Day 5: Visit the Laguna de Guatavita
The Guatavita Lagoon It is one of the places that we doubt a lot to include in the trip to Colombia in 46 days, since it was a site that slightly offended the route through Colombia, for not having good access by public transport. In the end (and luckily), we ended up including the visit and after the experience we can only say that it is one of the essential places to see in Colombia as well as being one of the most magical places in the country.
Like the previous days, after the flight to Bogotá and the routes through Bogotá in one day and Bogotá in two days, today we return to dawn and after working for a while and having breakfast, we leave the hotel Cacique Real, our accommodation in Zipaquirá tonight to start the journey to the Guatavita Lagoon.
How to go to the Laguna de Guatavita
This is one of the inconveniences that we encountered at the moment of deciding visit the Laguna de Guatavita Since as we said before, the transfer is not easy or fast and less from Zipaquirá, where we were after yesterday visiting the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá.
From Bogotá:
You should go to the Portal Norte de Transmilenio terminal and take a bus to the town of Guatavita for 15000COP per person and a journey of about 90 minutes. Keep in mind that there are several schedules so it is worth calling or approaching the day before to check the schedules.
Once in Guatavita, you must reach the Laguna de Guatavita, located 16 kilometers from the town. For this you have several options:
- Get off at Sesquilé, which is a small town near the lagoon (you must notify the driver) and from there take a taxi to the lagoon or a bus for 10000COP that only makes the journey on weekends and in high season.
- Another option is to get off at the deviation of the Laguna de Guatavita and walk 7 kilometers to the lagoon. Keep in mind that it is a continuous climb route, so we believe it is the least recommended.
- The last option is to stay in the town of Guatavita and from there take a bus to the lagoon for 10000COP, which only leaves on weekends or in high season, or take a taxi for 100000COP round trip.
From Zipaquirá:
In this case for go from Zipaquirá to the Laguna de Guatavita You also have several options.
- Bus: you must take a bus at the Zipa Bus Terminal (Crr 7 between Cll 10 and Cll12) to Sesquilé, which stops at Tocancipá, where according to the day and the route you must change. Once in Sesquilé you should take a taxi to the lagoon or a bus for 10000COP that only makes the journey on weekends and in high season.
- Taxi / private transport: this is the option we have chosen, paying 280000COP to take us from Zipaquirá to the Laguna de Guatavita and then go to Villa de Leyva, which is our next destination.
If the route had been directly from Zipaquirá to Villa de Leyva, without stopping at the Guatavita Lagoon, the price would have been 190000COP.
As you can see the price is much higher, but it has allowed us to make this combination in a single day, saving a lot of time and allowing us to make the whole tour in a more comfortable way.
In case you opt for this option, remember that it is important to book transportation through the hotel so that it is totally safe since in addition a taxi must have forms (documents to leave outside the cities) to be able to make the journey and this It can complicate the process. We booked this route through the Cacique Real hotel with Roberto Penagos, an excellent professional. We leave your WhatsApp number (+57 311 2773094) in case you want to contact him. - Excursion: another of the most recommended options, especially if you want to make this visit from Bogotá and also combine it with the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá is to book this Offer: Guatavita + Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá with guide in Spanish.
Something important is to always talk about the Laguna de Guatavita, that of the legend of El Dorado when you refer to the place since many locals understand that you want to go to the Tominé Reservoir, which is a reservoir in the town of Guatavita.
Visit the Guatavita Lagoon
After an incredibly interesting journey with Roberto Penagos, in which we talked a lot about Colombia and the current situation of the country, we arrived at the Laguna de Guatavita when it is 10:30 in the morning, at which time we began to enter a of the most famous legends of Colombia and the world.
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Remember that in order not to pay commissions and always have the current change we recommend you use the N26 card to pay and the Bnext and Revolut cards to get money at the ATMs. They are the ones we use, They are free and will save you a lot.
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Guatavita Lagoon
Located at 3100 meters of altitude, the Guatavita Lagoon It is one of the most famous and sacred places of pre-Columbian culture as well as being the place where the legendary rite of El Dorado was performed, a ritual in which the new chief was chosen, after a series of ceremonies and that this He entered the lagoon aboard a raft, fully dressed in gold, and then threw those pieces into the lagoon as offerings and plunged naked into the lagoon, to finish the ritual, while his subjects also threw gold offerings to the lagoon.
It is for this reason that this place has been the object of study since time immemorial and looting, in which even at some point an immense gap has been made, to try to drain it and thus locate El Dorado.
Guatavita Lagoon
The visit to the Laguna de Guatavita is guided and is usually done after a group of about 10 people comes together, who leave next to the guide to travel a path of about 3 kilometers, until reaching the lagoon, during the The guide tells the story of the lagoon, anecdotes and the famous legend of El Dorado, making the experience one of the most incredible excursions we have done in Colombia.
Keep in mind that you will be at a height of 3100 meters at its highest point and that the route is at some points tired, since you must climb many stairs. It is important to bring water and hydrate as well as to control the body so if you notice any unusual symptoms, tell the guide.
Path of the Laguna de Guatavita
In the same way we can say after the experience that any person with minimal physical conditions can take the tour since this although in some points is tired, it is viable for any condition.
- Hours: from 9am to 4pm. The park does not open to the public on the first business day of each week.
- Price: 18000COP per person
Tips to visit the Laguna de Guatavita
We leave you a series of tips to visit the Laguna de Guatavita, one of the most impressive places in Colombia that we are sure, will not disappoint you.
- Visiting the Laguna de Guatavita will take you about 2 and a half hours, keep it in mind to organize the day's visits.
- Another thing to keep in mind is that the entrance to the lagoon is done by one point and the exit by another. If you go with a private driver who is waiting for you to make the visit, tell him so that he will look for you at the departure point since otherwise you will have to take a bus through 2000COP to take you back to the point of origin.
- Remember that you will be at more than 3000 meters of altitude, so it is important to hydrate and take the tour with peace of mind.
- The guide gives many explanations, so you will have enough time to take pictures and see the place calmly.
- Initially we wanted to explain more about the legend of El Dorado and about this place, but after the experience and understand that the guide's explanations are a fundamental part of understanding this place and its meaning, we do not believe that it is interestingadvance any of the explanations that are given and that are part of the global experience of visiting the Laguna de Guatavita.
Guatavita Lagoon
We leave you the important points to consider to visit the Laguna de Guatavita.
It is 1 noon when we finish the visit and return to the car to get on our way to Villa de Leyva, our next trip destination, in a 3-hour journey through landscapes that are impossible to stop looking at.
We arrive when it is 4 in the afternoon, checking in at Casa Provenzal, our accommodation in Villa de Leyva the next two nights, where we take the opportunity to rest for a while and when it is 5 in the afternoon, go out to enjoy only a walk For this famous and small city, which is known for being one of the most beautiful in Colombia and that we will have the good fortune to meet tomorrow throughout the day.
Villa de Leyva
After that walk, when it is 8 pm, we go directly to the Casa San Pedro restaurant, of the most recommended restaurants in Villa de Leyva, where we ordered a caesar salad, pasta dish, coconut lemonade and water for 83000COP. Everything great!
Dinner at Casa San Pedro
And to end the day and lower dinner a bit, we get lost again in some of the streets of Villa de Leyva, now in the moonlight, while we return to our hotel, located in one of the quietest areas of the municipality , where we fall asleep dreaming of the next day of this incredible journey.
We leave you the important points to make the route from Zipaquirá to the Laguna de Guatavita, to end the tour in Villa de Leyva.
Day 6: What to see and do in Villa de Leyva
