Ciénaga is considered one of the most beautiful towns in Colombia, it was the setting for the inspiration of the book One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Walking through the streets, squares, and houses of Cienaga you can bring to life the characters and events that are narrated in the book.
Founded in 1751, its historic center, consisting of 76 blocks, was declared National Heritage in 1994. Ciénega was also declared a Heritage Town in 2012 for its history, culture, and architectural richness, which further boosted tourism.
Within its architectural heritage, you can find the Templete, the Chapel of the Santa Teresa School, the Old Railroad Station, the Church of San Juan Bautista, the Masonic Lodge, and the Casa del Diablo (House of the Devil).
At the cultural level, its main events are the Cienaguero Cayman Festival held every January 20th and the National Guitar Music Festival that pays tribute to Guillermo Buitrago every June.
Besides, Cienaga has the magic to make you travel back in time for its historical, architectural, urban, environmental, and social values. In this guide, you will receive the necessary information to make the most of your visit to this special heritage town.
Exploring Ciénaga
This town and its surroundings have gone through difficult situations of violence and armed conflict in the past. Today, ecotourism, cultural tourism, and community-based tourism are economic bets for the people of the region.
Ciénaga Magdalena is known as the “Ciudad Vanidosa” because it has an endless number of water mirrors around it that reflect its beauty from any point you look at it.
It is located in the department of Magdalena, 33 km from Santa Marta, on the shores of the Caribbean Sea, and next to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, at the northeastern end of the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, a Ramsar area of Colombia and one of the biosphere reserves present in Colombia.
Ciénaga is wealth in water, with reserves coming from the Caribbean Sea, the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, the Toribío and Córdoba rivers. It also has the hot springs Volcano, located in the village of Cordobita, just ten minutes from Ciénaga, which is the only hot spring in the Caribbean region.
The average temperature in Cienaga is between 23 ºC (73ºF) to 35 ºC (95 ºF) and the best time of the year to visit Lórica for hot activities is from mid-December to the end of February.
How to get to Cienaga Magdalena
- Bogotá – Santa Marta– Cienaga
Take a 1,5-hours flight from El Dorado (BOG) in Bogotá to Simón Bolivar International Airport (SMR) at Santa Marta city. Once at in Santa Marta you take an approximately 40 – minutes ride (33 Km) to Cienaga Magdalena.
- Bogotá – Barranquilla – Cienaga
Take a 1.5 hour flight from El Dorado (BOG) in Bogotá to Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport (BAQ) in the city of Barranquilla. Once in Barranquilla, it takes approximately 1,5 – hours (72 km) to Cienaga Magdalena.
Where to stay in Cienaga Magdalena
Ciénaga has a low hotel demand but we recommend the hotel: Casa D’remedios La Bella Hotel Boutique.
Thanks to its proximity to the city of Santa Marta we recommend these hotels in the city:
- Hotel Nueva Granada,
- Oasis Fresh Hotel,
- Placita Vieja Hotel Boutique,
- Hotel Boutique Don Pepe and
- Hotel Santorini Casablanca Santa Marta.
Attractions and Activities in Ciénaga, Magdalena
This beautiful town is a place where you can still breathe colonial air and where you can see the most beautiful landscapes due to its location at the foot of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
Visit the Cienaga Grande, Biosphere Reserve of Humanity
It is possible to enjoy this beauty, thanks to a tour called The Tour of Nature, which allows you to visit all the rivers that are tributaries of the swamp complex which concentrates a large number of important species of flora and fauna.
Visit the Palafito Villages of the Ciénaga Grande
Here you will experience a cultural exchange with fishing communities on a trip that includes land and boat transportation. The palafito villages of the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta have colorful wooden houses, and canoes are a vital part of the landscape.
Nueva Venecia, Buenavista and Trojas de Cataca are the only palafit towns in Colombia. Their streets are made of water and can only be moved by canoe, the only bridge that exists connects the school and the church.
Nueva Venecia
It is a magical town on the water, where you can discover a different reality in the country, with a surprising lifestyle. To get there you must do it by the river, it takes approximately 2 hours from the point of Tasajera.
Walking through its streets in canoes you will be able to explore and get to know a new reality. This place has an infinity of species in flora and fauna; it has its own Flora and Fauna Sanctuary, a magical place to connect with nature.
Nueva Venecia is completely fluvial, amphibious, and palafitic. To cross the town, visit neighbors, go to the store or to the police station, you must necessarily go by canoe.
Cultural and Architecture Places
Sara Colmenares holds a Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) in Ecology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and a Master’s degree in Botany from the same institution. Her doctoral research focused on palm ecology in the Atlantic Forest, supported by the Rufford Foundation conservation grant.
A published researcher in the Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology and a member of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC), Sara has presented her work at international conferences across Latin America and beyond. She was awarded the COLCIENCIAS “Virginia Gutiérrez de Pineda” fellowship, one of Colombia’s most competitive academic distinctions for young researchers.
Sara founded the Sula nature tourism brand in 2018, applying her scientific expertise to develop birding and wildlife experiences across Colombia’s six natural regions. Her fieldwork took her from the cloud forests of the Andes to the Amazon basin, the Pacific coast, and the plains of the Orinoquía. She combined deep ecological knowledge with firsthand experience to create content that is both scientifically accurate and practically useful for nature travelers.
She holds a B.Sc. in Biology from the National University of Colombia, where she also taught plant ecophysiology. She speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and English.