Villa de Leyva (Tunja)

Places of Interest - Colombia


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introduction


Tunja is the highest provincial city in the country and is therefore a lot cooler, wetter and more windy than what you are used to in the rest of Colombia. It is located at a height of 3000 meters and you feel and see your own breathing here as you were in La Paz, Bolivia. It is a fairly large angular city with a large square, a number of low-traffic shopping streets, a few colonial churches and serves mainly as a starting point to other parts of the country.

 

One of those is the small but beautiful Villa de Leyva which is about 35 kilometers away is and a world of difference with Tunja. Similar to Barichara but built in a very different style. Nice as a day trip but you can also easily stay here and make some hike trips in the beautiful surroundings of this village.


highlights


Villa de Leyva

The little village of Villa de Leyva was founded in 1572 by the Spaniards and was actually meant as a relaxation place for the noble and the top of the military. After that it has always been an attraction point caused by the perfect location and climate.

 

Surrounded by green hills with a gigantic square, perhaps the largest ever built in the Americas and built in a style of white houses, wooden balconies sometimes crammed with colored flowers, orange roof tiles and streets with romantic cobbled stones. Not much seems to have changed in the hundreds of years, only the houses have changed in restaurants, hotels, shops and (art) galleries.

 

You can make some beautiful hikes in the surrounding hills and the village is quite easily accessible from Tunja. You can also visit a number of traditional houses (casas), a museum and there are a number of churches that you can visit. This town is certainly worth a visit but do not go on weekends when it is crowded by tourists from Bogota and Medellin.


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tips & advice (2013)


Tunja - Villa de Leyva: minibuses leave every half an hour between these two cities; the journey takes about 45 minutes and costs 6000 COL.

 

Tunja - Bogota: I paid 15.000 COL for a busride with the company "Libertadores" to Bogota. The journey takes about 3 hours.


If you're really hungry for a pizza, go to Pizza Nuestro in Tunja - it's not cheap but it's worth it. Tip of the Day; Go for two - order a small pizza in two flavors (I think that's what he tried to tell me) and you have a great cheap lunch at a very central location in Tunja.


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  • Name: Hotel American (Tunja)

Address: Calle 11, no 18-70

Price: 15,000 (excluding WC and shower)

Phone nr. : 7422471

 

Content:

This hotel is right in the center and you walk easily past it without notice. On the first floor you see an American flag, so that’s why I recognized it. A world opens up to you at the top of the stairs; a very large and spacious lobby surrounded by rooms of different orders.

 

Bargaining was no longer an option, but I also think that this was the lowest you’re going to get. The building is old, the floors are from wood and therefore a bit noisy, just like my room on the busy shopping street (and only a single window). The staff is friendly and helpful. The toilet and shower are a bit of a walk and the water is really ice cold.


I wanted to skip the town of Villa de Leyva because I thought it’s just another colonial town. And especially when you’ve been already to citie like Cartagena, Popayan and Barichara. But what a surprise - a different style of building and architecture; yes, it also has white houses, cobblestoned streets, orange roof tiles and lies in a valley surrounded by mountains and forest but maybe it is me - I found it a pleasure to walk around here again.

 

Do not get crazy and make just a half-day trip and then return to messy and somewhat grubby Tunia to have a coffee in a snack bar but it’s worth it.


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