San Gil, Colombia

If there is a place to Colombia that I do not mind visiting over and over again, San Gil would be that place. Nestled between Bucaramanga and Bogotá, San Gil is a very small town, with a lot to do. There are great views, amazing adventures and just a place to relax. There is a no reason why someone wouldn’t want to visit the backpacker friendly town of San Gil.

San Gil Rooftop

In 2004 San Gil was named as the tourism capitol of the Santander region, and for a great reason. There is a lot to do in San Gil and around. For adventurous people, one could go caving, parasail, paraglide, rock climb, rafting and other thrill seeking feats. For those not so thrill seeking, there is a hiking and bicycling. There is a great hike from the neighboring towns near San Gil that can last a 3-5 day trip depending on your stamina.

Strange Fruit In San Gil

Other than through tourism, San Gil makes it’s money is through agriculture from the lands around. This makes sense, with it being area a very fertile lands. This helps make San Gil one of my other favorite places to be. Bright and early in the morning, one would have to visit the market, it is full of strange and wonderful fruits an vegetables from the region. One has to try the avocado and granadillas, or perhaps be adventurous and choose fruit that looks very foreign and exotic. Try grabbing some fresh strawberries and other fruits and take them to the new juicer for a great breakfast.

Perhaps you want to just relax? Well San Gil is a great place for that. San Gil is a slow town, where there are small shops to shop at and a cobbled streets to just walk along and relax. Near is the towns of Guana and Barichara, beautiful towns to visit for food and shopping. Also great for relaxing and very picturosque moments in the town. After all Barrichara is a place where many films and novelas are shot. Getting to these areas can be easy by catching the downtown hub bus terminal (not the intercity terminal).

Church in Barichara

Some of the places to relax at are numerous. San Gil is very budget and backpacker friendly and filled with many hostels. Last year when I went there a few hostels, but now that Colombia is growing in tourism and San Gil being a capitol for backpackers, San Gil is bustling with new adventurers. Some popular places include Macondo Guesthouse. The new location and renovations makes the place feel lot less like a hostel and more like a home environment. One of the best reason to stay here is to get the advice of Shaun, the owner. Shaun is a wealth of information of where to visit in the area and is well planned on getting you where you want to go. Another great place is Sam’s VIP which is just off the downtown square. It is well decorated and has a gorgeous balcony looking over the square. On this balcony is a “bar” where guests can by drinks and enjoy the scenery below. Both places offer both private and dorm style beds. Both range from $10 - $35 a night, depending on kind of room.

How do you get to San Gil? Well you can take the terminal bus from Bogotá costing about 32.000 pesos and takes 7 hours. It takes about 5 hours from Bucaramanga and costs about 20.000 pesos.

San Gil is one of my favorite places in Colombia, and for many reasons. I guess that is a reason why I stopped there a second time on my second trip through Colombia. And it is a reason for anyone to want to visit with it’s adventures, and relaxing environment.

So have you ever wanted to visit Colombia? What small towns do you know of that are adventure towns? Write a comment below and feel free to follow us on twitter and Facebook and follow our feeds.

Erick Redcloud

A partially blind Graphic Designer, Freelance Travel Photographer, Artist, Buddhist and Vegetarian who loves to travel. Erick loves traveling by being with the locals and going off the beaten path. He is the founder and owner of Pathlesstravels and loves inspiring others to follow their dreams, whether it is to travel or something completely different. He started Pathlesstravels to hone is photography skills and to meet amazing people, and to help a friend break into journalism. Check out his photography at his link.