Experience the best of Neiva

Neiva stands on the Magdalena River in the valley between the Central and Eastern Cordilleras, in southern Colombia, and is the capital of the Huila department. It is a hot, low-lying city with a riverside promenade, and each year around the end of June it holds the national festival of the bambuco, the country's traditional folk music and dance.

North of the city, the Tatacoa Desert is a landscape of red and grey eroded canyons and cactus-dotted plains, known for its fossils and its clear night skies. San Agustín archaeological park, with hundreds of carved stone statues from an ancient culture and a UNESCO listing, lies far to the south-west, reached by a road through the Huila highlands.

Huila's cooking centres on asado huilense, roast meat served with cassava and plantain, and on large steamed tamales and achiras, crumbly cassava biscuits. The department also grows some of Colombia's best-rated coffee on its cordillera slopes. The dry months are good for the desert, and mornings are the time for walking it.