Things to Do in Colombia

About Colombia

Wake in Colombia and the smell gets you first—coffee drifting down from a finca three grinding hours up a mountain road that switchbacks past guava trees and scarlet heliconias, mixing with the diesel cough of a Bogotá bus that has been climbing these hills since 1978. This is not the Colombia the news sells you. It is Cartagena's walled city at 6 AM when the stone streets still echo your footsteps and the only other sound is the Caribbean slapping 16th-century seawalls. It is Medellín's Metrocable rising above Comuna 13's street art, past houses painted in colors that simply do not exist north of the equator—mango orange, papaya gold, the impossible blue of a morpho butterfly. You can lunch in the Zona Rosa for 8,000 pesos ($2)—a bandeja paisa that keeps you full until midnight—or drop 150,000 pesos ($38) at Leo in Bogotá for a twelve-course meal that reimagines Amazonian ingredients through molecular tricks. The catch? Carry pesos because half the smaller towns still run on cash, and Bogotá's altitude leaves you winded after three flights of stairs. But that is the deal—Colombia hasn't sanded its edges to make you comfortable. It just gives better coffee, warmer people, and nights that end at 4 AM because the salsa clubs in Cali never heard of a last call.

Travel Tips

Transportation: Download DiDi before wheels touch tarmac. Uber runs, sure, but drivers want DiDi and you'll pay half. In Bogotá, TransMilenio rapid bus costs 2,800 pesos ($0.70) and moves—taxis sit locked in Avenida Caracas daily chaos. Mountain towns? Jardín or Salento—shared jeeps called 'willys' roll from Medellín's Terminal del Sur hourly. 50,000 pesos ($12) buys three hours of views that'll drain your camera battery dry. Domestic flights? Skip them unless you're island-hopping. Those mountain roads—they're half the experience anyway.

Money: Colombia runs on cash— once you leave Bogotá or Medellín. Hit an ATM and you'll get 600,000 pesos ($150) max per pull, with a 15,000 peso ($3.75) fee tacked on. Withdraw big. Airport kiosks will scalp you on exchange; the Bancolombia branch downtown beats them by 4%. Plastic works at hotels and decent restaurants, yet hand a card to a street vendor hawking empanadas for 2,000 pesos ($0.50) and you'll get a laugh, not lunch. Here's the trick: the guys loitering outside grocery stores give sharper rates on USD bills than any bank ever will.

Cultural Respect: Colombians have moved on from Pablo Escobar—you're the only one still obsessed. Learn 'usted' before 'tú'. Formal address matters more here than in other Spanish-speaking countries. When someone offers you tinto (black coffee) at a roadside stand—accept it. Refusing is like rejecting someone's grandmother. In Cartagena's Getsemaní neighborhood, ask before photographing street dancers. They're performers, not props. Sundays are sacred family days. Cities shut down. Plan accordingly or you'll eat chips from the only open minimarket.

Food Safety: Colombian stomachs are cast iron. Yours isn't — yet. Start with cooked street food. Arepas de huevo in Cartagena's Plaza de la Trinidad cost 4,000 pesos/$1. Grab empanadas from carts with locals lined up. Skip cut fruit unless you watched the vendor peel it. The real test? Lechona from Tolima vendors. Whole roasted pig stuffed with rice and peas. They sell it from truck beds on weekends. Your Airbnb host recommends a place in their neighborhood? Go. They've already tested it on their own family. Bottled aguardiente shots are safer than the mysterious homemade stuff. That stuff tastes like licorice and regret.

When to Visit

December through March is when Colombia shows off. Dry season delivers 28°C (82°F) days on the Caribbean coast and 20°C (68°F) perfection in Medellín's 'City of Eternal Spring.' Hotel prices in Cartagena spike 200% between Christmas and New Year's—rooms that normally cost 400,000 pesos ($100) hit 1,200,000 pesos ($300) and you'll share the walled city with cruise ship passengers. January's Hay Festival in Cartagena draws literary types and pushes boutique hotel rates even higher. March brings Barranquilla's Carnival—four days of costumes and cumbia that turn the city into one massive street party. April to May sees afternoon thunderstorms in the mountains, but Bogotá's 18°C (64°F) highs make it good for museum-hopping without crowds. June to August is ideal—'winter' brings fewer tourists, 25% lower hotel prices in Medellín, and the coffee harvest season when fincas near Salento offer tours for 30,000 pesos ($7.50). September starts the second rainy season, but Caribbean islands like San Andrés stay dry—the perfect escape when Bogotá's hitting 15°C (59°F) and the coffee region's under daily drizzle. October and November are the sweet spot: shoulder season pricing with 30% cheaper flights from the US, fewer tourists, and the start of whale watching on the Pacific coast when humpbacks migrate past Nuquí. The only month to skip is Holy Week (Semana Santa) when prices triple and every Colombian with vacation time heads to the beach—unless you enjoy traffic jams that stretch for hours and hotel rooms booked six months ahead.