Ipiales

Truth be told small city has only 1 worth while stop and this guide will explain how to visit Las Lajas sanctuary. I have to say it isnt a particularly nice town and it’s likely you wouldnt come here if it wasnt for the need to cross the border. 

If you also plan to cross the border have a look at our blog on crossing the border between Colombia and Ecuador.

Where we stayed

Hotel San Jose Ipiales. This hotel was pretty nice and very clean. It was also right near the bus station. There is a café downstairs which does good breakfast.

Where we ate

We ate at a little restaurant near the Las Lajas church which was tasty and cost only 10k for a meal of the day.

Getting to Ipiales

Ipiales is well connected and easily accessible from many cities but especially Pasto and Popayan. You can catch a bus from Popayan and go all the way to Ipiales or stop at Pasto for the night like we did.

Our route coming from Salento

Salento to Popayan – 8 hours

Popayan to Pasto – 6 hours

Pasto to Ipiales – 2.5 hours

The reason we did it like this was so we could arrive in Ipiales early enough that we could visit the church in the same day and then get up early the next day to cross the border.

Coming from Salento

From Salento you need to catch the local bus from the small terminal to Armenia which costs 5k and takes around 45 minutes.

At Armenia bus station you need to catch a bus to Cali. It may be possible to catch a bus from Armenia to Popayan but we wanted a break to get lunch and stretch our legs.

We used https://www.expresopalmira.com.co/ and booked at the kiosk inside the bus terminal. From Armenia to Cali. This bus cost 28k and took 3.5 hours. 

Cali

Again, just walk inside the terminal (3.465400, -76.521356) and find a bus heading to Popayan or pasto. Be Careful which bus you take. We recommend Palmira Expreso which is direct to Popayan (2.451022, -76.607900) and takes 3 hours. It costs 18k.

DO NOT BOOK THE BUS NEXT TO Palmira Expresso. We made that mistake and it took 6 hours to get to Popayan.

Popayan

From Popayan it’s easy to find a bus heading to Pasto or Ipiales. Just head inside the bus terminal and look for busses heading that way. We used Transiplease to Pasto which cost 30k and took 6 hours. This was by minibus.

Hotel in Popayan

Hostal Valparaiso which was very nice and close to the bus station. It was booked through Booking.com.

We ate at

Ria, comidas rapidas which is close to the hostel and did great food for a reasonable price.

Pasto

Pasto is the nearest larger city and buses run from Terminal de Transportes de Pasto (1.198436, -77.269380). To purchase tickets just go into the station and from a kiosk that runs a service to Ipiales. We used Transipiales which was a minibus which cost 20k and took around 3 hours.

Hotel in Pasto

Hotel Monaco. Its not a luxury hotel but it was close to the bus station and had everything we needed.

We ate at

Coffee Bolivar. This restaurant was very good and well priced. We even had the luxury of an English speaking waiter. There is also a great ice-cream shop opposite if you want a treat.