was an annoying sensor that went off every time someone walked into the restaurant. Our advice is to stay away from this place.
D’Comilona
For our second lunch, we wanted a place to watch Argentina play Nigeria in the 2018 World Cup. After walking into a few restaurants, we found one with a TV. It happened to be D’Comilona, which is located just off the main plaza. They serve traditional Colombian food as well as fast food.
D’Comilona has a fixed lunch menu at a reasonable price. Marisol had the fixed lunch while I ordered a plate of chorizo. The chorizo was cooked in guarapo (fermented sugar cane juice), much like in nearby Valle de San José. Both of our meals were very good.
Shambala
For our final dinner, we went to Shambala. It’s a fun place with an outgoing owner and is located just off the plaza. They specialize in vegetarian options including stir-fries, wraps, and pastas, but also have ceviche and can add meat to almost any meal.
I had an excellent ceviche while Marisol had a vegetable stir-fry with chicken and a mojito. The ceviche was a much bigger portion for what we usually pay for a similar price. We both thought it the best meal we had in Barichara and fairly priced.
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Plaza Principal
Plaza Principal is the main plaza and focal point of life in the small town of Barichara. It’s surrounded by several beautiful colonial buildings.
Some of the most important buildings in town are on the plaza, including the town hall (Alcaldía), Cultural Center Casa de la Cultura), and Aquileo Parra Technical Institute (Instituto Técnico Aquileo Parra). Other buildings included restaurants and cafés as well as a hotel.
The center of the plaza is a great place to beat the heat. It’s got plenty of shade from the tall trees and a fountain in the center.
Each street connecting to the plaza gives you a look at more whitewashed colonial buildings. From there, it’s easy to get to other parts of Barichara, including uphill to Plazuela de Santa Bárbara and the miradors on the western edge of town.
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
The crown jewel of the plaza is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepción), which was built in 1848 with stone taken from a local quarry. The sun gives it a different color throughout the day. In the morning it has a yellow tint, while in the afternoon has a touch of orange.
Inside, you’ll notice an intricate pattern on the floor tiles and wooden beams supporting the ceiling. A small chapel sits to one side.
Chapel of San Antonio
If you walk two blocks south of Plaza Principal, you’ll find a small park with the Chapel of San Antonio (Capilla de San Antonio). It was built in 1823 by Don Narciso Reyes and is only open for mass. The park has trees as well as a sculpture.
Barichara Paper Workshop
The Barichara Paper Workshop (Taller de Paper Barichara) is a small paper factory a couple blocks from the chapel. They make paper out of several different types of plants and is run by the San Lorenzo Foundation (Fundación San Lorenzo). Admission is COP$8,000 per person (as of April 2024). Visitors get a tour of the factory and a demonstration of the paper making process.
Tour of the Barichara Paper Workshop
The tour starts with a demonstration of the paper making process. First, we got to see how the plant fibers are prepared. One step is literally beating them to a pulp against a stone table.
Next, we were able to use a mold to scoop out fibers and create our own sheet of paper. After removing the frame from the mold, we slapped the gooey fibers onto a piece of cloth.
The guide covered the cloth and took it to a press. I turned the press as tight as I could, and the result was a thinned-out piece of paper without any water. The guide took the newly-made paper and hung it on a line to dry before showing us how the finished product would look.
From there, we watched a group of women creating objects from the paper, and then popped into the gift shop to see some of the crafts they had already made.
Finally, we took a walk through the garden behind the building to see some of the plants used to make paper at the factory. In the first section, we saw aloe, papyrus, plantain, and sugarcane.
In the second section, we saw pineapples, corn, fique, marijuana, and coca.
Our Thoughts on the Barichara Paper Workshop
Overall, we really enjoyed our short tour at the Barichara Paper Workshop. It was entertaining and informative, and we were happy it was a hands-on experience. It was one of the highlights of our stay in Barichara.
Parque del Cementerio
Two blocks north of the paper workshop you’ll find Parque del Cementerio (Cemetery Park). There are some benches under the shade of a few tall trees and a statue of Jesus in the center. You can also get a good view of the cathedral, which is a couple blocks downhill in the main plaza.
Chapel of Jesus
The small Chapel of Jesus (Capilla de Jesús) is on the northeast corner of the park. It was built in 1741 out of cut stone and restored in 1998. Unfortunately, it was closed when we walked by.
Cemetery
The cemetery sits on the north side of the park. If it’s open, it’s worth taking a moment to walk through. It contains some beautiful headstones. If it’s not open, you can peek through the gates to see them.
Parque Mirador Rafael Ortíz Prada
A few steps west is a public park with a small run-down amphitheatre. It’s called Parque Mirador Rafael Ortíz Prada.
Mirador
Barichara sits high on a ridge with spectacular views of the valley below. You can enjoy these views north of the park at the mirador on the western edge of town. This lookout features a bar overlooking the valley. We really enjoyed just sitting and enjoying the views with a beer in hand.
Small Mirador
Walking north on the road along the ridge, you’ll come to a much simpler mirador. The views are similar to the one with the bar.
Piedra de Bolívar
Finally, near the entrance to the Camino Real, there’s a small monument to Simón Bolívar (1783-1830) called Piedra de Bolívar. It has a bust of Bolívar with the dates he passed through Barichara. The names of famous battles he fought in are etched onto the base. There’s a nice street to look down as well.
Plazuela de Santa Bárbara
Around the corner and just a few blocks uphill from the main plaza in Barichara is Plazuela de Santa Bárbara. It contains a historic chapel and a sculpture of two oxen.
Chapel of Santa Barbara
The focal point of small plaza is the Chapel of Santa Barbara (Capilla de Santa Bárbara). It was built entirely out of yellow stone in the 18th century in the Romanesque style. The chapel has been restored and features a wooden altarpiece. Unfortunately, it was closed when we walked by.
Jorge Delgado Sierra Park for the Arts
Next door to the chapel is the Jorge Delgado Sierra Park for the Arts (Parque para las Artes Jorge Delgado Sierra). This small park opened in 1988 and is dedicated to local stone carvers. It contains 22 stone sculptures connected by channels of water.
There’s also an amphitheater where musical and theatre performances are held, and you can get great views of the valley below town.
Best Views of Barichara
Finally, from the road along Plazuela de Santa Bárbara, you can get the iconic views of Barichara looking down over the rooftops. These views are often reproduced in photographs of the town. The best view is a block from the plazuela towards the western edge of town, which looks down towards the cathedral.
Map of Barichara
Hiking the Camino Real to Guane
If visiting Barichara, a great activity that will get your blood pumping is to hike the Camino Real to the small village of Guane. It’s a relatively easy 9 kilometer stone path that takes about 2 hours one-way.
The Camino Real is an ancient path built by the indigenous Guane people. It was rebuilt in 1864 by German engineer Geo von Lengerke (1827-1882) and is considered a national monument. The path was rebuilt again in 1996.
The Hike
The beginning of the path in Barichara is at the edge of the western side of town near the Piedra de Bolívar. It starts with a steep descent down the ridge. There are some stunning views before crossing the main road for the first time.
The path starts to level off a bit but the scenery stays beautiful. It crosses the road again for the second and final time after about 10 minutes of walking.
From there, it’s about 60 to 90 minutes before reaching Guane, depending on your pace. There are a couple of fincas along the way selling drinks and ice cream to help cool you down.
Finally, on the last stretch of the path you’ll see Guane appearing in the distance. It’s only a few minutes until you enter the village.
What to See in Guane
Guane is a tiny village. It’s only a few blocks long. The focal point is the plaza, which is surrounded by colonial buildings. There’s also a clock tower and small archaeological museum that wasn’t open. Local craft shops and restaurants can be found both on the plaza and on the connecting streets. Overall, we found Guane to have very friendly locals. We also enjoyed the local goods, including candy and sabajón, an alcoholic drink made with goat milk and aguardiente.
Chapel of Santa Lucía of Guane
The beautiful Chapel of Santa Lucía of Guane (Capilla Santa Lucía de Guane) is worth popping into. The parish was founded in 1622 when 134 indigenous people including 4 chiefs were baptized. It’s named for an indigenous saint and the current chapel was built in 1786 out of brick.
Getting Back to Barichara
To get back to Barichara, most people take the hourly bus that leaves from the plaza in Guane. The ride takes about 20 minutes.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to do the hike, Guane is still well worth visiting. You can take a bus from Barichara’s main plaza.
