Cali
Santiago de Cali, or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with an estimated 2.3 million residents in 2026.
Santiago de Cali, or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with an estimated 2.3 million residents in 2026. The city spans 560.3 km2 (216.3 sq mi) with 120.9 km2 (46.7 sq mi) of urban area, making Cali the second-largest city in the country by area and the third most populous. Cali is the main urban and economic center in the south of the country, and has one of Colombia's fastest-growing economies. The city was founded on 25 July 1536 by the Spanish explorer Sebastián de Belalcázar.
Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Worth seeing in and around Cali
10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.
- 01Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero
The Estadio Olimpico Pascual Guerrero is a football stadium, also used for athletics, concerts, and rugby sevens, in Cali, Colombia. The stadium is named to honor the poet Pascual Guerrero.
2.3 km · football stadium in Colombia · Wikipedia - 02University of Valle
The University of Valle, also called Univalle, is a public, departmental, coeducational, research university based primarily in the city of Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. It is the largest higher education institution by student population in the southwest of the country, and the third in Colombia, with more than 30,000 students.
5.2 km · public university in Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia · Wikipedia - 03Cali Zoo
Cali Zoo is located in the city of Cali in the country of Colombia. The Zoo belongs to a foundation that carries its name and whose mission, since it took the zoo's administration in 1981, has been to improve the animals' diet, their natural environment, and the medical care of the existing fauna.
5.1 km · zoo in Colombia · Wikipedia - 04Cali Tower
Torre de Cali is a 44-story skyscraper in the northern part of Cali, Colombia. It lies with the Versalles district on the left bank of the Cali River.
4.3 km · building in Cali, Colombia · Wikipedia - 05University of Santiago de Cali
The Santiago de Cali University is a private university, subject to inspection and surveillance through the Ministry of National Education of Colombia. Located in southwestern Colombia, with a main office in the Pampalinda neighborhood, and another office in the Santa Rosa neighborhood in the center of the city, in Cali.
3.4 km · university in Cali, Colombia · Wikipedia - 06Alcides Nieto Patiño Velodrome
The Velódromo Alcides Nieto Patiño is a velodrome in Cali, Colombia. It was opened in 1971 and renovated in 2007.
3.3 km · velodrome in Colombia · Wikipedia - 07Metropolitan Cathedral
The Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in Cali also called the Metropolitan Cathedral of Cali or simply the Cali Cathedral, is the mother church of the city of Cali, Colombia, and the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cali.
3.5 km · church in Cali, Colombia · Wikipedia - 08El Gato del Rio
El Gato del Río is a sculpture by Colombian artist Hernando Tejada. The sculpture was inaugurated on July 3, 1996 and is located on the side of the Cali River in Cali, Colombia.
4.2 km · sculpture in Cali, Colombia · Wikipedia - 09Calima Gold Museum
The Calima Gold Museum is an archaeological museum dedicated to the Calima culture located in the historic center of Santiago de Cali, Colombia. The Calima Gold Museum was the ninth museum created by the Bank of the Republic of Colombia in order to show the artistic and cultural expressions of the pre-Hispanic populations.
3.6 km · pre-Columbian archaeological museum about the Calima culture in Cali, Colombia · Wikipedia - 10Plaza de Toros Cañaveralejo
Plaza de Toros de Cali or Arena Cañaveralejo is a bullring in Cali, Colombia. It is used for bullfighting.
3.1 km · national monument of Cali, Colombia · Wikipedia
Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What Wikivoyage says to see
Historic churches, there are many historic Catholic churches that represent different Spanish Colonial architecture of a time gone past. The city is over 450 years old, so architecture is one of the best things to see.
From Wikivoyage: Cali, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Things to do
Soccer matches: In the Estadio Olimpico Pascual Guerrero is the host place of the local teams of the city, Deportivo Cali and America de Cali. Each Sunday one of them plays a Match for the National Championship. Between the months of May–June and November–December they are in playoffs, so the matches are more exciting. It is recommended that tourists sit on the west side section, "Occidental", of the stadium.
From Wikivoyage: Cali, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Where to eat
Cholados- a delicious mix of shaved ice and exotic fruit with raspberry and sweet condensed milk sauces and a wafer cookie. Often sold from vendors that have stands that display fruit and shaved ice, and best found in Jamundi, about a 15-min drive from the southern neighborhoods of Cali.
From Wikivoyage: Cali, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.
Getting to Cali
- Airports
- Alfonso Bonilla Aragon (CLO), 21 km · El Dorado (BOG), 299 km
- Stations
- Marco Fidel Suárez Air Base, 5.1 km
- Bogota → Cali301 km · quickest by air, 4h 47m · COL$241,120–374,070
- Medellín → Cali330 km · quickest by air, 5h 4m · COL$260,950–404,980
- Cartagena → Cali783 km · quickest by air, 4h 55m · COL$324,820–503,770
- Plan a tripFrom anywhereThe planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.
No local-transport research exists yet for Cali
Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Cali. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.
- Go nextThe little hamlet of San Cipriano is a good day trip.
From Wikivoyage: Cali, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.
- 01587 km
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If you know how people move in Cali – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.
Next door to Cali
Cali is 28 km from Palmira, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.