Barichara is a small colonial town in the north east of Colombia, and a place of overwhelming beauty. You can stand on almost any street corner and be awed by the rows of white adobe Andalusian style houses, the clusters of orange and purple flowers and the distant green mountains that reach out to the infinite sky beyond. It’s a place of deep, existential beauty and awe.
Outside of town, ancient paths wind through green vegetation and stone fences that mark the borders of rural estates. Strange South American birds call from the treetops. A cool breeze rustles the leaves as an old Colombian man marches past leading a herd of scrawny white goats.
Is Barichara heaven? I don’t know. But I wouldn’t be surprised if God sends the pure of heart somewhere similar to this gorgeous little corner of Colombia.
Things to Know About Barichara Before Visiting
Barichara is located in the Santander department. It’s quite far from major cities like Bogotá or Medellin, but not too far from the rather mundane municipality of Bucaramunga. It’s also relatively close to the Venezuelan border, but you probably don’t want to go there.
Barichara is, however, only about forty-five minutes by bus from San Gil, Colombia’s adventure capital. It seems like many people choose to stay in San Gil and visit Barichara on a day trip. These people are only cheating themselves.
You can reach Barichara via San Gil from Bogotá in about 9 hours or so. It’ll take about 12 hours via San Gil and Bucaramunga from Medellin. It’ll take a whopping 17 hours to get here from Cartagena, again via Bucaramunga and San Gil. No matter what, you have to transfer in San Gil. It sounds like a lot of time on the bus, but Barichara is very much worth it.
The Spanish founded Barichara in 1705 after local farmers saw a vision of the Virgin Mary in some rocks. The rock became a spot for religious pilgrimage, and it must have seemed like a decent place to build a town. Barichara feels like it hasn’t changed much since the 18th century. The government of Colombia declared it a national monument in 1975.
Today, it’s tourists who brave the long bus rides to make the pilgrimage to Barichara. The town also has a very pleasant climate, with an average temperature of 73 degrees Fahrenheit or 23 degrees Celsius. The sun can be strong, though, so be sure to wear sunscreen and bring a hat.
Where to Stay in Barichara
Barichara is becoming a more and more popular travel destination as more tourists overcome their fear of Colombia and make the pilgrimage. That is to say, it’s very much on the beaten path. You’ll find plenty of hotels, hostels and other accommodations available. Most of them seem to be laid back, smaller places in old colonial buildings.
We stayed in an apartment owned by a local Colombian. He was super nice, and the place was wonderful. Unfortunately, it appears to have gone out of business. The hospitality industry can be tough, I suppose. Since I can’t recommend the place that we stayed in, I’ll save you some searching and give you a link to search Barichara accommodations on Booking. If you book using this link, you’ll be supporting this independent blog at no cost to you.
Please, just make sure you book with a locally owned business. We might not be able to fight the onslaught of international capitalism on our travels, but we can at least do our best to ensure our money goes to help the local economy.
If you can’t find anything in Barichara and do decide to stay in nearby San Gil, I suggest the Real Dream Hostel. It’s a locally owned, reasonably priced and very nice place located in the center of the city. Again, booking through links on this blog help to support this site.
That is, if you decide to stay in San Gil. I really recommend spending at least a couple of nights in the gorgeous surrounds of Barichara.
On one of the most fun, but also most stressful, aspects of travel is finding and booking places to stay. These days you have options ranging from dirt cheap hostel dorms to luxurious White Lotus style resorts. Thankfully, the internet is here to make finding accommodation easier.
Hostelworld is the go to app for finding hostels. For everything else, there’s Booking.com. If you book through either of the previous links, I’ll gain a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Things to Do in Barichara
Barichara doesn’t have a lot to do, and that’s really the reason you should come here. You could probably walk around the entire town in a few hours if you really wanted to, but do yourself a favor and slow down. Allow some time to just wander the streets and appreciate the beauty of the area.
I usually like to travel and do activities independently, but sometimes you want to relax and let someone else take over. For those times, I suggest using Get Your Guide. Prices are reasonable and they have numerous tours available. Click here to explore options in Colombia. Tours booked through these links help support this blog at no extra cost to you.
Hike the Camino Real to Guane
Just outside of Barichara, an ancient trail meanders down the mountainside, through some truly bucolic Colombian landscapes. The trail, called the “Camino Real” or “royal path”, was forged hundreds of years ago by the indigenous residents of the area. Today, it’s trod by both tourists and the local shepherds.
The trail starts in Barichara, up the hill from the town center, just near the mirador. It’s well maintained and not too difficult, winding through pastures and fields with astounding views of the nearby mountains. You’ll head mostly downhill, until you reach the village of Guane.
Guane is much smaller than Barichara and has much more of that “lost in time” sort of feel. Despite the trail being one of Barichara’s top things to do, the endpoint in Guane is not at all touristy. It makes relaxed Barichara feel like Disney Land.
As we walked into the village, our trail was blocked by an old man in jeans and a cowboy hat herding his goats in from the pasture. Later on, we saw a woman calling for her lost goat that had escaped from its pen and was wandering the streets. I ate some stewed goat for lunch at a local restaurant. Guane has a lot of goats.
If you aren’t into stewed goat, the coffee shop/bar at the Mirador de Guane at the edge of town also sells food. It’s worth it to stop there just for drinks and to admire the view. And to use the bathroom.
When you want to return to Barichara, just wait for the bus that leaves from Guane’s central square. Rural Colombia doesn’t adhere to strict schedules, so the bus comes when it comes. There was a group of drunk taxi drivers hanging out in the square while we were waiting for the bus. I would not advise hiring them.
All in all, the hike from Barichara to Guane takes a couple of hours. It took us longer because we walk slow and like to stop to take pictures. It was a decent half-day journey considering hiking, lunch and the bus back. A fantastic experience and one of the highlights of our time in Colombia.
Visit the Sculpture Garden and Mirador
Uphill from Barichara’s main square, near where the Camino Real starts, you’ll also find the town’s best views. This mirador, or viewpoint, looks out over the mountains and a deep valley that stretches out below. It’s gorgeous, and a great place to hang out with a couple of beers or a bottle of wine at sunset.
Near the mirador, there’s a small city park of sorts filled with a number of unique looking statues. The statues are a bit weathered, but rather modern in their design. I didn’t find any information about the artist or artists, but the sculpture garden is an interesting place to wander around for a bit while you’re waiting for sunset.
Visit San Gil
Almost all the other travel guides I’ve read suggest staying in San Gil and visiting Barichara on a day trip. I stayed in both Barichara and San Gil, and I really recommend doing the opposite. Stay in Barichara and take the bus into San Gil for the day.
Why? San Gil is a nice enough city with a charming center that has a few interesting old buildings and a more modern, but pretty, cathedral. However, the city just isn’t anywhere near as lovely as beautiful Barichara. They’re close enough that you might as well stay in the prettier place.
However, I still liked San Gil, and think it’s worth visiting. I just like Barichara better.
What to Do in San Gil
Unlike Barichara, San Gil is packed with things to do. The city is known as Colombia’s adventure capital. In the city itself, you’ll also find far more options for food and drinks. That includes a whole street seemingly dedicated to feeding homesick gringos. I ate a pretty good burger there. You’ll also find things like movie theaters and a shopping mall should you want to do that on your trip to Colombia for some reason.
Visit the Parque El Gallineral
The one thing in San Gil I think you shouldn’t miss is the Parque El Gallineral. The park is located at the end of Calle 6 at the south east edge of the downtown. It’s maybe one of the best city parks I’ve been to in a while.
You’ll find numerous paths that wind their way through tropical vegetation and huge sculptures of ants and iguanas. There are also huge ceiba trees and even a tortoise enclosure. Parque El Gallineral is also a fantastic spot for birdwatching along the banks of the Rio Fonce.
Go Whitewater Rafting
Being Colombia’s adventure capital, you can also expect to find plenty of adventures in San Gil. My wife and I had always wanted to go white water rafting. Guess what? San Gil has whitewater rafting.
The rapids in the Rio Fonce are level II-III, which seemed like enough to be exciting but not too high to be scary for our first time. It was still a little scary. We shared our raft with a Colombian family and a guy from the Netherlands. I’d never pictured myself as a whitewater rafting kind of guy, but I had a lot of fun. Even though I did fall into the river.
We went with Colombia Rafting Expeditions for our foray into the world of whitewater rafting. Since we had a good time and I didn’t drown, I assume they did their job and would recommend them. You could also, theoretically, book your rafting trip using Get Your Guide and, once again, help support this blog.
The guides spoke both English and Spanish, but we used the opportunity to practice our Spanish. My wife bonded with the mom of the Colombian family. In fact, they both got so engrossed in conversation at times they forgot to paddle, leaving me and the Dutch guy to do all the work.
So, if you want to try whitewater rafting, San Gil is a good place to do so. You may even make some new friends along the way.
You Can Also Go Paragliding or Whatever
Another thing you can do in San Gil is go paragliding. In fact, San Gil is famous for its paragliding (“parapente” in Español). I’m okay speeding down a foaming river in an oversized rubber dinghy, but I’m not okay with strapping myself to a giant kite and jumping off a cliff. We all have our limits. If that sort of thing seems fun to you, San Gil is probably the place to do it. Rafting was exciting enough for me.
Final Thoughts on Barichara
The rafting was so exciting that it was a relief to return to the pastoral calm of Barichara at the end of the day. Our new Colombian friends gave us a ride back. We sat crammed in the backseat with their teenage son. He practiced his English with us while I admired the mountainous view blurring past the window.
I think that car ride back was the moment I really fell in love with Colombia. This wonderful country is not only full of adventures and gorgeous scenery. What really makes it special are the friendly and welcoming people who are willing to go out of their way to give visiting strangers a ride back home.
Colombia is truly a magical place. And Barichara is one of those little towns where you can almost feel the magic in the air. I hope that when I die, I’ve led a good enough life that there’s somewhere like Barichara waiting for me. At the very least, it’s the sort of place I’d love to visit again.
Ready to explore the rest of Colombia? Check out our travel guide here: Covering Ground in Colombia: A Travel Guide to One of the World’s Most Magical Countries
