Eight Colombian towns nominated for UN’s Best Tourism Villages 2025

Eight rural communities from across Colombia – each as distinct as the territories they inhabit – have been nominated for the 2025 edition of the Best Tourism Villages initiative, a global recognition led by UN Tourism.

Ranging from the chilly Andean páramos of Tolima to the sun-drenched Creole islands of the Caribbean, the selected municipalities reflect Colombia’s remarkable topographical, cultural, and culinary variety. Their tourism models prioritize sustainability, heritage preservation, and local identity over mass-market appeal.

At the edge of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano sits Murillo (Tolima), a highland village surrounded by misty moors and bright wooden houses. Long committed to conservation and ecotourism, Murillo offers intimate experiences in landscapes that feel untouched by time.

Sutatenza (Boyacá), once a hub for educational radio broadcasts, maintains a quiet legacy in the form of preserved traditions, rustic mountain farms, and community-based tourism. Visitors are welcomed into a landscape where memory and daily life are closely entwined.

Straddling the Andean foothills and the Amazon basin, Colón (Putumayo) stands out for its fusion of Indigenous heritage, Amazonian biodiversity, and campesino customs. With a focus on community-led tourism, the town invites travelers to engage directly with ancestral knowledge and rich culinary practices.

In Paicol (Huila), known locally as “The Gateway of the Wind,” colonial architecture meets forested mountains. Visitors explore cobbled alleys, taste regional dishes, and experience local life at a pace rarely found in modern tourism circuits.

Consacá (Nariño), perched along the volcanic slopes of Galeras, blends historical memory and natural beauty. Once a key site during Colombia’s independence era, the town now fosters a tourism vision rooted in biodiversity, coffee culture, and oral tradition.

In the Western Andes, Jericó (Antioquia) thrives on its spiritual and artistic life. Called “the Athens of the Southwest,” the town’s bright facades, monastic gardens, and artisan shops reflect a deep pride in local craftsmanship and religious heritage.

Closer to Bogotá, Sesquilé (Cundinamarca) sits at the base of legendary Guatavita, one of the sacred lakes of the ancient Muisca peoples and best known for the legend of El Dorado. The town’s tourism strategy emphasizes ancestral respect and environmental stewardship, with local communities playing a central role in conservation efforts.

And far off the northeastern coast, the islands of Providencia and Santa Catalina (San Andrés Archipelago) continue their recovery from Hurricane Iota, which devastated the area in 2020. Today, they stand as symbols of resilience and cultural preservation, offering a model of regenerative tourism that centers raizal identity and Creole traditions.

These towns were chosen from 28 applicants across 13 departments, each evaluated under nine criteria set by UN Tourism, including cultural and natural resources, sustainability, governance, infrastructure, and public health. Special attention was given to each municipality’s ability to articulate a unique tourism proposition rooted in place and people.

While Colombia’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism (MINCIT) coordinated the national selection process, the narrative emerging from these places is distinctly local: tourism not as transformation, but as a deeper expression of who they already are.

Colombia has seen prior success in the Best Tourism Villages program, with recognitions for Jardín (Antioquia) in 2024, Filandia (Quindío) and Zapatoca (Norte de Santander) in 2023, and Choachí (Cundinamarca) in 2022.

The 2025 nominees will now move forward for final evaluation by UN Tourism, with official submissions due in May.

In their stories, Colombia’s rural communities offer more than postcard beauty. They present a case for tourism as a quiet act of cultural preservation and resilience, one that reflects the soul of a country.