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Who said you need to fly halfway across the globe to experience some of that Old World charm?
In case you weren’t aware, Europe is not the only continent hosting historic towns that look like they were frozen in time over the centuries: a short two—to four-hour flight away from the U.S., Latin America is just as culturally rich and much cheaper to visit.
If you’ve been dreaming of exploring narrow streets and marveling at the kind of architecture you can’t easily find Stateside in your suburban neck of the woods, here are 5 colonial towns in LatAm that should be on your radar for 2025:
Ouro Preto, Brazil
A hidden gem of the state of Minas Gerais, Ouro Preto is a former mining hub that looks almost like it’s been shipped, piece by piece, straight from Portugal: it has Lisbon’s ornate fountains, Baroque churches, and hilly Old Town.
Its stone-paved streets are lined with prestigious seigniorial manors and cafes, famous for their doce de leite, local cheeses and guava jam, and all around the municipality, there are mountains criss-crossed with hiking trails that lead to secret lookouts and waterfalls.
From the 16th-century Passagem Mines, only accessible after a steep cart ride down, to the fairytale-ish Casa dos Contos, a museum chronicling Ouro Preto’s slavery period, and every beautiful square in between, there’s plenty here that will keep you entertained for days on end.
Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala
Guatemala’s pride and joy, Antigua Guatemala (commonly shortened to Antigua) is a colorful settlement dating back to the period of Spanish rule, distinguished by its vividly-painted facades and backed by Acatenango, an imposing stratovolcano.
When exploring Antigua, you should make sure you pay La Merced a visit, a Baroque church with a richly-decorated interior, walk under the iconic, yellow-washed Santa Catalina archway, and check out El Tenedor, the best traditional restaurant with a view in town.
Based on Numbeo estimates, you can eat for as cheap as $5 in an inexpensive, local-frequented restaurant––this wouldn’t include more-upscale El Tenedor––while an overnight at the well-rated Hotel La Sin Ventura will set you back by only $21-a-night.
Barichara, Colombia
Tucked away in the jungle-dominated north of Colombia, Barichara is a quaint, 10,000-people-strong community living in whitewashed houses bestriding steep hills, and with cobbled lanes that all seem to lead to a picture-perfect, sandstone Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepción.
This church is easily Barichara’s prettiest, with its gold-leaf altar, though you shouldn’t miss out on all of the other smaller chapels, such as the striking-white Capilla de San Antonio, and the hilltop Capilla de Santa Barbara, commanding a breathtaking panorama of the surrounding area.
If you’re staying overnight in Barichara, the top recommendation on Booking.com is Aura Hotel Parque, with double rooms starting from $27, and as for cheap eats, you can expect to pay around $6 in the local currency at a trendy restaurant like Noa Comida.
Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay
The crown jewel of Uruguay, as well as the offbeat South American country’s most historically-significant city, Colonial del Sacramento is (as the name indicates) a colonial masterpiece founded not by the Spanish, as some may believe, but by the Portuguese!
Before falling under Spanish rule, as with the rest of the country, the quaint town was in fact a Lusitanian outpost closely linked to a then-Portuguese Brazil––that would explain the cobblestoned Barrio Histórico and its pastel-hue low houses.
Two of the oldest structures still standing in town are the lighthouse, built in the 1800s, and Portón de Campo, part of the city walls, and nearby, La Florida is a charming eatery with a timeless decor serving black raviolis with salmon and homemade sangria at reasonable prices.
San Francisco de Campeche, Mexico
A hidden gem of the Yucatán Peninsula, a 4h39-train ride from Cancun, San Francisco de Campeche features a well-preserved historic center, largely devoid of 20th-century-and-later additions, and well-known for its plethora of landmarks
These include Campeche Cathedral, with its soaring twin towers and adjacent plaza, the shop-lined Calle 59, accessible to pedestrians only, and the city walls and bastions: Campeche is one of only a handful of cities in the mainland Americas to have retained their original fortifications.
Unlike Mexico’s luxurious resort zones, services in Campeche haven’t yet been dollarized to bank on the influx of foreign visitors: rooms at Casa Piedad cost $43 to book, and as for meals, the average price of a single dish and a drink at a downtown eatery is $11.
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This article originally appeared on TravelOffPath.com
Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
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