San Gil Overview

V!VA User‘s Description

San Gil is great for extreme sports or just for relaxing. San Gil has long been popular with Colombians as a week-end and holiday escape. Just recently have travellers come to know of this colonial town in Santander, only six hours from Bogotá.

There are several private nature preserves, the most famous being "Parque Gallineral" with guided nature tours and swimming pool, on the banks of the Río Fonce.

Numerous travel agencies offer "extreme sports" tours, including paragliding, rapelling, kayaking, caving, biking, horseback riding and day walks. Also there is water-water rafting down several local rivers or through the Chicamocha Canyon. Prices for these tours are regulated.

Nearby are several historical towns. Barichara has virtually untouched colonial architecture and the Parque de las Aguas. In Guane there is a palaeontology museum, and good rock and fossil hunting.

(Altitude: 1,114 meters/3.654 feet, Population: 49,500, City Code: 7)