I thought my search for Colombia’s most beautiful town ended with Jardín. The equally if not more beautiful town of Jericó gives it stiff competition. Jardín wins the plaza competition, but Jericó hands down has better preserved and better constructed traditional homes and buildings.
Jericó has several budget options for hotels. It’s best to go and ask around. Most of the accommodation is within a couple blocks of each other.
Just a stone’s throw from Medellín (well, maybe a little further), is the quaint town of Concepción, which is nestled among beautiful green hills. Far less touristy and much closer than other more popular towns in Antioquia, Concepción is a good alternative for those wanting to visit an authentic Paisa village on a day trip from Medellín yet running short on time.
The small town of Guaduas, about two hours from Bogotá, was the birthplace of one of Colombia’s revolutionary heroes, Policarpa Salavarrieta. It’s also one of Colombia’s prestigious Heritage Towns (Pueblos Patrimonio), filled with small colonial buildings.
The town of Honda, Tolima, Colombia, doesn’t look like much when passing through, but get to the heart of the city and you’ll realize there’s more to it. Honda is one of the country’s prestigious Heritage Towns (Pueblos Patrimonio) and is known as Colombia’s “City of Bridges”.
Colombia’s “City of Bridges”, Honda, sits at the confluence of the important Río Magdalena and the smaller Río Gualí, and is one of the country’s prestigious Heritage Towns (Pueblos Patrimonio). More than 25 bridges cross these and two smaller rivers that pass through the city, some of them over a century old.
The absolute best thing we did in Ibagué was visit the San Jorge Botanical Garden (Jardín Botánico San Jorge). It’s an impeccably maintained and incredibly beautiful botanical garden with three trails.