Hiking the Lost City Trek

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
9
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
8
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
8
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
7
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
3
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
9
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
82 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
31st/454
Top 10%
continent
South America
country
Colombia
Length of time
3-4 days
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$120 (typically $90 - $150)
Time of year visited
March
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Ancient ruins Hiking Jungle
All Tags
Adrenaline rush Adventure Bird spotting Fabulous hotel Local villages Mountains Rice terraces / terraces River swimming Swimming Wildlife - Monkeys Wildlife - Parrots
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary

The Cuidad Perdida (Lost City) was first built around the 12th century and was abandoned when the local people (the Tayrona) fled deeper into the jungle to escape the Spanish Conquistadores and their insatiable drive for gold.  Only rediscovered in the 1970s, the Lost City itself is an inspiring site to visit – mysterious terraces going up the mountainous jungle and built far before the likes of Machu Picchu.

But it is the trek itself – 4 days through some of the most beautiful jungle in Colombia and through some of the still existing hill tribes – that makes this a wonderful experience.

It was a lot harder than we thought – 44km (27 miles) of quite steep terrain and, of course for this part of the world, hot and humid – so be prepared, but this is a mega wow experience and make this a must do if in Colombia.

 

The Lost City at the end of the Lost City Trek, Colombia

 

 

Highlights

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#1 Seeing the inspiring "Lost City" - nestled up in the jungle and what must have been practically impossible to find, the terraces and surroundings are super cool and come with a great feeling of accomplishment for actually making it there!

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#2 Trekking through the remote Colombian jungle as the paths winds through dense foliage and dramatic drops

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#3 Meeting the local wildlife!

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#4 Wandering through some of the remote local villages which feel far, far detached from the mainstream Colombia

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#5 Swimming in the refreshing rivers at the end of the long days hike. A quite wonderful experience as you see the canopy above you and with monkeys and parrots looking on

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#6 Meeting the new local wildlife - this mother gave birth to 8 puppies under our bed on the final night. Poor thing put our exhaustion into perspective!

Itinerary

  • Day 1 – you’ll be picked up in Santa Marta or wherever you’ve arranged (we were picked up from just outside Tayrona National Park), meet your group, drive up to the start of the hike, have lunch in one of the final small villages before you start what is a total of around 1.5 days hiking up to the Lost City
  • Day 2 – full day of hiking
  • Day 3 – you’ll rise early and cover the final 1-2 hours ascent to the Lost City and spend around 3 hours checking the fantastic site out before heading back to where you slept for lunch and then starting your walk back
  • Day 4 – around half a day walking back to the first village you had lunch at, have lunch there again and then head back to Santa Marta or wherever you’ve arranged to be dropped

Travel Tips

Its hot, humid and actually quite challenging – 103k steps and 950 floors climbed according to my iphone.  We’d over the past few weeks done quite a bit of trekking through Ecuador and Patagonia, but found this to be harder.

Stick with the 4 day hike – whilst it is challenging, as long as you have a reasonable level of fitness, stick with the 4 day hike.  There are options for 6 days, but I think that is a bit unnecessary.

Things to bring:

  • Your phone – I know its obvious!  But useful for photos and flashlight
  • Insect repellent – you’ll be in the jungle . . . at night
  • 5 change of clothes (including socks) as if you’ve been hiking ALL DAY
  • Proper waterproof hiking shoes.  We actually didn’t get any rain, so probably could have done the hike with basic trainers.  But if it does rain, you don’t want trainers
  • Blisterex / anything for blisters.  Many people got blisters, including me, and isn’t much fun if you can’t cover them properly.  As soon as you feel the rubbing that might lead to a blister, get the blisterex on.  Don’t go with basic plasters / bandaids – you want the super sticky film coverings
  • Ear plugs and eye mask (see below)
  • Pack light – you’ll be carrying whatever you bring
  • Optional would be to bring a powerbank for the phone, but most places we stayed at had a place for charging – you just need to be patient to wait your turn

There is no Wifi – enjoy!

The places you stay in are basic, but comfortable.  Think less hostel, and more rows of beds in the open (ie no separate rooms) with roof for cover and all with mosquito nets.  My tip though would be that if you’re a light sleeper to bring ear plugs and an eye mask, just because people will be getting up in the middle of the night with torches.  The facilities are also basic (I think there was hot water in one place, not the others), but the food is good – and, lets face it, your going to scoff down anything after that much hiking.

Enjoy the rivers at the end of the day – two of the places you stay will be next to a river.  Make sure you jump in the water after your hike for a wash and generally to enjoy the water while looking around at the surrounding jungle.  I actually think this may have been our highlight.  The air is quite warm so you’ll warm up quickly afterwards.

We went with Expotur who were great.  4 day trek was COP1,150,000 (around USD320 in 2019).

If looking for a place to stay nearby, I can’t recommend highly enough Maloka Barlovento or any of the hotels nearby in the spot just to the east of Tayrona National Park.  The hotels themselves are lovely, but the nearby beach in between the sea and the lake is gorgeous.  We ended up staying there for 4 nights because we liked its so much.

Colombia book recommendations:

  • One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is the traditional must read literature.  At times it can be a little slow going, but it created its own genre (magic realism . . . obviously) and very much tells the story in a round about way of many of the difficulties faced by Colombia
  • To give a perspective of just what it must have been like for the American civilisations before the Spanish arrived, I highly recommend 1491 by Charles Mann.  It will change your view from what is likely to be that of basic jungle tribes / Indians hunting the buffalo on the plains to what they really were – in many ways equally sophisticated civilisations to those of Eurasia
  • For a broad, often quite opinionated, overview of modern South America, I also recommend Viva South America Oliver Balch

Broader Colombia – for how Bogota can fit into a bigger 3 week trip to see the highlights of Colombia, see 3 weeks in Colombia for itinerary and tips.

What to prioritise in Colombia

Colombia has some real wow experiences.  For a first time visitor it can be a little overwhelming as to what to prioritise and simply because the country takes such a long times to travel around. See the 3 week itinerary for Colombia for how to do this, but if time is restricted the below is how I would think about priorities and how The Lost City Trek sits right at the top:

 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hiking the Lost City Trek
A challenging multi-day trek through dense Colombian jungle, but rewarded by insane mountain views and majestic levels of remote ruins of Ciudad Perdida. Adventure and isolation and a mega wow.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Salento and the Valley de Cocora 
Mountainous coffee country with picture-perfect colourful hilltop towns and a wonderful walk through a valley with the world’s tallest palm trees. Walking the Valley de Cocora, visiting the humming birds and soaking up Salento.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Cartegena
One of the best old towns in all of Latin America with incredible bar and restaurant scene.  Crowds take the shine off a little but still a country highlight. Soaking up the Cartagena Old Town.

 

⭐️⭐️ Medellin
The street art, the changing neighbourhoods, the museums, the great bar and restaurant scene – all worth seeing, but the highlight is the cable cars.  Not just over the differing neighbourhoods clinging precariously to the steep sides, but also up over the city valley sides and into the lush green forests where the city is completely forgotten.  Couple of days in Medellin riding the cable cars.

⭐️⭐️ Tayrona National Park 
Small flat walks through jungle and boulders to find stunning beaches.  We found the the chilled out beach hotels just the the east end of the park so nice we extended by 4 nights. Tayrona National Park and staying in a bit of paradise nearby.

 

⭐️ The Guatape Lakes 
Nice day trip to take from Medellin – views from the top of the 220m (720 feet) tall La Piedra are amazing and the walk around the colourful town of Guatape is nice.  But I’d challenge a lot I’ve read about this being a “must see”.  Guatape Lakes outside of Medellin.

⭐️ Bogota 
I wasn’t the biggest fan of Bogota – there are better places to spend your time and we never really felt 100% safe. High chance though you’ll fly in and so do a half day cycling tour, play Tejo and to head up on the cable car to Monserrate.  Cycling and taking the cable car in Bogota.

Experiences nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Other Jungle Adventures around the world

Camping in Corcovado National Park
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Helicopter trip to El Mirador in the heart of the Guatemalan jungle
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mayan ruins of Tikal
⭐⭐⭐

Semuc Champey all to yourself
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Trekking the mountains and jungle around Chiang Mai
⭐⭐

Camping in the Daintree Rainforest
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Diving and staying in guest houses in Central Raja Ampat
⭐⭐⭐

Hiking the 4 day / 3 night Inca Trail
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cycling Angkor Wat
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mekong tubing in Vang Vieng
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sapa – taking a motorbike around the mountain scenery and hilltop villages
⭐⭐⭐

Rafting the Navua River, near Pacific Harbour
⭐

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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