Los Andes Colombianos: 12 days, your way

We leave Medellín heading east, crossing the Magdalena Medio region toward Santander. It is the longest day of the trip. Near Sabana de Torres we ride the old railway dirt road, with its tunnels and iron bridges over the river, until we rest in Matanza, gateway to the Santander mountains.

We climb through Vetas to the Santurbán páramo, among frailejones, lagoons and altitudes above 3,500 m. We cross Berlín and ride down to spend the night in San Andrés.

We descend to Cepitá at the bottom of the Chicamocha Canyon and climb through Aratoca with stunning canyon views. We continue through Pitiguao and spend the night in Mogotes.

We visit two of Santander’s natural wonders: the Hoyo del Aire, a jungle-filled abyss with sheer rock walls, and the Hoyo de los Pájaros, a huge fern-covered sinkhole in the middle of the pastures. Then we ride through San Gil and Socorro, two of Santander’s most traditional towns. We take the dirt road through El Olival and spend the night in Aguada.

We reach Florián to visit the Ventanas de Tisquizoque, a waterfall pouring out of a cave high on the mountain with views over the valley. We spend the night in Florián.

We cross into western Boyacá through Muzo and Otanche, emerald-mining country of green mountains and dirt roads, and ride down to the heat of the Magdalena River to spend the night in Puerto Boyacá.

We ride through Puerto Triunfo, cross with the bikes on the San Miguel ferry and arrive in Norcasia, next to the Amaní reservoir and La Miel river.

We ride through the mountains of eastern Caldas, among rivers, forest and dirt roads, to Samaná.

A spare day to rest, service the bikes or make up time if rain or road conditions require it. If everything goes to plan, we use it to explore the surroundings.

We climb to San Félix in Caldas and cross the Samaria Valley with its wax palms, spending the night in Salamina, a heritage town of colonial architecture.

We cross the Cauca River into southwest Antioquia through Supía, Valparaíso, Támesis and Jericó, among coffee farms and viewpoints, and spend the night in Jardín.

Last day: we ride through Santa Fe de Antioquia, the colonial mother town of the region, and return to Medellín to close the journey.