Emerald Mountains

Bogotá to Cartagena, by bike

Colombia's "Emerald Mountains" runs the length of the country: thirteen days from the high-altitude capital of Bogotá at 2,625m down through the Andes to the walled colonial port of Cartagena on the Caribbean. It is a road cycling holiday for people who genuinely love climbing, and the centrepiece is Alto de Letras — at 52 miles, reputed to be the longest paved climb in the world. Saddle Skedaddle describe it as among their most ambitious road trips, and the grading reflects that.

Colombia is an unusual road-cycling destination, but it makes more sense the longer you look at it. Cycling is the national sport. You ride the same tarmac that produced Nairo Quintana, Rigoberto Urán and Egan Bernal, and on most days you will share it with locals out training. The annual Vuelta a Colombia has a reputation as one of the toughest stage races anywhere. International tourism is still finding its feet here, which is part of the point — large stretches of the country see very few foreign visitors, and the welcome on quiet rural roads is unforced and warm.

The route, day by day

From Bogotá you head west into the cordillera, working through unspoiled Andean highlands towards the Zona Cafetera, one of the world's primary coffee-growing regions. Two nights in Medellín — the "City of Eternal Spring" — break up the riding with a city that has reinvented itself, equally good for culture or a late dinner. Beyond Medellín the road tilts gradually downward and the climate shifts. The final stages drop onto a coastal flatland, where the warm Caribbean breeze tends to be at your back, and end in Cartagena: walled, colonial, properly hot, a place to sit still after two weeks in the saddle.

Roads here are well-surfaced, which matters on descents that can run for an hour or more. The grade — five out of five on Skedaddle's scale — is honest. This is not a sportive, but the days are long and the climbs are sustained.

What's around you

Colombia has changed considerably in the past two decades. The country is politically stable, the infrastructure is good, and the cities are sophisticated, while the rural regions remain traditional and largely unvarnished. The contrast across thirteen days is what gives the trip its shape: thin mountain air and coffee fincas at one end, Caribbean humidity and colonial squares at the other.

Practical notes

The trip runs 13 days, fully guided, with prices from £3,995 per person. There is a charitable element: Saddle Skedaddle donate to World Bicycle Relief — which provides Buffalo Bicycles to people in rural communities — for every booking on the holiday, with the option to add to the donation yourself.

This one is for confirmed road cyclists who want a serious objective. If Alto de Letras and a fortnight of Andean climbing sounds like the holiday rather than the hard part, Colombia will repay the effort. For the trip notes and current departure dates, contact Saddle Skedaddle directly on +44 (0)191 265 1110.