We will pick you up at your hotel in Bogotá, regardless of the tour option you choose. Once all participants have been picked up, we will head to Guatavita ¿Te gusta esta personalidad?
If you choose the shared tour, we will pass through the town of Guatavita without stopping, allowing you to admire the beautiful scenery along the way, including the landscapes of La Calera. If you select the private tour, you will enjoy a 45-minute stop to walk around and explore the charming town of Guatavita.
Explore the breathtaking Guatavita Lake, a sacred site of the indigenous Muisca people and the birthplace of the legendary El Dorado myth. Enjoy a scenic walk through the natural reserve, surrounded by stunning mountain landscapes, while discovering the fascinating history and cultural significance of this magical place.
Explore the impressive Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá, one of Colombia’s most iconic attractions, built 180 meters underground inside a former salt mine. Walk through its stunning tunnels, admire the illuminated salt sculptures and breathtaking architecture, and discover the history and cultural significance of this unique underground wonder.
On our way back to Bogotá, enjoy the beautiful landscapes of the Bogotá Savanna, surrounded by green fields, rolling hills, and charming countryside scenery. Take in the peaceful rural atmosphere as we make our way back to the city, ending a memorable day of exploration
The experience was amazing on itself, but even better because of our guide Camilo. I”m super grateful for everything he did with us and for us. Definitely will be with them again!!!
Diego was our driver and he was excellent, very polite and friendly and he even opened the car door for me at each stop! Both tours were great, the only disappointment was on the Guatavita lake tour our guide did not speak any English so we couldn’t understand anything he was saying, luckily one of the other guests spoke English and translated for us. Otherwise we had a great day and would recommend the tour.
Hi. We just came home from the tour. The tour was very good and worth our time. We had so many nice experiences and beautiful pictures. Jorge was very kind to us and he knows a lot about Colombia and we heard so many stories and got so many information from him. We really recommend the tour with Jorge to everyone who wants to experience nature of Colombia
Our driver Filipe was fantastic and he definitely deserves 5 stars. Overall, we had a great day, however, it should be mentioned that the tour of la laguna is in spanish only. We feel like this should be highlighted in the description.
My friend and I had an amazing time with Camilo, very nice guide and very knowledgeble, I would recommend 100%!
This includes a moderately aggressive climb up a rugged but well maintained rock path. Good hiking shoes are a plus. There is a lot of driving time, some highway but some on poor mountain roads. Unless you are an adventurous eater pack your own lunch. The Salt Cathedral is stunning. Be prepared to walk in a fairly low light environment. Bring a reusable water bottle - the National Parks frown on disposable plastic because, sadly, tourists are slobs and will litter the magnificent mountainside with trash!
Super trip helped by excellent guide Conselo who was knowledgeable and helpful. Guatavita was beautiful and the history incredible. Salt Cathedral met every superlative description.
Jorge was an awesome, chill, smart, and helpful guide and was a pleasure to talk and hang with.
The logistics of everything went very well. The guide and driver were both excellent and very professional. I admit to being a bit of a well seasoned jaded traveler. This trip is a very long day and in the end it serves to hike around a lake and visit a salt mine. Having visited previous salt mines, this was honestly not that big of a deal (and a pretty expensive attraction), so in retrospect I don't think this was worth the time or expense. Maybe if you've never visited a salt mine, but otherwise I don't think I would do this tour again. Lots of time spent in traffic, big crowds at the lake the day we went (holiday weekend), and we didn't even get lunch until 3PM.
We loved the tour! The lagoon is beautiful, a unique landscape! The cathedral exceeded our expectations! Our guide was Jorge and he was super attentive!
Great experience - doable and nice climb in guatavita, and the salt cathedral was very impressive. We highly recommend camilo - he was an excellent guide. He was very knowledgeable, accommodating, and generally a great vibe!
What a wonderful and moving experience. I was unprepared for the scope and beauty of the Cathedral. Our guide, Sarai, was incredible. She was the Colombian friend I didn’t know I needed. Her knowledge was immersive and expansive. I felt this tour was tailor made for us.
Camilo was great very knowledgeable and answered all my questions
Zipaquira salt lake cathedral and Guatavita lagoon 1 day tour was excellent and is a must visit.
Very interesting tour in Guatavita lake and Zipachirà Cathedral with the driver Dario and the guide Diego always ready to answer questions and to satisfy our requests. Thank you for everything!
Alexander spent the day guiding us through the legend of El Dorado at Laguna Guatavita and the legend of Christ at the Zipaquira Salt Cathedral. Alexander is patient, enthusiastic, open, knowledgeable and devoted to improving the reputation of Colombia. Mission accomplished!
We did the private tour and Gustavo navigated the roads like a trooper while Jorge gave us a very informative and insightful tour all the way out to the town and the lake. It is quite a drive out and around; and traffic is hectic leaving and coming back to Bogota so this tour really requires a full day. We felt safe and well taken care of with these guys. The towns, the Lake Guatavita, the Salt Cathedral and all the panoramic views were so worth it. We arrived back all exhausted after 10 hours but very happy with this experience.
Great experience and family friendly! We had a great time and a great guide. It was very comfortable and very informative as well.
absolutely fantastic tour of the lake and the salt Cathedral. Our guide Sergio was incredible. His English is impeccable, he is so knowledgeable and fun to be around , He offered great food /snack recommendations throughout the day and made the whole day memorable. highly recommend this tour prior to visiting the gold museum in Bogota.
We had some unexpected time constraints and had to change our tour. Operator and our guide Steven were super accommodating and flexible and we had a great time in an alternative tour.
Amazing trip. Yelitza was a such a great guide. She’s full of knowledge and a great communicator. Enjoyed the whole day but the salt cathedral is a must. Blown away by it. Camilo our driver was also great. I would definitely book with Gran Colombia Tours again.
Wonderful places and excellent guide! She provided us everything we needed with unique kindness and competence. She also entertained us with pleasant conversations about Colombian history, culture and current way of life.
Very pleasant day. Guide was well-informed and taught us a lot about the area. Travel was safe and enjoyable from our hotel to the sites and back.
Wow, this tour was amazing. I always book to go on solo tours so that I have somewhat control over the time and the agenda This was no different. I was really looking forward to seeing the salt cathedral and lake Guatavita. I booked this excursion the day before after I made all my other plans. This trip did not disappoint. Lake Guatavita was majestic, and the history was something I knew nothing about. The salt cathedral was majestic and spiritual all at the same time. There are parts of this tour that will really take your breath away. What I will say is my tour guide Ludwyn made the tour all that much better. He has an impressive knowledge of both sites so much more than I ever expected. Sometimes on these tours, you’re kind of left to do your own thing and explore your own stuff but he was right there, explaining it every step of the way and that made the whole experience even better. If you sign up for this tour, make the request to have Ludwyn as your guide you will not be disappointed.
We booked this tour for our family of 5, it is our second experience with this company. Initially we were given a guide who was struggling to communicate with us. Thankfully when I reached out they assigned us someone better! Gerald was prompt and great with the kids. We enjoyed our day with him. I gave this 4 instead of 5 stars because we didn’t love the lunch place they chose for us. The food was pretty good but it was clearly a MACHINE for turning people over and we felt it. They delivered the soup and then plated meal so close together and didn’t clear so my kids were struggling with having the space to eat. We also didn’t have any chance to request drinks other than the “lemonade”. I’d suggest finding someplace with a little more attention to service. Overall I recommend this company and we will use them again!
I went on two tours with this company and overall had a great experience. Like most tourist companies, we ended up in some classic tourist-trap-type spots, but honestly, that was expected. What made it worth it was the ease of travel—no planning or research needed on my end. In terms of food, the second tour definitely had better meals compared to the first, but both were solid experiences overall. I liked both guides—special shoutout to the guide on tour #2 for being more talkative and engaging throughout the day. That said, I also appreciated the quieter approach on tour #1, where the guide chimed in with interesting facts here and there without overwhelming the experience. Yes, the price felt a bit steep, but considering it was a private setup, it made sense. I was honestly just relieved to not have to navigate everything on my own, pulling up Translate or ChatGPT to understand what was going on. Having a guide there to explain things in real time made all the difference.
Excellent private guided tour with our knowledgeable tour guide Diana who took us through the history of the salt mines. We were also lucky enough to join a small guided group at Lake Guatavita (as required by the park) which provided insight into the history of the Muisca tribe.
We booked the shared tour option with no lunch, but since it was a weekday, we ended up with a private tour! Andres was very kind - he treated us to locally famous arepas, found us an English-speaking guide for the Guatavita Lake hike, and took us to an excellent restaurant with vegetarian options for lunch (not included). He also let us have extra time at the Zipaquira Salt Cathedral, to fully explore the underground complex and additional exhibits. Overall fantastic experience!
This was a great trip and Camilo was a wonderful guide. We were not rushed at all and Camilo told us a lot about the area and the things we would be seeing. The Lake was incredible and the history behind it is fascinating. The Salt Cathedral was beyond anything we could imagine. We would highly recommend this trip.
Perfect day out with Lorena as our guide and Guillermo as our driver! A beautiful tour of the stations of the cross in the underground salt cathedral and a hike up the mountain to see the beautiful views and lake Guatavita. Tasty food also!
We loved every minute of this trip. Our guide Katy and driver Carmelo were exceptional. They had great knowledge of the sites and Colombia and nothing was too much for them. The tour itself is also an also great - wonderful attractions. Must do four.
We had a wonderful time on this tour. Jazmine was amazing and again, we were able to go at our own pace. I highly recommend this tour. It’s actually the second tour my family and do with this company. And, it’s been nothing short of amazing.
Diego was awesome! Very knowledgable guide, patient and friendly. He voluntarily explained many things about Bogota and Colombia. He was a safe driver. Highly recommend this tour with Diego
My family and I took this tour with Diego and Diego, our guide and driver. My 10 year old son can be a bit of a tough customer but Guide Diego was great about trying to engage with him and find interesting things for him to see and do. Ultimately it ended up being a really good experience. We started off the morning with a long drive out to Guatavita. It was a nice hike, not too strenuous, but ultimately it felt like too much time in the driving to be worth it. Spending hours sitting three across in the backseat of a small car, going along dirt roads was not very comfortable. Driver Diego did a fantastic job navigating traffic and making everything as smooth as possible but a larger, more comfortable vehicle would have greatly improved the experience. The tour operator is really responsive and has promised to address this going forward but there wasn't much that could be done the day of the tour, so we rolled with it. Guatavita was beautiful to see and the legend is interesting. The arepa at the end of the hike was the best we had throughout Colombia. Bring a reusable water bottle as single use plastics aren't allowed in.. the people who operate Guatavita check! We chose the lunch option and it was delicious. The Salt Cathedral was amazing. If I could do it over again I would have spent the majority of the day there. Diego expertly navigated us away from the large crowds and let my kiddo explore. He loved it. There was more to see than what we could fit in before the drive back to Bogota though.
My second time visiting the Salt Cathedral - and a markedly tougher experience using Gran Colombia. I chose the operator based on the overwhelmingly positive reviews but found the mode of transport to be quite lacking. This is a full day tour with quite a bit of time spent to commute to the sites and I was extremely disappointed that we were met with a very small vehicle with tight legroom - especially tough after coming off a 6 hour flight. Response from the company was that this is the typical transport for a smaller group, so perhaps would avoid if you are a small group of 2-3. Driver and guide were nice guys but outside of the actual lake/cathedral there was not much insight into the country given. Overall would have expected at least a more comfortable vehicle for a bit over $300 USD, which is more expensive than other operators that we have gone with for a day tour in Colombia.
The trip was great. Sergio was a good guide and the experience was worth it. Many good sights and nature to see outside of the city.
We had a fantastic day! We really appreciated our guide Ludwyn being completely fluent in English and so knowledgeable about the sites. We learned a lot!
We were a group of 3 people for the private tour to the Guatavita Lagoon and the Salt Cathedral. Our tour guide, Nataly, and driver, Diego, were absolutely amazing. We learned a lot. We laughed a lot. We ate a lot. We 100% recommend this tour.
Diego is a wonderful guide. He explained the history of Lake Guatavita and the Salt Cathedral and he also answered our questions about Bogota and Colombia. Helpful and friendly. My mother and I enjoyed our tour!
Diego is a wonderful guide. He explained the history of Lake Guatavita and the Salt Cathedral. He also answered our questions about Bogota and Colombia. Helpful and friendly. My mother and I enjoyed our tour!
Miguel was amazing. He was very knowledgeable in everything we saw. The salt cathedral was absolutely beautiful and worth it. The driver amazing as well! So much fun with my young kids and family. I definitely recommend them and will use again!
Really enjoyed our trip to Guatavita and the Salt Cathedral with Nataly. She was very knowledgeable, well organised and spoke excellent English. Thank you
I had booked a one day tour of Guatavita and Salt Cathedral from Gran Colombia. Sarai, my guide, was very professional, knowledgeable and is a great storyteller. She is an excellent communicator and always gives context to all the sights visited.
Excellent full day tour. Did this along with the same tour operator’s 7hour tour of Bogota and it was a great combination. Our guide was Jose Vasquez… we were one native Spanish speaker and one English, both passable but not perfect in the other language. He happily switched back and forth between languages as needed for us to both understand everything, which was very much appreciated. (Some guides previously have told us to pick one language only!) The lagoon has a great story, and the unusual vegetation was beautiful. The guide also knew a ton about the different plants. The salt cathedral was amazing also. Highly recommended if you have more than one day in Bogota.
SARAI is the guide you must get.! A passionate guide with a heart of gold and emerald. The tour is up and down, literally. Sarai made the adventure wonderful. Keeping in mind our group's pace. 🥰 Going up the mountain and down the mine. It is worth the climb to see the Guatavita lake whilst imagining the Legend of El Dorado. It is ethereal on how the Sal Cathedral was built with the miners craftmanship.
The guide and the trip were perfect!! Amazing!! We were really happy and grateful for her to sharing us her knowledge and kindness!! Perfect!!
Excellent experience! Deep knowledge of tour guide. The traveling time was full of explanations of the country and site to visit.
lovely trip and pleasant tour guide Leslie. She was charming and engaging! Bogota is a nice place! Salt cathedral was beautiful in its own right and not to compare to the on in Krakaw, Poland. The drive to the lake was also worth it. The included lunch was sumptuous. If you have the 10 hours to spare to take this tour, then do it. you can sleep in the car to rest in between. What people need to know is that a level of good fitness is needed to walk to the lake and high altitude sickness can be a concern if you have not aclimated to the high altitude of the city. Cheers.
Our guide Cristian was really great. We had a fantastic day. A lot of walking, so be sure to wear shoes suitable for a hike.
We had such a fantastic experience with Diego! He contacted me the evening before we departed to ensure we were wearing proper shoes (the hike up to Lake Guatavita is a real hike!) and to make sure we had packed water, snacks, and any medicines we would need during the day. He and our driver Miguel were prompt, friendly, and happy to answer all our questions throughout the day! We had an incredible private tour up the mountain to Lake Guatavita, the views were amazing, the hike is VERY STEEP! and had the opportunity to purchase snacks and small trinkets from local vendors when departing the park. Our lunch in Zipaquira was excellent (!) and Diego helped us purchase some souvenirs in the shop next door before taking us on an excellent tour of the Salt Cathedral. It was a long day with plenty of time to rest and opportunities for photos. Would recommend it to anyone, totally worth the cost for the opportunity to have a private guide - definitely request Diego, he's the best!
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