Tours & Activities in Cali
Welcome to Colombia and Cali, the world capital of salsa and flavor!
We are the largest group of expert local Free Tours guides in Colombia with 12 original tours created by ourselves and also the most awarded in the country! 7 international recognitions, 5 TripAdvisor Travelers Choice and Top 3 in Bogotá, Cartagena, Medellín and Cali.
We are authentic guides connecting Colombia since 2013, 10 years sharing passion in every step!
Let's start with a question: would you like to learn about the "Caleña" culture and understand the transformation it has had in the last 20 years to be called the "world capital of salsa" ?
Tour the historic center of Cali with your Beyond Colombia guides so that you can understand the importance of the cultural legacy that our 3 ethnic groups have left in us, learning about the characteristics from our gastronomy, local slang and the songs of the Pacific.
We will start from the La Merced Church passing by the Calima Gold Museum, to understand the historical starting point where the city of Santiago de Cali originated and whose socioeconomic development since the 17th century explains the modern dynamics that make visible the current impact of a culture diverse in customs and expressions.
We will cross the most important squares of Cali such as:
- The River Boulevard
- San Francisco Square
- Cayzedo Square
- Jairo Varela
We will also visit the architectural icons of Cali such as:
- The Hermitage
- The Municipal Theater
- St. Peter's Cathedral
- Jorge Isaacs Theater
- Puente Ortiz, among others.
We will show you both sides of the coin: we will talk about the importance of football and Salsa in our society, but at the same time about the impact, incidence and consequences of drug trafficking in our daily lives.
At the end of the tour you will know the root of our essence, you will identify the culture of Valle del Cauca from gastronomy to the revolutionary behavior that we carry in our blood thanks to our history and anti-cultural resistance movements.
Our goal is for you to take a little piece of our Cali flavor so that you can see and recommend Cali from a more real , complete and objective perspective.
Join , learn and dance to the rhythm of the Sultana del Valle!
#GOBEYOND
Discover my hometown tasting it's flavours, found on the street 🥟 Plus landmarks 🏛️ and culture 💃 My introduction to my hometown.
*When you book, you could be the only booking*
Check the tour's route in Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/9WfZsbL66hpKNc1H9
My name is Juan! And I will take you through a list of food spots that I've personally chosen for their authenticity, price, and taste of course.
We will cover a good range of food & snacks: from hots to colds, solids to beverages, sweet to salty, stores & street vendors, national and local, fried to baked, fruits to meats, and everything in between.
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Before we even start with the food, we will check out some murals that allow me to tell you about Cali's local culture, events, a national martyr and the first black vice-president of Colombia. Then, for the food...
STOP 1: Bakery
Good colombian bread. Pandebono, buñuelo, roscón, pan galleta. There are also options with guava sweet or milk caramel, coconut, cheese, sausage, and even coffee.
People spend on average here between: 2.000 - 10.000 pesos
BONUS intermmediate stop (only during weekdays): fried chip plantains, potato chips, and salchipapa. People spend on average here between: 5.000 - 15.000 pesos
Surprise! We will check out the Salsa Plaza, listen to some music, even do some Salsa steps for you to feel more confident to confront a night of rumba...
STOP 2: salty fried goods + juices
Empanada: fried corn crust, meat and potato inside. (celiac)
Papa aborrajada: loaf of potato with a crusting.
Papa rellena: potato with rice and meat inside.
Marranita: sweet plantain with fried pork inside.
Aborrajado: sweet plantain with cheese inside (veggie)
Champús: beverage with corn, pineapple, lulo, bitter orange leaves and cinnamon sticks.
Lulada: beverage with lulo, ice and condensed milk.
Juices of assorted fruits.
People spend on average here between: 5.000 - 25.000 pesos
BONUS intermmediate stop (only during weekdays): chontaduro, fruit & juice of this regional fruit said to be aphrodisiac, great for vegans and vegetarians because it has a lot of protein. People spend on average here between: 2.000 - 10.000 pesos.
STOP 3: ice with fruits (everything veggie and gluten free!)
Raspado: scraped ice with blackberry syrup
Cholado: same as above + assortment of 10 fruits + ice cream
Cholado explosión cítrica: shaved ice with green mango syrup + assortment of acid and citric fruits.
Lulada: beverage with lulo, ice and condensed milk.
Maracuyada: beverage with passion fruit, ice and condensed milk.
Ensalada de frutas: assortment of 10 fruits, cheese, condensed milk.
People spend on average here between: 5.000 - 15.000 pesos
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All tasting options are snacks, not big dishes. But don't be fooled, some are not small and I ASSURE: you will be full by the end.
Vegans welcome. Vegetarians welcome. Gluten-free people are welcome. Meat-lovers welcome as well! There are options for everybody.
The tour starts and ends in Bulevar del Rio, the city's favorite spot for its breeze and ambience. We will be walking and stopping at several food businesses and street vendors. I will guide you on what everything is and what each spot does best, and you'll let your eyes and mouth decide what you want to try.
We will have 3 stops over a short distance of 1.3 kilometers (less than a mile). We will go around the Bulevar, CAM, Plazoleta Jairo Varela, la gruta, and back to the bulevar. We will focus on the nicer, safer side of town. Try to bring an empty stomach if you want to try everything or most. We say "full belly, happy heart".
Extra information:
I recommend to bring $100.000 pesos (20 USD), which is usually more than enough to taste everything you want + to tip your guide. Usually people spend less than that.
I think that's all you should now. Any questions just let me know.
Foodies of the world, unite!
Check my profile for my full tours catalog: exotic market tour, salsa tour, historic tour, and more!
In this salsa tour in Cali, we'll learn everything about one of the most popular dances in Cali and move our bodies to the rhythms of Colombia!
Welcome to Colombia and the "Sucursal del Cielo"!
We are the largest group of expert local Free Tours guides in Colombia with 13 original tours created by ourselves and also the most awarded in the country! 7 international recognitions, 5 TripAdvisor Travelers Choice and Top 3 in Bogotá, Cartagena, Medellín and Cali.
We are authentic guides connecting Colombia since 2013, 10 years sharing passion in every step!
Feel Cali's revolution through Salsa as a popular lifestyle!
Discover the rebel soul of Cali through our exciting salsa and urban art tour! Immerse yourself in the passion and energy of Colombia's salsa capital as you explore its streets filled with color, creativity and its memories. Join us for a unique experience where music, dance, and art blend into the very essence of Cali!
- Cali is characterized by its energetic nightlife with a varied musical offering but at the same time very concentrated on salsa, the icon of local identity. Many people visit the city to learn to dance Cali salsa due to the fame of its technique and style, or simply to appreciate this art that combines music, joy and flow.
- However, apart from the dance and the local nightlife, we intend that with this Tour you understand that salsa exists thanks to a historical process of African emancipation that many of our ancestors lived and left in us as a cultural and social legacy. Salsa is part of the “cultura popular” of our people and is a social movement whose lyrics tell us moments of revolution, crazy loves, historical events and social manifestos.
- From its beginnings in the Caribbean Antilles, through a great musical mix and its definition in New York, to the boom years of cultural development in Cali between the 60's and 80's, salsa has served as a means of connection between society and guilds, and has become a romantic, folkloric and revolutionary art. Today you can see salsa characters painted on various murals in tribute to their musical and social contribution in the streets of Cali, and curiously close to them you will find more radical and activist messages from other social movements linked to a popular struggle and cause.
We want to make you see salsa as a movement and lifestyle that has revolutionized our passions and whose musical manifestation is a celebration of a struggle in life.
In this innovative Tour we will visit must-see places such as:
- The Plazoleta de la Caleñidad
- The "Calle del Pecado" (or street of flavor)
- "The Curve" of the River Boulevard
- World Cup Tunnel and 5th Avenue
- Graffiti monument to victims N21
- Cult salsa bars
- And much more!
At the end of this Tour you will appreciate salsa with a different perspective and you will understand the effervescence of the Cali people that has led us to face social outbreaks, protests and solidarity struggles where art, music and activism are tools of resistance.
#GOBEYOND
THE GASTRONOMIC HEART OF CALI: you won't find anything more flavourly authentic! Food, fruits, and everything local.
🥭🍊🫐🥥🥑🫑🥔🧀🍤🥟🌷🌺🪻🌹💐🪴🌿🔮🧿🪬📿
*When you book, you could be the only booking*
CHECK THIS TOUR ON VIDEO: https://youtu.be/3-9rbH3ptS0
Galeria Alameda is every caleño's (person from Cali) place of choice for fresh fruits, artisanal drinks, great sea food, colorful flowers, quality souvenirs and everything local you can think of. Exotic variety characterizes this place!
This will be a journey through our senses, using our eyes 👁️👁️ ears 👂 noses 👃 and mouths 😋 to explore everything around us. Taste fruits you have never seen before, fresh colombian cheeses, empanadas I haven't seen anywhere else, traditional liquours, coconut water, aphrodisiac fruit (chontaduro) in fruit & juice, a tamales factory, and many more!
If you enjoy eating, if you enjoy the ambience of a public market, this is a tour for you.
Some fruits we may taste: mangostino, chirimoya, anón, mango, curuba, chachairú, grosella, chontaduro, níspero, and many more.
Cheeses we may taste: cuajada, campesino, costeño.
Did you know flowers are the 2nd biggest agricultural export for Colombia, only below coffee? Now you know, and you will get to see them in this market.
We will even go to the esotericism side of the market, and see where witches and magicians buy their stuff... spooky 🔮
Come around and experience the exotic variety and great quality Cali's central market has to offer, you won't find anywhere else in the city!
YOUR BASIC INTRODUCTION TO CALI, your must-do tour in Cali.
Check this tour's route on Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/irh8QwX7NXeNiUui6
The basic tour every traveller should do to get introduced to the city. Meet up with a local guide and walk around the safest, nicest areas of Cali around landmarks, touristic spots, local spots and museums. Discover places, get recommendations, feel safe, find things to do around.
*When you book, you could be the only booking*
⚠️ Please have in mind most museums in Cali close during the weekend and Monday.
Nervous about being in Cali? Don't! I know you may have heard we are a dangerous city, but in reality we are not more than any other city in southamerica. So come with us and explore Colombia's 3rd biggest city.
You will learn about the city's main places and culture around things Cali is known for:
- The gateway to the pacific of Colombia
- Latinamerica's 2nd largest black population
- Sports capital of latinamerica
- Salsa capital of the world
- Our flag
- Our religious monuments
- Murals
- Bulevar del Rio & Colombia's longest urban tunnel
- Cali's River
A concise walking tour to be introduced to the city, get the main recommendations and break the ice.
WELCOME TO CALI!
Back in the first half of the 1900's cuban music was getting super popular in the US as vacationers went to and from the island and would spread the word about their caribbean rythms. Guajira, Chachachá, Danzón, Cuban Son, Son Montuno, Guaracha, Pachanga, Mambo, Rumba, Bolero... are only some of the myriad of rythms that existed (and exist) in Cuba in the beggining of the century. Americans were having a feast with the island, enjoying all it's beauties, until...
The 1960's come with the cuban revolution, the Castro brothers, the USSR, communism, cold war, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the embargo.
And suddenly... nobody wants (or can) anything to do with the island.
With the influx of cubans and general latin immigration to the US of the middle of the century, many of them to cities like New York, some of them musicians, and as an answer to big bands and Jazz bands of the time, they mix all those cuban rythms (already popular in all the continent) and re-brand them under the name:
¡SALSA!
Which in spanish literally means: sauce. And just like what is is in food: a mix of all unique ingredients, all different to each other, that together make something much bigger than they would accomplish on their own...
Want to know more?
This is my propposal to discover SALSA in my hometown, for many, Salsa capital of the world. How and why is salsa so important here? Where to dance it? How to dance it? How to PLAY it? A multisensorial tour with music, history, steps, instruments and of course...
🕺 SALSA 💃
Discover Colombia's star product on this fantastic trip to a coffee farm from Cali. You'll learn all the secrets of the region's coffee and how it's made.
DISCOVER LOCAL CULTURE THROUGH IT'S MOST COLORFUL WALLS AND MURALS
🎨🖌️
*When you book, you could be the only booking*
CHECK THIS TOUR ON VIDEO: https://youtu.be/UK_mBxqgnms
Check this tour's route on Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/X5DUaat2Hi2gun5J7
Salsa capital of the world. Sports capital of latinamerica. The 2nd largest black population per capita in latin america. MY hometown of Cali is known for many things. And for many travellers, for it's cool wall art and murals all around the city.
In a culture where having a policital opinion is a life-threatening activity, people have found in walls an opportunity to display and materialize cries for justice, pain and beauty.
We will go around one of the nicest areas in Cali and read culture and society through it's most colorful walls.
Local landmarks will also intertwine between our murals.
As a bonus, we will finish in La Linterna, a printing shop that preserves (and uses) the oldest commercially available printing presses of the city, imported centuries ago from France and the UK.
A fun tour through Cali's colorful streets.