Free backpacker travelguide to Colombia.

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Introduction

Why travel to Colombia?

It's cool and still off the beaten track. In the last few years, a lot of new hostels have opened in the popular cities (Bogota, Medellin, Cartagena, Cali), so it's a bit easier to travel now too, but Colombia is still way off the beaten track. And the main reason for that is probably that it's considered dangerous.

So is it dangerous? No. There is an internal war going on, but as a backpacker, you won't be affected by it. There are a few hotspots, areas you should be careful in, but in general, Colombia is totally travelable. Of course, you should take the usual travel precautions and avoid common scams. The good thing about this "dangerous" reputation (for us travelers), is that it has kept Colombia pretty much off the beaten tourist track.

The Carribean coast has Cartagena, with its beautiful colonial old town, and Taganga, a cute fishers village where a lot of travelers end up, and Parque Tayrona, a nature reserve where you can spend a week in a hammock at the beach. There's places like Minca, a hidden gem of a village off the beaten track where you can take it easy for a while. Colombia has lots of little, off the beaten track places like this where you can find cool stuff going on.

Colonial towns like Villa de Leyva and many others can be found in the mountain ranges, with great trekking and stuff around them.

The big cities are popular with travelers too. Bogota, Medellin and Cali each have their charms. Cali is known for its salsa music and incredible parties, and is more black. Medellin has a beautiful spring-like microclimate and is the least touristy of the three. Bogota is totally happening, one of the cultural capitals of Latin America, with lots of theater, music, partying and more.

National parks like Parque Tayrona are popular too. There are a lot of parks in Colombia, and most of them hardly see any visitors.

Things to do. Apart from the usual traveling, partying, hanging in a hammock, you can go camping in Colombia, there are snowy mountain ranges to trek, incredible biological diversity, jungle, deserts and islands. A lot of these places are hard to get to, but that's part of the fun. There are some great carnavals in January and February - the Barranquilla (birthplace of Shakira) carnival is the most famous.

The food gets a bit boring sometimes, Colombian cuisine doesn't have the spicyness of Mexican food, for example. Lots of rice and beans and stuff. But there are good things too: aguardiente is the local firewater in the mountains, at the coast you will eat a lot of fried fish with arroz de coco, and there are so many fruits you've never heard off that you can spend your entire trip sampling new fresh fruitjuices. And it's always an adventure to eat things like mondongo (a soup made of intestines) or fried ants. The coffee in Colombia is usually bad, it's called "tinto" and isn't what you're used to. "Export quality" coffee is used for just that, export, so the local beans are of less quality, ad the brewing process doesn't help either. Still, it's not bad once you get used to it.

Getting around in Colombia is mostly by bus, sometimes by boat. There are good business on the all the major roads. Important to know: it's not easy to go overland from Colombia to Panama, but it's possible, and a lot of fun. You'll have to do some boating and jungling though. Alternatively, you can take a boat from Cartagena, or a plane.

Culture. Colombians are generally well educated and smart, and very friendly.

Shopping. As for shopping, pretty much the coolest thing you can buy is an original muchilla bag from the Indians of Santa Marta. You can find them in Bogota and many other places. They are handmade and very useful for traveling.

Internet. There is internet in most hostels that are geared towards backpackers. If you get off the beaten track you might find yourself for a while without internet access, but in general, it's easy.

Nightlife. The cities (particularly Bogota, Medellin and Cali) have great nightlife. Salsa, techno, rap, you name it and it's there. Colombians party hard, and drink a lot. Drugs are available (cocaine of course, xtc, marihuana and mushrooms are popular), but remember that drugs are totally illegal and not tolerated. You don't want to end up in a Colombian jail!

Preparing for the trip.

Colombia has mountains and beaches, so you should take a variety of clothes and stuff. But as always, pack light.

Visas are not hard to get (most nationalities don't have to get a visa in advance, you just show up and ask for a stamp when your plane lands), and you'll be allowed to stay up to 3 months, which you can extend to 6 for a little cash. Then you really have to leave the country. If you're nervous about arriving in Bogota, here's a step-by-step cheatsheet. So get a cheap plane ticket to Colombia already (but not around Christmas, tickets are expensive then).

Cost. In general, Colombia is not the cheapest country in Latin America. Ecuador and Bolivia are cheaper, for example. For money, the best thing to take is a credit card (gets the best rates) and some cash (US dollars). Never change money on the street, it's a scam, use ATM's.

Health. There are good doctors in Colombia (it's a popular destination for plastic surgery, and Colombians invented Lasik surgery). It's easy to buy medication or find a doctor in most places, so you don't have to take lots of medecines. Most of Colombia doesn't have malaria either.

More information.

Sign up and ask questions in the forums . Also, don't forget our travel guide which has loads more information.

Places to go:

 

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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.

Driving in Colombia: All the info you need to know to get behind the wheel.

 

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