Things to do in Bucaramanga

Nature · North of the centre, and 50 km south

A botanical water garden on the city's northern edge, and — an hour down the road — the canyon park slung across one of the largest canyons in the world, reached by a cable car that crosses it.

Local tip: Do the Chicamocha cable car in the late afternoon when the light rakes across the canyon walls, and stay on the Mesa de los Santos side for dinner rather than driving straight back.

Neighborhood · East-central Bucaramanga

The city's most liveable district — tree-lined streets, mid-rise blocks, the restaurant and bar strip along Carrera 33 and 35, and the closest Bucaramanga gets to walkable.

Local tip: Eat around Calle 48 and Carrera 35 rather than in the malls. The Zona Rosa here empties on Sundays, which is when Cabecera is at its best for a slow morning.

Culture · Metropolitan area, 20 minutes south-west

A whitewashed colonial town declared a national monument, sitting inside the metropolitan area — cobbles, bridges over the Río de Oro, and a main square that has not been prettified for visitors.

Local tip: Go on a weekday morning and eat cabro or pepitoria in one of the plaza restaurants. On Sundays it fills with day-trippers from the city and loses the thing you came for.

Food · Central Bucaramanga

The working market and the shoe-trade streets around it — sacks of hormigas culonas in season, mute stalls upstairs, and hundreds of small leather workshops in the blocks nearby.

Local tip: Eat upstairs at the market, where the mute and the caldo are made for the traders rather than for visitors, and go before noon.

Landmark · Western edge of the meseta

The lookouts along the top of the western escarpment, where the city stops abruptly and drops several hundred metres into the Río de Oro valley.

Local tip: Late afternoon, from the Mirador de Palonegro side, with the light going down over the valley. The paragliders launch from around here too, which tells you what the thermals are like.

Nature · 40 km and 100 km south

The plateau above the canyon — cool, quiet, a famous Saturday farmers' market — and, further on, the sandstone colonial town widely held to be the prettiest in Colombia.

Local tip: The Mesa's Mercado Campesino runs on Saturday mornings and is the real thing. Combine it with a night in Barichara rather than trying to do both in a day from the city.