Villa de Leyva Historic Center Tour with Hotel Pickup (Private)

From $78 USD per person

This one starts where you are staying. If you are already in Villa de Leyva, with a hotel in town and a morning to spend, the problem is not getting to Boyacá, it is that the things worth seeing are spread across a historic centre paved almost entirely in river stone, and the museums that explain them are not next door to each other. Five hours with a private guide and a vehicle on hand covers the whole of it without the walking becoming the point.

Villa de Leyva was declared a National Monument in 1954, which is the reason the town looks the way it does. For more than seventy years the historic centre has been held close to its original state: the cobbled streets, the whitewashed facades, the low colonial buildings around Plaza Mayor, the largest cobblestone square in Colombia. None of it is reconstruction. It is the built environment of a town founded in 1572, still standing, and a guide who knows which building was what is the difference between looking at it and reading it.

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

How the tour works

• Pickup at your hotel in Villa de Leyva, then Plaza Mayor (about 90 minutes). Your guide collects you in town and starts in the square itself: the colonial figures who shaped the region, and the houses and monasteries that watched it happen.
• Ecce Homo, Juan de Castellanos and Antonio Nariño (about 2 hours). The institutions that carry the separate chapters. The Holy Ecce Homo convent, built in the seventeenth century. The house of Juan de Castellanos, the chronicler whose epic poem documented the Spanish conquest. The house of Antonio Nariño. Private transport between them, which is what keeps five hours from becoming eight.
• The fossil and archaeological museums, then back (about 90 minutes). The other half of the valley’s story: Cretaceous marine life surfacing from the same ground the colonial town was built on. Your guide finishes with recommendations for the rest of your stay, and you are dropped back at your hotel.

What’s included

• Private English-speaking guide
• Hotel pickup and drop-off in Villa de Leyva, in private transport
• Entry to all the activities on the itinerary
• A gastronomic experience
• All-risk insurance

Not included

• Breakfast and lunch
• Extra purchases

Good to know

• This tour picks up in Villa de Leyva, not in Bogotá. It is built for travellers already staying in town. If you are coming up from the capital for the day, you want the Villa de Leyva day tour from Bogotá instead.
• The cobblestones are the real thing. Large, uneven river stone, not a paved imitation. Flat shoes with some grip, and take your time.
• Altitude: the town sits at about 2,100 metres. Cold mornings, warm middays, and thin dry air.
• Sun: the valley is semi-arid and open, and the light is stronger than the temperature suggests. Sunscreen and a hat.
• Accessibility: the cobblestones make this difficult for wheelchairs and strollers. Ask us before booking and we will tell you honestly whether it works.
• Lunch is not included, by design. Villa de Leyva eats well and your guide knows where.

Frequently asked questions

I am staying in Villa de Leyva. Is this the right tour?

Yes. Pickup and drop-off are at your hotel in town. The day trip from Bogotá is a separate, much longer tour that exists for people who are not staying here.

Why do I need transport in a town this small?

Because the itinerary does not stay inside the square. The convent and the museums sit apart from the centre, and walking between all of them on river stone would spend the day on the walking rather than the places. The vehicle covers the gaps.

What is the gastronomic experience?

A tasting stop included in the tour, chosen by your guide from what the town does well. It is not lunch, and lunch is not included, so plan to eat either side of the tour.

Why are there marine fossils in the Andes?

Because this valley was seabed in the Cretaceous. When the Andes rose, the ocean floor came up with them, which is why the ground around a colonial town produces some of the most significant marine fossils in South America.

Is it suitable for children or older travellers?

The pace is unhurried and the stops are short, which suits both. The single caveat is the cobblestone, which demands steady footing. If that is a concern, tell us before you book.

Just need the ride, not the tour?

If you want to see the town on your own terms, our private transfer to Villa de Leyva gives you the same professional driver with no itinerary attached.

Ready? Check your date and lock it in