Valledupar
Valledupar is a city and municipality in northeastern Colombia.
It is the capital of Cesar Department. Its name, Valle de Upar, was established in honor of the Amerindian cacique who ruled the valley; Cacique Upar. The city lies between the mountains of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Serranía del Perijá to the borders of the Guatapurí and Cesar rivers.
Getting to Valledupar
From Maicao buses are around COP50.000$ and take between 2.5hours or 4.5hours. (March 2025) From the north (Cuatro Vias), a collectivo to Valledupar costs COP$3000 and will drop you at the location of your choice in town. From Bogota, 16-hr bus ride with costs ranging from COP$90,000 to COP$115,000 depending on the season.
Worth seeing
Plaza Alfonso Lopez. Indian village of Nabucimake (get a shared taxi to Pueblo Bello (COP$20,000) and then another one to Nabusimake (COP$15,000)). Museo del Acordeón, Cra. 17 #9A-18,. 2 tours: 10am and 3pm. Learn all about Valledupar's acclaimed vallenato music. COP$35000. Casa De La Mama De Diomedez Diaz, Carrera 17 (adjacent to Museo del Acordeón). Former home of a vallenato musician (Diomedez Diaz).
Things to do
Go for a swim in the river, though be aware that it gets packed on weekends and holidays. Festival de la leyenda Vallenata. Competition of vallenato band taking place in the last week of April. Expect a big crowd. Witness interesting traditions and culture of the Arhuaca people here or in their secluded town of Nabusimake. Enjoy traditional and Spanish colonial architecture.
Where to eat
Try some of the Fritos from the street vendors. Specially carimañolas (fried yuka filled with different types of meat) are delicious. It is typical of the Cesar's State. Corozo juice is also very popular in the city.
Getting around Valledupar the local way
- Get aroundLately, a new form of transportation has been developing: the informal auto (mototaxi).
From Wikivoyage: Valledupar, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-08.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Petruss (CC BY-SA 3.0), Wikimedia Commons.