Villa de Leyva is all right

Continuing on the trail of colonial towns of Colombia, we are now in Villa de Leyva. It is supposed to be the most touristy town in all of Colombia, as it is only 3 to 4 hours from Bogota. We arrived on a Monday as to miss the majority of weekend visitors.

As we walked in from the bus station, we found the town to be fairly lively with local people, not too many tourists. When we reached the central plaza, its enormous size was obscured by the fact there was a movie shoot in progress with a cast of hundreds of soldiers, peasants, gentlemen, and ladies. It seems that everyone in town is either, a local, a tourist, or an actor.

To us, Villa de Leyva is not very touristy at all. Colombia, in spite of her natural beauty, charming colonial towns, the most amiable people, is a very lighted touristed country.

Plaza Mayor


Plaza Mayor with soldiers. Main movie set is in background.