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Colombia by travelers for travelers.

Places to go:

Bogota en surrounding area

Bogotá: Bogota is one of South America's most happening cities. It has culture, bohemia, cafes, parties, art, dance and business. Bogota is booming, and now is a great time to go. Bogotanos are friendly and sophisticated. And yes, it's quite safe. Most travelers land in Bogota as their first stop in Colombia, and spend just a day or two. Others stay for weeks, months or years.

Bucaramanga: Bucaramanga is a city on the road from Bogota to the coast. It's not particularly interesting by itself, but it's an ok place to break the road and to visit Giron, a nearby town that's worth visiting. When you're here, try to eat the famous hormiga culona ("ant with butt"), a fried ant

Medellin and the Zona Cafetera

Medellín: Medellin is a modern city with incredibly beautiful spring weather all year long, and very friendly people. The city isn't pretty like Cartagena, but the surrounding area is quite beautiful. In the 80s, when Pablo Escobar was running the town, Medellin was rather dangerous, but things have changed and now it's one of the safest cities in South America.

Santa Elena: As the saying goes: "Tiene mas curvas que la carretera a Santa Elena". (She has more curves than the road to Santa Elena.) Santa Elena is an area in the mountains 45 minutes from Medellin with beautiful nature and great hiking and views of the valley. Flowers are grown here for export and for sale in Medellin. It's very safe to visit. Santa Elena is also amous with students as a place to go eat mushrooms (hongos). A lot of artist and some foreigners live in this area, since it's so close to the city, is beautiful and has historically always been quite safe. There aren't many easily accessible places to stay in Santa Elena. Most people come on daytrips, but you can also rent a room or camp, or even rent a finca.

Santa Fe De Antioquia: Santa Fe de Antioquia is a beautiful colonial town next to the Cauca river, at less than 2 hours from Medellin on the road to Turbo. In 2006 a tunnel was opened on this road, increasing the amount of weekend tourists. The region around it is very pretty too, and the climate is warmer than Medellin itself. In the historic center, streets are cobblestoned, the colonial houses are painted in pretty colors. It's perhaps not as picture-perfect as Villa De Leyva, but close. It is the oldest town in the region, founded in 1541. In 1548 it became the capital of Antioquia, in 1826 Medellin took over as capital. Originally a gold mining town, the local economy is now based on agriculture and tourism. In 1960 it was declared a national monument. In Santa Fe, you can rent horses to explore the area around it, or just go for walks. There are a bunch of churches and museums to visit too, including the Iglesia de Santa Barbara, the Museo del Corral and the Museo de Arte Religioso. The church on the main square is a cathedral.

Jardin: Jardin is a typical tiny pueblo paisa surrounded by hills and coffee fincas. It's pleasant with a great central square, has a big cathedral and a few places to stay. You can walk (3 hours) to the Salto Del Angel waterfall.

Jerico: Jerico lies in the south-east of Antioquia and is a beautiful coffee-region town. Photographers will love it. The houses in Jerico are large with patios and often beautiful decorations. You can see the priest walking around in the typical streets. There's a pretty park with beautiful views on the 90 meter hill - El Morro del Salvador - the climb takes half an hour.

Rio Sucio: Rio Sucio ("dirty river") is a small town in the Caldas department. It's most famous for it's carnaval del diablo, held two years (on un-even years, like 2007, 2009 and so on) in January, where a week-long carnaval is held focused on images of the devil. the church gates are closed, a big statue of the devil is put in front of it. Locals put gold powder on the devil for luck, and there is some magic involved. At the end of the week, the devil is burned. It's one of the most famous, and some say the best carnaval in Colombia. No one knows for sure when the carnaval started, but 1846 is the official first year. In January 2007, the church finally declared that the carnaval was acceptable for Christians to attend. During the carnaval, up to 100,000 tourists visit the town, so if you want to stay there make sure you have reservations.

Rio Claro: The Rio Claro is a small river in Antioquia. There is some great nature around and a nature reserve has been created, and it's a spot for local tourism. The river is very clear and has a marble riverbed. Entrance to the nature reserve is 2 US$/day. It's a great place to spend a day or two playing in a beautiful nature spot.

Cañon del Rio Alicante: A great nature hangout spot, if you like long hiking through a natural area, see lots of birds and trees without bumping into lots of other campers. A bit hard to get to.

Salento: Salento is a cute tiny typical village in La Zona Cafetera. In the weekends, local tourists come and visit, during the week it's pretty quiet. There is great hiking around this area.

Manizales: Manizales is a small city (380,000 people) in the middle of the Zona Cafetera. It's also a starting place for hiking in Parque Nacional De Los Nevados. There have been many earthquakes in the past, so there aren't many old colonial buildings, it's a rather modern town. It tends to be cool and can often be rainy.

The Cali region

Cali: Cali is one of the three big cities in Colombia (Bogota and Medellin are the other two). It's most famous for it's love of salsa music: it's one of the best places in South America (and the world) to dance Salsa. It's at a lower altitude (1000 m) and therefore warmer than Medellin or Bogota. Luckily, evening breezes will cool you off in time for the parties. Average temperature is 24 degrees Celsius. Bogota is chilly, Medellin is springtime, Cali is tropical, Cartagena is hot. Cali is not particularly pretty in any "colonial" sense. In the middle of the city runs the Rio Cali. In the south, around Plaza de Caycedo is the historic part of the city. there are a lot of hostels in the north near Ave. 6th. To the north-east is Juanchito, the salsa district. Granada is a trendy gastronomical sector of the city with trendy restaurants, pubs and lounges. A place to visit on the weekends with lots of beautiful people and places.

San Cipriano: On the way from Cali to the Buenaventura, San Cipriano is a tiny town that's famous because the locals have created a special transportation system: they have a bunch of train cars that they move themselves with their own strength and small motorcycles. The town is very small and friendly, and you can swim in the river. It's a great place to hang out for a few days.

The islands

Providencia and San Andres: San Andres and Providencia are 2 Caribbean islands that are part of Colombia. Especially Providencia is still incredibly unspoiled by tourism - a real tropical paradise. The islands are somewhat expensive (everything has to be imported), but still affordable and worth it. Providencia is very family-friendly and has great atmosphere. The culture is a mix of Caribbean (the islanders speak Creole English natively, and some Spanish with an English accent) and Colombian (Colombians came here to do business, and as tourists). Most tourists here are Colombians who can afford the trip to the island. It gets very busy in the Colombian high season (December mainly).

The Amazon and Los Llanos

Leticia: Leticia, the capital of the Colombian state of Amazonas, is a small sleepy city of about 35,000 that lies on the south-east border of Colombia, about 3,000 kilometres upstream along the Amazon river. The city is located at the junction of the Colombian, Brazilian and Peruvian borders. The border between Colombia and Brazil is on land, and the Brazilian town of Tabatinga is immediately adjacent to Leticia. The border between Colombia and Peru is along the river, and the Peruvian village of Santa Rosa is a 5 minute boat-ride across from Leticia. Travel between these three communities is very casual you don't need stamps to go for the day, and there is a tangible sense of community in the region despite the borders.

Tierradentro and San Agustin region

Pasto: Pasto is a small city in the south of Colombia. It's not an especially beautiful city, but it's in a nice area to explore. On January 5 and 6 it hosts the infamous Carnaval de Blancos y Negros, when everyone goes crazy and throws flour and chalk and stuff around. Don't miss it if you're in the neighbourhood. Around Pasto you can visit the pretty Laguna de la Cocha (half an hour away) and the Volcan Galeras (the local volcano), you can hike to the top.

San Agustín: San Agustin, close to Popayan and Tierradentro, is a town that lies in a beautiful and mysterious area where a civilization that has long died has left lots of intruiging statues (over 500 of them), scattered over a large area. You can explore the area on a horse, on foot or by jeep. Unlike in the most of Colombia, people may hassle you here to sell tours and stuff. Renting a horse is about 25000 pesos per day, and for another 40000 or something a guide will come with you.

Tierra Dentro: Tierra Dentro (close to San Agustin) is a popular and fascinating place to explore. It's an area with mysterious underground tombs, a few hundred of which have been discovered already. Not a lot is known about their history or origin, which adds to the mystique. The tombs are of varying size (a few meters), and some are quite deep. The area is misty and hilly. You can easily spend a week here exploring the hills, walking around and stuff.

Popayan: Popayan is a very beautiful colonial town in the south of Colombia with white-washed houses and beautiful streets. As a university town, Popayan has a very youthful feel to it and it's classy coffee houses are famous in the southern region. The main square in town (Parque Caldas) is a tribute to the most famous resident, Francisco Caldas who discovered how to determine altitude from boiling water. The "torre reloj" which faces the square is one of the finest clock towers in the country....the tower itself designed by Caldas himself and the mechanism brought over from England. What really puts Popayan on the map however is the Easter celebrations (or Semana Santa) which are the second biggest in the world (after Seville, Spain) Relatively closeby are Tierra Dentro (6 hours by bus) and San Agustin (8 hours by bus), two other great places to explore.

The caribbean coast

Cartagena: Cartagena de Indias is the number one tourist attraction of Colombia. The old town is perfectly preserved between the walls (to protect from pirates). Beautiful colored colonial houses and picture-perfect streets. Cartagena draws lots of tourists, including from huge cruise ships. Around Cartagena there are some nice beaches (the beach of Cartagena itself is mediocre).

Parque Tayrona: Parque Tayrona is a beautiful national park next to the sea, with white sand beaches, where you can sleep in a hammock and relax. It's very popular with travelers. There's not much more to do in Tayrona than to relax, swim a bit, explore the park and the beaches and make friends :) In the park, you can walk up the hill through the jungle to El Pueblito, a small village. Be careful where you swim, many of the beaches are not safe. Especially the Arrecifes beach has strong currents and is not safe for swimming. Tayrona is very safe and generally not affected by any guerilla/paramilitary problems in the Sierra Santa Marta.

Santa Marta: Santa Marta is a small town along the Carribean coast, right next to Taganga. It's not as nice as Taganga though, which is only 15 minutes away.

Minca: Minca is a small town close to Santa Marta and Taganga, but more inland and up the mountain at 600m altitude. It's a great place to get a feeling for the countryside and get away from the beaches. Don't miss El sendero poso azul, a nice place to go and have a swim or jump in to the river from the rocks, about 20 minutes walk from the road. After having a swim in the river you can go and have a nice feed in one of the cool restaurants by the river (try the free range chicken soup). To get there, take a pickup truck that leaves regularly from Santa Marta's market (45 minutes), or just arrange for a taxi to take you.

Barranquilla: Barranquilla lies between Cartagena and SantaMarta. It does have the most famous party in Colombia once a year, the Carnaval de Barranquilla. If you come during the carnaval (February), make sure you have booked a room months in advance!

Mompos: Sleepy UNESCO world heritage site right along the banks of the Magdalena River. A little bit difficult to get to but worth it for the relaxing stay here. Mompos has a pretty amazing Semana Santa and is central to the stories penned by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Also of note, the town's masonic past includes various visits by the liberator of Northern South America Simon Bolivar. Come for the architecture, the charm of small town life, the history and the world class silver jewellery.

barranquilla:

All other regions

Capurganá - Chocó: On this location the soundtrack sings “Endless vacations! Endless vacations!!! or “Vamos a la playa oh oh oh!!! Here everybody seems happy, children, old people, ladies, dogs, birds… everybody. The wind blows fresh breeze all the time and the mornings are awesome. You can see the most awesome sunrise, I must confess I always thought that the most important thing at the beach were the sunset, but I thought that because I never had seen before a sunrise at the beach, the sun appears slowly from the sea shy and beautiful and the ocean looks great with his early sunlight bath. This place has wonderful coral reefs, too many different kinds of sand (soft and bleach, gray and dull, tiny rocks, mollusc cemetery…), it is really cool to swim with mask to see the life underwater, maybe you could have a meeting with Sebastian the crab of The Little Mermaid, and sing with him “under the sea, under the sea…�?. The weekends you can go to the main square, there is a football field where people sell things and food, hang out with friends, there are some nightclubs for having drinks and dance. To go to Capurganá just follow this route: once you’re in Colombia point yourself to Medellín, at Medellín take a bus to Turbo (this bus must be taken at night because no one go there on day time) the trip Medellín – Turbo takes around eight hours. Then, at Turbo take the speedboat to Capurganá, hold yourself strongly to the boat (sometimes the weather is bad and the waves crush so violently the boat), later enjoy the view.

Boyaca and Santander (from Bogota to the coast)

Villa de Leyva: Villa de Leyva is a perfectly preserved colonial town north of Bogota, and the surrounding mountains are stunning too. It has decent tourist infrastructure but is not overrun by tourism yet. You easily can see the entire village in a few hours, but you'll want to hang out longer. Hiking in the surroundings is great, and you can go camping too. Villa de Leyva was declared a national monument in 1954, and has been preserved almost perfectly: houses are whitewashed, streets are cobblestoned. The town is small, but the surrounding area will make you want to stay and hike and perhaps camp out.

Ráquira: Ráquira is a tiny town close to Villa De Leyva. The town is full of brightly colored shops that sell mainly pottery and handicrafts. It feels pretty touristy, almost all the shops sell the same stuff. There are some workshops around where you can see how the pottery is made. Closeby is the even smaller town of La Candelaria. It has a monastery Monasteria de la Candelaria, founded in 1660. You can take a tour of the place with the monks. You can walk there from Ráquira.

Barichara: Close to San Gil (40 minutes in bus) on the road from Bogota to the coast, Baricharra is an incredibly beautiful tiny colonial town, with whitewashed houses and stone streets. There are a few local sights to see. The town has been preserved by city ordinance as it was 200 years ago. That means cobblestone streets, no high stories buildings, adobe/stucco walls, wooden doors and windows, and no fences. The town is a hollywood dream and a few movies / shows have been shot there.

San Gil: San Gil is one of the new hot destinations in Colombia, especially because of all the activities you can do in the area around it. It's Colombia's new capital of adventure tourism. It's on the road between Bogota and the coast, and together with Villa De Leyva makes for a great stopover.

Somondoco: This is a quaint old town nestled on the slopes of the mountain of the same name, where for millenia the residents have mined emeralds. The little church has graced the Central Park for 260 years and the site has held a church for well over 500 years. If you visit be sure to try the Chicharons de Quajada and treat from the area. The climate is mild with no extremes of temperature and wonderful people. There are Handicrafts made from palm , corn and banana parts.

Valle de Tenza: This area does not follow the river Tenza, there isn't one. It is the valley past Tenza. This area is close to Bogota and is medium climate. There towns in the Valley are of course Tenza, Guateque, Garagoa, Guyata, Almeda, Sutatenza, Machanal, and SomondocoThe hydroelectric complex at Chivor and the represa behind the Chivor dam can be impressive. The road to Santa Maria goes through 18 tunnels some more than a km in length. Driving through the area shows the little villages all nestled at about the same altitude on the different mountainsides. It is a pleasent place to visit and to stay a while

 

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Travel guides:

What to take: What you take on your trip to Colombia really depends on your travel plans. It can get cold in the mountains, so don't just take flipflops unless you're landing in Cartagena. As for money, credit cards are the easiest.

Arriving in Bogota: This page is a cheatsheet for your first arrival in Bogota. Print it out and read it on the plane. Arriving in a new city and a new country can be a bit bewildering, so here's what you need to know.

Visas: You always need a passport when you arrive in Colombia. Officially, you need an onward ticket (so no 1-way ticket), but they often don't check.

From Colombia to Panama: There are a few ways to get from Colombia to Panama, none of them easy and cheap. You can take a sailboat from Cartagena, you can go overland using little boats (the adventurous route), or you can just take a plane. Each will cost a few 100 dollars at least.

Getting around in Colombia: General information on buses, planes, trains and other types of transportation.

 

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