Cali, Colombia: Self-Guided Walking Tour

The best things to do in Cali include exploring historic squares and churches, visiting museums, following the Cali River and discovering monuments that reflect the city’s cultural and political history. Cali is Colombia’s third-largest city and the capital of Valle del Cauca, known as the “world capital of salsa” and the “Sultana del Valle.” Neywo has a free audio guide for Cali with 22 narrated places, available in 11 languages.

Founded on 25 July 1536 by Sebastián de Belalcázar, Cali is one of the oldest cities in the Americas. Its historic centre, museums, theatres and riverside monuments offer plenty to discover, while its long sporting and cultural tradition gives the city a distinct identity. If you are planning a wider trip through Colombia, Cali is one of the country’s major urban and cultural centres.

What to see in Cali

Monumento a Jorge Isaacs

The Monumento a Jorge Isaacs pays tribute to the author of María, one of the best-known novels associated with the region. Made from white Carrara marble, the monument brings together the novel’s characters Efraín and María, as well as their dog Mayo and a raven. A bust of Jorge Isaacs stands at the top. The original staircases, lighting ornaments and surrounding railings were later lost or removed after modifications and relocations.

Puente Ortiz

Puente Ortiz is a historic stone bridge in the centre of Cali and Colombia’s first bridge over the Cali River. Its four arches remain one of the defining features of this national monument. The bridge is particularly useful as a starting point for exploring the historic heart of the city and the nearby riverfront.

Plaza de Cayzedo and the Monument to Joaquín de Cayzedo y Cuero

Plaza de Cayzedo is Cali’s main square and a historic meeting place surrounded by important buildings, including the National Palace, the Otero building and the San Pedro Cathedral. Covering 6,500 square metres, the square was known as La Plaza Mayor during the colonial period and later as Plaza de la Constitución.

At its centre stands the bronze Monument to Joaquín de Cayzedo y Cuero. The Valle del Cauca patriot was the second president of the Ciudades Confederadas del Valle del Cauca and was executed by royalist troops in 1816. The statue shows him embracing the national flag, on a cement and marble pedestal bearing a marble plaque and the coat of arms of Valle del Cauca.

Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Peter the Apostle

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Peter the Apostle is Cali’s mother church. Its construction began in the Baroque style, while the tower added in 1841 followed neoclassical lines. The Episcopal Palace stands beside it and was designed by French architect Julien Polti.

The cathedral was proposed as a National Monument of Colombia in 1982 and received the country’s highest heritage designation, Bien de Interés Cultural de Carácter Nacional, in 2004. Its long construction history and position beside the city’s main square make it an important stop in central Cali.

Iglesia la Merced

Iglesia la Merced stands at the place where Cali was founded and forms the centre of the La Merced religious complex. Dedicated to Nuestra Señora de la Merced, the city’s patron saint, it is accompanied by chapels dedicated to Nuestra Señora de los Remedios and Cristo de Letrán.

The convent complex was declared a national monument in 1975. Nearby, the Museo Arqueológico de La Merced displays archaeological objects that reveal the region’s pre-Columbian past.

Calima Gold Museum

The Calima Gold Museum, or Museo del Oro Calima, is located in Cali’s historic centre inside the Bank of the Republic building. Its collection focuses on the Calima culture and includes 615 objects made from gold, ceramic, stone, wood, shell and other materials.

The exhibits represent the Llama, Yotoco and Sonso peoples. The museum belongs to the Banco de la República network and is one of its six gold museums in Colombia.

Teatro Municipal Enrique Buenaventura

In the centre of Cali, the Teatro Municipal Enrique Buenaventura is one of the city’s historic theatrical spaces. It originally opened as the Teatro Municipal de Cali. Its location makes it a natural addition to a walk through the central squares, museums and monuments.

Monumento a Simón Bolívar

The Monumento a Simón Bolívar is a pedestrian monument dedicated to the South American independence leader. It adds another historical reference to Cali’s central urban landscape.

El Gato del Río

El Gato del Río is a large bronze cat beside the Cali River and one of the city’s most recognisable monuments. Created by Colombian artist Hernando Tejada, it was donated to Cali and inaugurated on 3 July 1996.

The sculpture measures 3.5 metres high, 3.4 metres wide and 1.95 metres thick, and weighs approximately three tonnes. Its playful identity is also reflected in the name Parque Gato de Tejada y Las Novias del Gato. The riverbank setting makes it a popular stop and connects the city’s public art with the surrounding urban landscape.

Caliwood Museum

The Caliwood Museum explores Cali’s connection with cinema and photography through a collection of analogue equipment. Founded by Hugo Suárez Fiat on 22 October 2008, it contains around 400 cameras, including early models dating from 1840.

The collection also includes cinematographic, photographic, graphic and phonographic equipment, illustrating the development of filmmaking and film exhibition in Colombia. The name “Caliwood” combines Cali’s cinematic identity with Hollywood.

La Tertulia Museum

La Tertulia Museum is a major centre for modern and contemporary art in Cali. Its collection includes American and Colombian art, with a particular focus on graphic works presented in a dedicated permanent exhibition space.

The museum occupies three buildings: a main gallery with around 300 national and international works and a children’s art workshop, the Cinemateca arthouse theatre, and a building dedicated to printing and restoration workshops. The Cinemateca also hosts travelling film festivals, including EuroCine.

Federico Carlos Lehmann Museum of Natural Sciences

The Federico Carlos Lehmann Museum of Natural Sciences, also known as the Museo Departamental de Ciencias Naturales INCIVA, is a natural sciences museum in Santiago de Cali. It offers another perspective on the region, complementing the city’s art, history and archaeology museums.

Casa de los Títeres

Casa de los Títeres is a puppet theatre in the historic Barrio San Antonio. Its troupe organises the International Puppet Festival of Cali each year, giving the neighbourhood a distinctive connection with puppetry and live performance.

Monumento a la Resistencia

In the southeast of Cali, near the Puerto Rellena neighbourhood, the Monumento a la Resistencia takes the form of a 9.5-metre-high left forearm holding a sign marked “Resiste.” It is a memorial to people who lost their lives during Colombia’s 2021 protests.

Names and faces of several victims are incorporated into the sculpture, turning the monument into a personal tribute as well as a powerful piece of public art. It is one of the city’s most recent and politically significant landmarks.

Explore Cali with a free audio guide

Neywo offers two walking tours and one bike route in Cali, covering 22 narrated places in total:

• Cali’s Historic Heart: Bridge, Plaza and Gold — a 1.9 km walk lasting 77 minutes, with 10 stops.
• Cali’s Riverside: Stages, the Cat and the Conquistador — a 2.79 km walk lasting 80 minutes, with 8 stops.
• Cali by Bike: Museum Block, Stadium and Resistance — a 7.5 km bike route lasting 38 minutes, with 3 stops.

The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace. There is no group and no schedule: choose a route, walk or cycle through Cali, and listen when you arrive at each stop. The tours include the historic centre, the Cali River, museums, theatres, the Monumento a la Resistencia and other major landmarks.

If you are continuing through Colombia, you can also explore destinations such as Bogotá, Cartagena, Manizales, Palomino and San Andrés with Neywo.