25 TIPS FOR TRAVELING TO COLOMBIA (AND NOT SHIT)

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Immense and frantic cities, towns where time seems to have stopped and a binomial that, in our case, always triumphs: art and food everywhere. And then the Pacific, the Amazon, the Caribbean, the Coffee Axis and much, much more. The varied and rich culture (s) that the country is, often makes the organization of a trip to Colombia complicated: there are so many things to see, that one does not know where to start. So we have prepared this article with a few tips for traveling to Colombia (or what we would have liked to know before going). Barbet Schroeder already said: “In Colombia, hallucinations are normal” so… be prepared to hallucinate!

1. Colombia is a fairly large country and also has six very different regions, so on the same trip you will seem to know several countries. We focus our trip on exploring the Andean Region (Bogotá, Axis Coffee, Medellín), the Insular (San Andres) and the Colombian Caribbean (Cartagena and surroundings). If you want you have more time and want to complete a round trip, we advise you to also include a trip to the Amazon, from the town of Leticia.

2 is dangerous to travel to Colombia? This topic is so tricky that we decided to write an article just dedicated to it (coming soon). The truth is that we cannot tell you that it is a completely safe country, where you can move quietly through every corner. But if something was clear to us after this trip, Colombia is much more than drug trafficking, violence and hitmen. In addition, the country has made enormous efforts to tackle the problem of crime and violence with remarkable progress.

Should we have any caution? Yes, especially there is no need to "give papaya" as they say, I mean not go through life presuming pasta, come on: the more discreet you are, the less likely you are to suffer theft. Peeeeero the most important thing is to go with an open mind, without prejudice: the vast majority of people will make you feel at home, they are friendly and kind. Use common sense, just that.

3. What is the best time to travel to Colombia? There is no perfect time (or terrible time) to travel to Colombia: being such a different country in terms of climate and ecosystems, the season does not depend so much on the calendar but on the area. Although generally, due to its situation, it enjoys an equatorial, humid climate with high temperatures. Do not forget that many cities are located at a considerable height in the Andes, above even 2,000 meters, so there temperatures will be lower. As a general rule it would work like this:

Indoor regions: There is not much difference, but usually the less rainy season is between December and March. It rains more in spring and autumn, and in summer it gives a break.
Coffee Axis: It has a mild and humid climate throughout the year, although it usually rains a little more in spring and autumn.
Amazon: the rains are significantly reduced between June and September, temperatures are maintained throughout the year. The Amazon River goes with its highest flow in April-June and is reduced in October and November.
Caribbean: The dry season runs from December to March. The rains begin in May.
peaceful: whale watching season is from July to September

4. ¿What to wear? Being the weather so unpredictable and changing, you need to go prepared. Take light and summer clothes for warmer climates, some jacket if you plan to visit high areas of Colombia in its coldest months and, of course, the raincoat! It also has sunscreen, mosquitoes and an adapter, the American type plug is used here.

5. We were around about 20 days in March, and this was our travel itinerary:

Bogotá (4 nights). Flight from Madrid direct with AirEuropa. More information.
Coffee axis (5 nights). Flight between Bogotá and Pereira with LATAM and car rental. More information.
Medellin (4 nights). Car delivery in Manizales and bus with Fleet Ospina. More information.
San Andres (4 nights). Flight from Medellin with Viva Air. More information.
Cartagena de Indias (5 nights). Flight from San Andres with LATAM. More information.

Although if you have more time available, in this post we have told you the best 25 things to see and do in Colombia. What a desire to return!

6. If you are not very urban that is said, we recommend spending 1-2 days in big cities like Medellín or Bogotá and devote more time to the people of Colombia. One of the parts of the trip we enjoyed the most was the Coffee Axis, due to its nature and the number of picturesque villages such as Salento or Filandia. But there are other places such as Villa de Leyva, Barichara, Jardín, Santa Fé de Antioquía, Mompox that surely deserve a visit as well.

7. And the more adventurous must include in their itinerary Tayrona Park. We, for a matter of time, decided to leave this visit for another occasion: the ideal would be to have at least 5 days to explore Santa Marta, Taganga and Tayrona Park well. But be careful, because they close the park every year for about a month.

8. With any luck you can find flight offers I / V from Spain to Colombia for about € 500. We only caught the first leg, since then we went to the United States and paid about € 300 / person. Check out the cheapest options.

9. Get a good travel insurance: Unfortunately, I had to use it on the trip to Colombia. In the trekking through the Cocora Valley something stung me and I put the ear like Dumbo :-p If I had not had the insurance I should have paid about € 500 (I was in the hospital one day where I had several tests such as TAC and analytical). We have Iati and it is the one we always recommend, plus you have a 5% discount with this link.

10. Spaniards and Italians do not need to request visa to travel to Colombia: upon arrival we will be given a stamp that will allow us to be at most 90 days in the country. Of course, remember that you will have to prove your departure from Colombia, so you have to have a return flight or, if you continue exploring neighboring countries, a bus / plane ticket that shows that you are leaving Colombia before the end of the visa . To know more about the entry requirements for other nationalities, check the official website.

Wikipedia.org

11. The currency used in Colombia is the Colombian peso. To get money, our advice is that you get two free cards perfect for travel: the Bnext card and the N26 card. They are perfect to save you commissions by taking money at foreign ATMs or making payments in a currency other than €. In addition, in Bnext there is a € 5 welcome promo! If you prefer not to take it out (see that it is free!), It will always be better to change your € in banks and exchange houses of the city where you arrive instead of at the airport. Another option is to go to a company specialized in currency exchange and as a last option, change in your bank.

12. How move around the country? We recommend that you do not focus only on land transport (that is, buses, there is no train here): sometimes making plane trips does not cost much more and time savings are significant. We flew from Bogotá to the Coffee Axis (Pereira) and saved a bunch of hours… instead we spent about 9 hours to make the Pereira-Medellín section on a bus. A nightmare :-p

13. To book the buses You can do it online. We used the redbus.co comparator and had good prices.

14. To book internal flights, the one we used was Skyscanner. The companies that operate within Colombia are basically: Avianca, LATAM and VivaAir. Keep in mind that if you fly with VivaAir you will have to print your boarding pass (they are not worth it with the card on your mobile, you know why) and that they all have weight / dimensions restrictions on hand luggage. We flew with VivaAir and Latam with our two 45-liter backpacks and they didn't put problems. These are the baggage policies of each company:

15. The Colombian gastronomy we liked it a lot. Here we recommend a few typical dishes to try during your trip (soon) but we already anticipate the 5 dishes that we enjoy the most: empanadillas, arepas, sancocho, fried fish with coconut rice and the paisa tray.

16. And the fruit. Eat all the fruit you can or back home you will regret it! We never saw so much or so exotic (for us, of course) as in Colombia. Ains, those smoothies of lulo and passion fruit!

17. If you want to save a little money, to eat look for the “currents”(Menu of the day) that usually include soup, main course and juice. They should not cost more than € 3-4. Instead, be prepared to spend a lot more if you are going to eat at trendy restaurants in central areas of Medellin or Bogotá (from € 7 up). In the islands the price also increases, although there are always low-cost options:

18. Watch out for taxis. It is the most common way to get around cities, but there have been cases of “millionaire walks”, Some express kidnappings during which the taxi driver will try to steal everything you have. It is best to use Uber (in Bogotá or Medellin it works, not in Cartagena), which usually comes out quite cheaply, or ask someone at the reception of your hotel or restaurant to call an official company.

19. We did the Coffee Axis part in rental car And the experience was very unbeatable. In general, the roads are in good condition (at least in that area) and Colombians drive well.

20. Book in advance the free tours: we were unable to do the one in Bogotá since, when we wanted to book it a few days before going ... it was already full!

21. As always, get a local SIM card with a packet of data to always be connected (ask for an Uber, see restaurant recommendations, look at the Instagram of the Backpacking ...). We were carrying the Holafly SIM (here you have a discount), although we were asking in one of the electronics stores in the Bogota airport and they asked us 77 thousand COP (€ 21) for a 2Gb SIM. We believe that you can get better deals in the center. The most important telephone companies in Colombia are Claro, Tigo and Movistar. They told us that the best for prepaid is Movistar and that the best coverage is Claro (we neither confirm nor deny). The country code is the +57.

22. Overall we found a cheap country, although it is not necessary to trust: the most special tours and the good restaurants have prices similar to those of Spain. Come on, it depends a little on how you ride it: traveling through Colombia can be very cheap or carillo, it's up to you!

23. If you are one of those travelers who enjoy getting to know and experiencing local parties, you have to go to Barranquilla during the carnival: They say it is one of the best and funniest in the world. And another mythical is the Medellín Flower Fair (August).

24. Although the series Narcos It has been a success throughout the world, the vast majority of Colombians are not very happy with the image that was given of the country and Pablo Escobar. Also in Medellin there are "Pablo Escobar" tours in which, often, former hitmen participate. The ethical dilemma is there, we personally prefer not to support this type of activities.

25. And finally, if you plan to visit the Amazon area, ideally you should get the vaccine yellow fever. While it is not mandatory, there is a risk of contracting the disease. Here you can self-generate the advice regarding Recommended vaccines

These are the main tips to consider for travel to Colombia. You do not have to follow them to the letter, your trip is personal and one has to learn on the fly and shit it from time to time, but surely they help you at least trip to Colombia go best 😉