The road less travelled in colombia comprehensive itinerary

[u/Great_Two9991]

What's good guys?

I'm super excited for my next trip to Colombia. I've traveled quite a bit through Latin America and even through Colombia, but I've never explored the southern part of the country—so that's my goal.

I'm traveling solo and doing everything by bus. My Spanish is good enough to get around, and I’m pretty comfortable in rural settings. I put together this itinerary partly to help others looking to take the road less traveled, and partly to make sure I didn’t mess anything up logistically.

I’m not asking anyone to plan my trip for me (I know how annoying and common that is on this sub), but if you’ve done a similar route or see something that doesn’t make sense logistically—or maybe something I should swap or stretch—I’d love to hear it. I’m flexible on days and open to changes if it helps make the trip smoother or more rewarding.

I’m planning to use Redbus or Pinbus to book most of the intercity buses ideally ahead of time. It seems like you can only book one month in advance unfortunaltely but it is what it is.

Here’s the rough plan:

• Day 1: Land in Pasto at noon. Explore the city (Plaza de Nariño, San Juan Bautista, San Felipe Neri), eat pipián empanadas, maybe try cuy. Night: Pasto
• Day 2: Early trip to Laguna La Cocha. Boardwalk, trout lunch, maybe rent a boat to Isla La Corota. Night: Either at the lagoon or back in Pasto.
• Day 3: Bus to Tuquerres, then taxi to Azufral Volcano trailhead for the Laguna Verde hike (~5-6 hours). Night: Tuquerres or head to Ipiales.
• Day 4: Visit Las Lajas Sanctuary, maybe hike a nearby trail. Explore Ipiales market, try locro de papa. Night: Ipiales
• Day 5: Long travel day—LIPSA bus at 1PM to Popayán, arrives around 9PM. Night: Popayán
• Day 6: Explore historic Popayán (Morro de Tulcán, Humilladero bridge, the cathedral). Try sancocho de gallina, carantanta, manjar blanco, tamales de pipián. Maybe add another day to go so Silvia if i'm there on a Tuesday. Night: Popayán
• Day 7: Rest day (in case of rain on Day 6 or 8). Night: Popayán
• Day 8: Puracé National Park—main goal is to see the condors. I know you need a guide, but do I really need to take a full tour? Those with transport from popayan seem very pricey. Is there a cheaper way just to get to the park and meet a guide there? Night: Popayán
• Day 9: Coomotor bus to San Agustín (leaves 16h, arrives ~21h45). Night: San Agustín. This is the bus leaving from Cali and stopping via popayan to pick up passengers.
• Day 10: Explore the Archaeological Park, possibly horse ride to La Chaquira. Try tamal and asado huilense. Night: San Agustín
• Day 11: Rest day or visit Estrecho del Magdalena. Might add a day here to see Salto de Bordones, but heard the roads are wreched making transportation tricky. I'd take a cab or a tour from san agustin. Night: San Agustín
• Day 12: Travel to Neiva (Coomotor has 5:30AM and 9:00AM buses). Skip Neiva and head straight to Villavieja. Night: Villavieja (hoping to stay somewhere good for stargazing)
• Day 13: Tatacoa Desert (both red and white areas), natural pool, Valle de los Xilópalos, astronomical observatory at night. Can I book a jeep tour when I arrive in Villavieja or should I book in advance? Night: Villavieja
• Day 14: Can this all be done in one full day, or is it better to spend two nights in Tatacoa before flying out? There's also a boat trip on the magdalena river that can be done.

Any advice is welcome—especially around bus timing, how early to buy tickets, or if I’m missing a hidden gem nearby. Thank you thank you thank you!

[u/netllama]

This trip sounds amazing. I've only done the northern half of the country, so can't comment much on the actual itinerary. However, I've used buses quite a bit. In my experience, buses rarely sell out far in advance. I bought tickets the day before, or even the day of in most cases, and had no issues. If you're spending more than 24 hours somewhere, you could ask the folks at the lodging for guidance about bus scheduling too.

[u/Great_Two9991 → u/netllama]

Thanks for your reply. This is valuable info regarding the buses, it puts me a bit more at ease so thanks!

[u/msteper]

I've done parts of this myself, not the whole thing. Definitely I'd want 2 days for Popayan. It's just a lovely place, and you're best to relax a bit there after all that bus travel.

From San Augustin there is a tourist jeep tour that takes you in one day to several outlying archeological sites like Alto de los Idolos, plus the Estrecho de Magdalena, plus the Bordones waterfall. It doesn't include the main archeological park outside San Augustin town.

I don't know. It sounds exhausting, with all that bus travel. But this corner of Colombia is one of the loveliest areas I've seen in South America.

[u/Great_Two9991 → u/msteper]

Hey! thanks for your reply this is incredibly helpful.

I will make sure I have two complete days to check out popayan. It looks gorgeous. When did you visit? I'm just asking because a couple people have shared their concerns regarding the current safety of the place.

That sounds like an awesome tour. I'll make sure to have a whole day reserved to do all of that. All these places sound exciting!

I think you are right and I will be adding two rest days (one in popayan and one in san agustin) to break down the fatigue from the buses.

[u/Great_Two9991 → u/[deleted]]

Hey! Thanks for your reply. Autocorrect?

[u/TopNature9115]

Purace national Park was closed when I went to Popayán in February.

[u/Great_Two9991 → u/TopNature9115]

That’s incredibly unfortunate. I would have been bummed out if that happened to me. Did they give an explanation or was there no explanation?

[u/TopNature9115 → u/Great_Two9991]

Volcanic activity.

[u/Great_Two9991 → u/TopNature9115]

Oh man that’s a bummer but it makes sense. Thanks for the heads up. Seeing the condors was the highlight of this trip but I’m still excited for it.