Cities & rivers of Colombia with an AmaWaterways cruise

This morning, set out on a private half-day tour of Medellín with your driver and guide. Over recent decades, the city has reinvented itself as one of Latin America's most innovative urban centres, and your guide can share the stories behind this remarkable transformation. Highlights include the plaza in the historic centre, lined with the rounded bronze sculptures of Fernando Botero, Antioquia's most celebrated artist, and the city's cable-car network, which links hillside neighbourhoods with the valley floor and offers sweeping views.

Today, travel east into the Antioquian countryside on a private full-day excursion with your chauffeur-guide. The route winds through rolling green hills to the reservoir landscape around Guatapé, where islands and inlets scatter across glittering water. Rising above it all is El Peñol, a vast granite monolith. If you're feeling energetic, you could climb the more than 700 steps that zigzag up its flank for a breathtaking panorama of the lakes below. Afterwards, explore Guatapé itself, one of Colombia's most photogenic colonial towns.

After a private transfer to the airport with your driver, fly north to Barranquilla on Colombia's Caribbean coast. On arrival, you're transferred privately to your hotel, where you'll stay overnight. Set where the Magdalena River meets the sea, Barranquilla is a lively port city famous for its Carnaval. You may wish to spend the evening strolling along the riverside promenade.

Today, transfer privately to the riverside to board AmaMagdalena, your home for the next seven nights. With just 60 guests, the ship blends contemporary comfort with Colombian-inspired decor. As evening falls, an exclusive Carnaval celebration bursts into colour, music, and dance on board.

Today's call introduces you to the gentle rhythms of life along the Magdalena. Your ship moors near Sabanagrande, giving access to the riverside village of Sitio Nuevo, where traditions have been handed down through generations. You could choose to join a guided walk through its quiet streets, watching local artisans at work on traditional crafts and art, and learning how the river shapes daily routines. Possible experiences include tasting regional delicacies prepared to time-honoured recipes and chatting with residents about village life.

In the Magangué region, you may wish to explore Boca de Tacaloa, the mouth of the Tacaloa, a striking natural area surrounded by wetlands, local legend, and untamed scenery. This is a rewarding place to look for birdlife, including species found only in this part of Colombia. Later, AmaMagdalena continues upriver with scenic cruising. Take in the passing landscape from the pool on the Luna Deck and come evening, the ship reaches the island town of Mompox, where local musicians welcome guests with an exclusive open-air jazz performance in the streets.

Founded in 1540, Mompox (Santa Cruz de Mompox) prospered as a Spanish trading post on the Magdalena, and its remarkably preserved colonial centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With the ship staying overnight, there's time to absorb its whitewashed churches, shaded plazas, and riverside streets.

Leaving Mompox, the morning brings scenic cruising along tranquil waters, ideal for relaxing or booking a treatment in the spa. Later, you could visit Santa Bárbara de Pinto, a traditional riverside village on the Mompox branch of the Magdalena. Possible experiences include watching fishing nets being woven and tobacco hand rolled, admiring the pastel-toned architecture and historic church, or taking a guided hike through the surrounding landscape.

In Calamar, explore by paola, a two-seater bicycle taxi, riding along the riverside Malecón to the town's House of Culture. Later, the ship continues to Mahates, gateway to San Basilio de Palenque, considered the first 'free town' in the Americas. Founded by people who escaped slavery during colonial times, Palenque was officially freed by Spanish royal decree in 1713. Its traditions, from symbolic braided hairstyles to ancestral medicine and its own Creole language, are recognised by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

AmaMagdalena arrives in Cartagena, the jewel of Colombia's Caribbean coast, where the ship stays overnight. Within its colonial walls, built to defend the city from pirates, cobbled streets lead past flower-draped balconies, grand plazas, and the Catedral de Cartagena. Possible experiences include a visit to the UNESCO-listed Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, the formidable fortress that repelled French and British attacks, and a stroll through Getsemaní, a historic neighbourhood alive with colourful houses, street art, and live music.

This morning, bid farewell to AmaMagdalena and its crew as you disembark in Cartagena. A private transfer takes you to your hotel within the historic city, where you'll stay for two nights. The rest of the day is free to return to a favourite plaza, or watch the sunset over the Caribbean from the old city walls.

Spend the morning on a private half-day walking tour of Cartagena's walled city with your guide. Founded in 1533, the city grew rich as one of Spain's most important ports in the Americas, and its port, fortresses and monuments are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Your guide can bring the history to life as you wander between grand churches, former convents and leafy squares, and along narrow streets lined with brightly painted colonial mansions.

Transfer to the airport this morning for your flight to Bogotá. On arrival, you're met and transferred privately to your hotel, where you'll stay for two nights. The cooler mountain air makes a striking contrast with the Caribbean coast, so you may wish to take an evening walk nearby.

This morning, join your guide for a private half-day tour that reveals two sides of Bogotá. Begin at Paloquemao, one of the city's best-known markets, where flower sellers arrange armfuls of roses, orchids and tropical blooms, and stalls are piled high with exotic fruit such as lulo, granadilla and guanábana. Your guide can introduce you to unfamiliar flavours and explain how they appear in Colombian cooking. Then ascend Monserrate, the mountain that rises above the city's eastern edge to more than 3,000 m (9,842 ft). From its summit, crowned by a white sanctuary church, the views stretch across the vast sprawl of the capital.

Your Colombian journey comes to an end today. Transfer by private vehicle to Bogotá's airport for your flight home. Depending on your departure time, you may have the morning free for a final coffee in one of the capital's cafes. Your return flight will arrive the same day.