Santa Marta Old City and Gold Museum Walking Tour (Private)

From $84 USD per person

Santa Marta is the oldest surviving European city in South America. Founded in 1525, thirteen years before Bogotá, and the historic centre still carries that in its layout: the whole sequence fits into a few walkable blocks, which is exactly why this one is three hours on foot rather than a half-day with a vehicle.

The anchor is the Tayrona Gold Museum. It occupies the first building the Spanish completed in the city, and it has been deliberately repurposed to hold and display the indigenous metalwork the colonial project came close to destroying. Starting there sets the order of everything that follows, which is the difference between a walk past some old buildings and a walk through what happened here.

Check live availability and prices — or read on for how the walk unfolds.

How the walk works

• Hotel pickup and the Tayrona Gold Museum (about 1 hour). Your guide meets you at your hotel and takes you to the museum: the first Spanish building in the city, now a cultural site holding the indigenous ancestral metalwork of the region. Entry is included.
• Bolívar Square and the Bastidas monument (about 30 minutes). The square dedicated to the man who broke Spanish rule, and the monument to the conquistador who founded the city, a few steps apart. Your guide does not skip past that.
• The Malecón and Parque de los Novios (about 30 minutes). Along the bay on the waterfront promenade to the Lovers’ Park, the social centre of downtown Santa Marta in the evening.
• Cathedral, a food tasting, and back (about 1 hour). Through the colonial streets and churches of the centre to the main Cathedral, with a stop to try a typical local snack before your guide returns you to your hotel.

What’s included

• Private guide for the full three hours
• Hotel pickup and drop-off in private transport
• Entry to the Tayrona Gold Museum
• A food tasting
• All-risk insurance

Not included

• Breakfast and lunch
• Extra purchases

Good to know

• The Tayrona Gold Museum is closed on Mondays. If your tour falls on a Monday your guide will propose an alternative museum based on what interests you, but if the Gold Museum is the reason you are booking, pick another day.
• Dress for heat and humidity. Santa Marta averages about 25.8C across the year; July is the warmest month. Cotton, comfortable shoes, light trousers or shorts, and sunscreen and a cap at all times.
• Mornings tend to be cloudy before the afternoon heat builds, which makes them the better half of the day for walking.
• The historic centre has uneven paving. Comfortable walking shoes are not optional.
• The tour runs in all weather.

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from the five-hour city tour?

This one is three hours, stays inside the historic centre, and is built around the Tayrona Gold Museum. The five-hour city tour covers the old town too but its second half is Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino, the hacienda where Bolívar died, which is out of walking range. Pick by how much time you have and which you would rather see.

What is in the Gold Museum?

Indigenous metalwork of the region, held in the first building the Spanish finished in the city. The reuse is the point, and your guide will make it.

How much walking is it?

Three hours at an easy pace across a compact historic centre, with stops. The ground is uneven in places and it is hot, so the shoes matter more than the fitness.

What is the food tasting?

A typical local snack, included, near the end of the walk. It is a taste, not a meal. If you want the food properly, our four-hour market food tour is the one.

Is it good in the rain?

It runs regardless. Santa Marta rain tends to be short, and the route has plenty of cover.

Just need the ride, not the tour?

Our private Santa Marta airport transfer gives you the same vetted driver with no itinerary attached.

Ready? Check your date and lock it in