This New Colombia Cycling Tour Ends on the Caribbean Coast, With Andes Climbs, Coffee Plantations, and Colonial Cartagena

There’s a new way to reach the Caribbean coast: on two wheels, over the Andes.

Adventure cycling company Ride & Seek is expanding to South America with a new historical cycling tour in Colombia, a three-week ride that winds from Bogotá through the Coffee Triangle and Medellín before finishing in colonial Cartagena on the Caribbean coast.

The Bolívar tour debuts with a departure this November, with a second set for November 2027, starting at $11,880 per person based on double occupancy.

The route covers more than 900 miles and 83,000 feet of elevation gain, rating three and a half espresso cups out of four on the company’s grading system. Woven throughout is the story of Simón Bolívar, “El Libertador,” whose pursuit of independence from the Spanish Empire still shapes Colombia’s identity.

“Few places bring together world-class terrain, authentic culture and a passion for cycling as naturally as Colombia,” said Dylan Reynolds, founder of Ride & Seek. “Having left its turbulent past behind, Colombia today is open and welcoming, making this the perfect time to visit by bike.”

The journey begins at 8,600 feet in Bogotá with a warm-up ride during the city’s famous weekly Ciclovía, when 75 miles of streets close to cars and fill with thousands of cyclists and pedestrians.

From there, riders pedal quiet high-desert roads to Villa de Leyva, a colonial town built around a vast cobblestone plaza that seems frozen in the 16th century.

The Andean stretch brings the tour’s marquee challenge: the Alto del Sifón, among the longest paved, uninterrupted climbs in the world at more than 70 miles and 15,000 feet of elevation gain. The tour is structured so cyclists can take on the entire climb or just a section.

Then it’s into the UNESCO-listed Zona Cafetera, the heart of Colombia’s coffee culture, where roads roll through plantations and into small towns built around family-run fincas and strong mid-morning tintos.

A rest day in Medellín showcases the city’s lush setting, dynamic urban culture and modern transformation before the grand finale: the long descent from the cool air of the mountains into the heat and rhythm of the Caribbean.

The tour ends in Cartagena, where riders can wander the old town’s brightly painted facades and shaded plazas and feast on fresh seafood and tropical fruit.

Along the way, cyclists stay in restored haciendas, with the tour including all accommodations, all breakfasts and group dinners, most lunches, ride nutrition, a Ride & Seek kit and water bottle, GPS with preloaded routes and guides.

Colombia’s deep cycling heritage runs through the entire experience, the company says, from everyday commuters to the elite riders who dominate international races, with bike-friendly infrastructure and drivers accustomed to sharing the road.