Anyone can appreciate the beauty of Colombia, a country blessed with a surprising diversity of environments, including cool mountains, tropical Caribbean coastline, sophisticated metropolises like Bogotá and Medellín, and well-preserved colonial-era gems like Cartagena and Mompox. And it’s a welcoming place that is seeing increasing numbers of visitors. I love exploring on my own in Colombia, but almost all of my most memorable experiences have been with guides.

Here, where many of the most interesting places have yet to see mass tourism, the company of a savvy local can be invaluable. Beyond the plush hotels, luxury in Colombia is about access. Without the insider tours arranged by the Andrew Harper Travel Office and AmaWaterways, my companion and I would have just scratched the surface of this incredible country. Our exceptional hosts greatly enriched our experiences with their warmth, openness and knowledge.

The Turnaround of Medellín

Our first day in Medellín was dedicated to learning about the city’s remarkable transformation. We started at the Museo Casa de la Memoria, devoted to the victims of violence during the Colombian armed conflict of 1964 to 2016. Sobering exhibits documented the thousands of teachers, politicians and journalists who lost their lives, while a wall of photos told the stories of the tens of thousands of children forcibly conscripted into service by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (better known as FARC) and other guerrilla and paramilitary groups. The final installation was the most affecting: a darkened room illuminated only by pinpricks of light to simulate stars, where family photographs of those murdered appeared and faded away.

Our guide, Juan Carlos, gave the exhibits additional emotional weight by sharing his own memories. As a child, he recalled, he lived in a constant state of terror, when days were punctuated by car bombings and acts of terrorism.

From there we traveled by gondola to hillsides above the city center. Eventually, we reached Comuna 13, once considered one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the world. Today, its steep lanes are alive with murals, music, cafés, bars and families strolling between colorful stairways.

Here, we met Pajarro, a local guide who grew up in Comuna 13 during its most violent years, losing friends and family. He pointed out a site on the hill behind the neighborhood, where human remains have recently been exhumed from one of Colombia’s largest mass graves. Nowadays, Medellín has become a hot spot for in-the-know travelers, with safe streets and a vibrant restaurant scene, but its dark days are still very much within living memory.

A Local’s Market in Cartagena

Whereas central Cartagena is stylish and polished, the immense Bazurto Market is the opposite: a messy, sprawling labyrinth of stalls. We ducked under the low tarpaulin roof to enter, passing live chickens, mountains of fruit and enormous blocks of rubbery cheese softening in the tropical heat as we threaded our way through the narrow alleyways. The metallic smell of fresh animal blood mingled with the sweet aroma of ripe mangoes and the bitter fragrance of herbs displayed by a traditional medicine purveyor. This is not a tour for the faint of heart: It was chaotic and noisy — and utterly fascinating.

As we ventured deeper, ramshackle wooden stalls gradually gave way to permanent concrete buildings, before seamlessly merging into what felt like an indoor shopping center. As the distinction between indoors and outdoors disappeared, the stalls evolved into pharmacies, barbershops and stands overflowing with children’s clothing and plastic toys. One immaculate glass-fronted store was devoted entirely to World Cup jerseys.

Without our guide, we would almost certainly have become hopelessly lost. Though we didn’t exactly blend in, what with our linen clothes, we relished this authentic and memorable experience far removed from the smart cafés and high-end boutique hotels of the historic center. It gave us more of a connection to the everyday life of the city.

Bird-Watching in Mompox

Atmospheric Mompox, a sleepy colonial town on the banks of the Magdalena River, is best known for its beautifully preserved architecture and its (somewhat tenuous) connection to Gabriel García Márquez. While Mompox itself is well worth exploring, one of our favorite experiences was an evening bird-watching excursion during our AmaMelodia cruise.

A few hours before sunset, we set off by tender, leaving the Magdalena and delving into a maze of smaller canals and tributaries, their banks dotted with farmhouses and little fishing villages. We skimmed across the glassy water far from town, where we discovered extraordinary birdlife. Elegant cocoi herons stalked the shallows, Amazon kingfishers flashed across the water, and an iridescent purple gallinule shimmered in the fading light. Our guide was particularly excited to spot a rare boat-billed heron, almost perfectly camouflaged deep in the branches of a tree. As dusk fell, dozens of egrets took flight from the trees, swooping alongside the boat almost close enough to touch.

On the journey back, the setting sun glowed deep red over the horizon while reggaeton music drifted across the river from villages coming alive for the evening. It was a peaceful, unforgettable taste of unspoiled Colombian countryside.

Monserrate Mountain in Bogotá

Compared with sunny Cartagena and tropical Medellín, Bogotá felt almost like northern Europe. We arrived on a cool, gray day, the clouds threatening rain as we wandered the cobbled streets of La Candelaria before our guide — a trained biologist who’d left academia to work in tourism — led us to Monserrate.

The summit towers 1,600 feet above the city, and for centuries it has been a place of pilgrimage. Before the Spanish conquest, the Indigenous Muisca people venerated the sun god Sué there. A chapel was built in the 17th century and replaced with the current one in the 1920s. The church is famed for its wooden statue of Christ collapsed on the ground on the way to his crucifixion, known as the Fallen Lord of Montserrate.

While the site draws religious pilgrims from across the country, the extraordinary view is the main draw for tourists. At the base of the mountain, we boarded the cable car, which whisked us up to the top. From there, leafy pathways led to the church. Below, Bogotá stretched to the horizon, a vast metropolis framed by the surrounding Andes.

As we began our descent, a light drizzle finally arrived. Halfway back to the cable car, our guide suddenly stopped, pointing toward a flowering bush where a tiny jewel-toned rufous-tailed jacamar flickered above the blooms. It felt like an auspicious end to our journey.