Villa de Leyva is one of Colombia's most beautiful and charming small colonial towns. Villa de Leyva's cobblestoned plaza is the largest in all of Colombia (some say the Americas), and the small town looks like it's straight out of a Clint Eastwood film. Villa de Leyva is a very special place to amble about the cobbled streets or shop in many of the interesting Colombian artesian shops. The town can get very busy during the weekends and festivals, so our advice would be to visit mid-week for a more tranquil travel experience.
Tours from Villa de Leyva
A couple of days is enough time to visit Villa de Leiva and it's surrounding travel attractions, but one could easily spend longer. "El Fosil", a huge preserved 7 metre fossil of a marine dinosaur and the Dominican Convent of Ecce Homo are two highlights. An ostrich farm is found a few kilometres outside of Villa de Leyva - on the weekends the restaurant there serves ostrich meat. There are also ancient monoliths at the archaeological site of "El infiernito", an ancient observatory. There's excellent trekking and horseback riding possibilities in Colombia's Iguaque National Park - consider visiting the impressive Periquera waterfalls and the various small mountain lakes found in this park. There's a visitors centre with simple accommodation in this National Park.
Not far from Villa de Leyva, the town of Raquira is an excellent place to buy some fine Colombian pottery. A few kilometres beyond Raquira is the tiny village of La Candelaria, where one can visit the beautiful Monasterio de la Candelaria, which was founded in 1597 by Augustine monks.
Those travelling overland onwards to Bogota should definately take time out to visit the amazing salt cathedral of Zipaquira, a huge cathedral carved into a salt mine.
Villa de Leyva Hotels
Renacer Guesthouse - (website in Spanish) is a lovely hostel a little outside of town, that's the best option for backpackers and budget travellers. (Alternatively for backpackers, there's a couple of campsites, both in and a little outside of town).
Plaza Mayor - right on the main plaza is the well known colonial hotel. The rooftop restaurant has lovely views of the plaza.
Hotel Plazuela de San Agustin - a boutique style colonial hotel full of antique furnishings. There's 20 or so rooms surrounding a lovely, peaceful courtyard. I believe that this is the most expensive hotel in Villa de Leiva.
Bahia Olivo - a cozy boutique hotel with more modern, comfortable rooms.
Hotel Getsemani - a hotel and spa that suggests you'll have a "Mediterranean experience" if you stay. There's a swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna etc.
Del Molino la Mesopotamia is an extremely beautiful very old building (built in 1568) that used to be a monastery but is now a hotel. The hotel oozes charm and character (I loved it), but bear in mind this is a very, very, very old building, and it's not to everyone's taste.
There's many many other hotels in Villa de Leyva - the peaceful town is full of them. Turn up mid week without a reservation and it's easy to look round a few (bargain hard!).
Villa de Leyva's Festivals
August's Kite festival sees expert kite flyers gather in the main plaza for a quite unique spectacle, and there is also a well known firework festival in early December.
Paipa
Paipa is nearby to Villa de Leiva, and many Colombia tour operators offer an overnight in a spa hotel in conjunction with a package to Villa de Leiva. There's some good trekking options near Paipa, but to visit just to see the hot springs is not really worthwhile (the baths are nothing special).
Tunja
Between Villa de Leiva and Paipa lies the town of Tunja. Most travellers simply pass through Tunja without stopping, however the sudent town does have some lovely colonial architecture and some beautiful churches. If you're a real fan of colonial era churches do stop off - otherwise best to just head onwards. The Puente de Boyaca is closeby - this is one of Colombia's most important battlefields, with various monuments erected since.
