Things to Do in Colombia in December
December weather, activities, events & insider tips
Shoulder Season · Good Value
December Weather in Colombia
Temperature, rainfall and humidity at a glance
67°F (19°C)
High Temp
45°F (7°C)
Low Temp
2.4 inches (61 mm)
Rainfall
70%
Humidity
⚠ High UV exposure at altitude. Bogotá's elevation means sunburn risk even on cloudy days.
⚠ Rapid weather changes in mountains. Temperatures can drop 10°C (18°F) in one hour when clouds roll in.
Is December Right for You?
Weigh the advantages and considerations before booking
Advantages
- + December marks the true beginning of Colombia's verano, the dry season, across the Caribbean coast and Andean highlands. Tayrona National Park, which shuts its gates for ecological recovery during the wettest weeks of the year, reopens to hikers by early December, and the trails through the jungle to Cabo San Juan are firm underfoot rather than the ankle-deep mud of October. Mornings in the Coffee Region tend to dawn clear, the Cocora Valley's wax palms standing sharp against blue sky instead of vanishing into cloud by 9 AM. You're likely getting the best weather Colombia offers all year.
- + Colombian December is festival season on a scale that catches most first-timers off guard. Día de las Velitas on December 7 transforms every neighborhood in the country, millions of candles and paper lanterns line sidewalks, parks, and apartment balconies. Medellín's Alumbrados along the Río Medellín draw over three million visitors with kilometer after kilometer of light installations. And Feria de Cali, running roughly December 25 through 30, is the largest salsa festival on the planet, the kind of event where grandmothers dance harder than the tourists and the music doesn't stop until sunrise.
- + The holiday energy in Colombia is infectious in a way that's hard to overstate. From December 16 through Christmas Eve, families gather nightly for Novenas de Aguinaldos, communal prayer-and-song sessions that double as the country's biggest ongoing block party. The smell of buñuelos frying in every kitchen, the clink of aguardiente bottles, the reggaeton bleeding out of passing cars mixed with traditional villancicos from a neighbor's speaker, December in Colombia is a full sensory immersion into how Colombians celebrate. You don't watch it. You get absorbed into it.
- + For travelers escaping Northern Hemisphere winter, the contrast alone is worth the flight. You leave behind gray skies and 2°C (36°F) drizzle and land in Cartagena's 32°C (90°F) sunshine, where the breeze off the Caribbean carries the salt-and-fried-fish smell of the old city walls. Colombia sits close enough to the equator that daylight holds steady at roughly twelve hours year-round, no 4 PM sunsets, no rushing to fit activities into shrinking afternoons.
Considerations
- − December is temporada alta, peak season, and Colombia's own middle class has discovered its beaches and colonial towns with a vengeance. Cartagena's walled city, which feels intimate and walkable in September, becomes a slow-motion pedestrian traffic jam between December 20 and January 5. Domestic flights to San Andrés, Santa Marta, and Cartagena often sell out weeks ahead, and the routes that remain tend to cost two or three times their off-peak fares. If you haven't booked accommodation and transport by late October, you're competing for scraps.
- − Pricing spikes are real and unavoidable in the most popular corridors. The same guesthouse room in Cartagena's Getsemaní neighborhood that goes for a modest rate in March will likely cost 40-60% more during the Christmas-to-New-Year's window. Restaurants in tourist zones quietly swap in holiday menus at holiday markups. The deals are still out there, Bogotá, which empties out as locals flee to warmer climates, becomes surprisingly affordable. But the coastal destinations that most international visitors target are at their most expensive.
- − The festive atmosphere has a flip side: noise. Colombians celebrate with volume. From mid-December onward, expect music at conversation-drowning levels from midafternoon until well past midnight in residential neighborhoods, not just party districts. Fireworks, often homemade, startlingly loud, and fired at unpredictable hours, are a December constant. If you're a light sleeper or traveling with small children, this is worth factoring into your accommodation choices. Rooms facing interior courtyards or upper floors with good insulation become worth their premium.
Year-Round Climate
How December compares to the rest of the year
| Month | High | Low | Rainfall |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 20°C | 6°C | 1.3 inches (33 mm) |
| Feb | 20°C | 7°C | 2.0 inches (51 mm) |
| Mar | 19°C | 8°C | 3.3 inches (84 mm) |
| Apr | 19°C | 9°C | 4.6 inches (117 mm) |
| May | 19°C | 9°C | 4.3 inches (109 mm) |
| Jun | 18°C | 9°C | 2.3 inches (58 mm) |
| Jul | 18°C | 8°C | 1.9 inches (48 mm) |
| Aug | 18°C | 8°C | 1.7 inches (43 mm) |
| Sep | 19°C | 7°C | 2.2 inches (56 mm) |
| Oct | 19°C | 8°C | 4.3 inches (109 mm) |
| Nov | 19°C | 8°C | 4.2 inches (107 mm) |
| Dec | 19°C | 7°C | 2.4 inches (61 mm) |
Best Activities in December
Top things to do during your visit
December in Colombia means celebration. You will get clear skies and dry days. The Andean peaks look sharp. Caribbean water shines a bright turquoise. This is a month for family and street parties. Ordinary plazas turn into stages of light and music. It starts with millions of candles on December seventh. It ends with the sleepless salsa explosion of Christmas in Cali. The sensory details stick with you. See cityscapes lit by small flames or the electric glow along the Río Medellín. Hear arepas sizzling and the brass-heavy blast of salsa from open doors during the Feria de Cali. The humid air smells of melting wax, sweet gunpowder, and frying buñuelos from street vendors. Join families strolling illuminated streets. Feel the cool tile of a colonial courtyard. Taste the year's first coffee harvest from the hillside fincas.
Coffee, Cocoa, and Waterfall Tour
guided_experienceWalk shaded plantations. Touch raw beans. Taste the results at a traditional farmhouse, often finishing at a cascading waterfall. The visit connects you directly to the people who grow these global goods. You move from seed to cup in one morning.
The visit connects you directly to the people who grow these global goods.
Insider tip: Wear sturdy shoes. The paths are muddy and uneven active farmland, not a paved garden.
The Howling Trail Hike
adventureThe air is thick. Howler monkey calls echo through the canopy. The trail demands good fitness. It climbs dense foliage where orchids cling to ancient trees. The ground is soft with decomposing leaves.
You come for that wild, primordial chorus. It vibrates in your chest.
Insider tip: Pack a good rain jacket. Weather here shifts from sun to a penetrating drizzle without warning.
Minca Coffee, Cocoa, and Waterfall Full-Day Trip
day_tripIt is a cool, breezy refuge for artisanal coffee and cocoa farms. You will taste fresh coffee overlooking green peaks. You will grind roasted cocoa beans into paste. You will swim in a cold waterfall pool.
The appeal is the dramatic climate shift. Trade coastal heat for a mountain river valley's rejuvenating air.
Insider tip: Bring a small towel and swimwear. Bring cash to buy directly from the farmers. Their small-batch products beat most city market finds.
Cartagena Efoil FliteBoard Baru con transport y daypass
otherIt takes you to the white sand of Barú for a session on a silent, electric hydrofoil board. Glide above the translucent Caribbean. Feel the board lift on its foil. See the mangrove coast and occasional stingrays below.
It is a singular feeling. You fly easily over warm, calm seas. It is a quiet counterpoint to the city's noise.
Insider tip: Apply reef-safe sunscreen thoroughly. The sun reflecting off the water is intense. Reapply during the on-land instruction.
Private Airport Transfer to Hotel or viceversa
transportIt navigates chaotic arrival traffic while you relax. A driver meets you at arrivals with a sign. They handle your bags for immediate, stress-free entry.
This service is efficient after a long flight. It eliminates haggling when you are tired.
Insider tip: Have your local mobile number ready to share via WhatsApp. Drivers use this app to confirm just before you land.
Thursday Night Bar Crawl in Cartagena, Colombia
walking_tourIt moves through a list of bars and salsa clubs. The music is loud. The cocktails are cold. Feel the sticky humidity give way to air conditioning and live percussion. Dance on worn tile floors with travelers and Caleños.
You join to bypass uncertainty and get straight into spots where the atmosphere is peaking.
Insider tip: Eat a big meal beforehand. The pace is brisk. Food stops are not part of the plan, though street vendors are plentiful.
This month: A note: Thursday nights in December, near Christmas, are more festive and crowded.
Where to Stay in Colombia in December
Hand-picked hotels across price tiers for December travellers.
December Events & Festivals
What's happening during your visit
December 7
Día de las Velitas (Day of the Little Candles)
On the evening of December 7, Colombia lights itself on fire, on purpose, with joy, and on a scale that has to be seen. Every house, balcony, sidewalk, and plaza floods with candles and handmade paper lanterns (faroles) for the feast of the Immaculate Conception. In Medellín or Cartagena, where hills or colonial walls catch the flicker, the effect is overwhelming, millions of small flames turning entire neighborhoods into something medieval, sacred, and communal. The air carries the exact scent of Colombian December: melting wax, gunpowder from fireworks, and oil from frying buñuelos. Barrios compete unofficially for the most elaborate displays, and the whole activity is simply to walk the streets between 7 and 10 PM. No tickets, no plan, just follow the glow.
Early December through mid-January
Alumbrados de Medellín (Medellín Christmas Lights)
Medellín's annual light display along the Río Medellín has ballooned from a modest city project into one of the largest free light festivals in the Americas, pulling over three million visitors each season. Installations run for kilometers along both riverbanks, with animated LEDs, light tunnels, and themed zones that change yearly. The stretch around Parques del Río and the Nutibara Hill sector usually turns out the most elaborate. The difference from European Christmas lights is the temperature, you stroll in 24°C (75°F) evening air wearing a T-shirt while families grill arepas on portable stoves and salsa pours from boom boxes. The lights switch on during the first or second week of December and stay lit through mid-January. Weeknights are dramatically quieter than weekends.
December 25-30
Feria de Cali
Feria de Cali is the planet's biggest salsa festival and the city's proudest cultural export. From roughly December 25 through December 30, it hijacks the city with free outdoor concerts on multiple stages, the Salsódromo parade (a kilometer-long dance battle down the Calle Quinta that pulls an estimated one million spectators), bullfighting at Plaza de Cañaveralejo (controversial and likely on its way out), horseback cavalcades through downtown, and nightly parties in every salsoteca and nightclub. During Feria week Cali runs on about four hours of sleep and an endless supply of aguardiente. The Salsódromo, usually on December 25, is the centerpiece: professional and amateur dance schools in sequined costumes perform choreographed routines on a street stage while the crowd dances in the stands. It is competitive, spectacular, and emotional for Caleños. Reserve accommodation in Cali months in advance, every room fills.
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View Colombia Packing List →Essential Tips
Insider knowledge and common pitfalls to avoid
Insider Knowledge
Bogotá clears out in December. While crowds bolt for the coast and Coffee Region, the capital turns calm, navigable, and cheaper. Candelaria, often claustrophobic during term time, breathes again. La Puerta Falsa, running since 1816 on a narrow lane behind Plaza de Bolívar, probably Colombia's oldest continuous restaurant, serves tamales and chocolate santafereño (hot chocolate with cheese, odd until you taste it) without the usual queue. The Gold Museum, Botero Museum, and Sunday Ciclovía, 127 km (79 miles) of car-free roads surrendered to bikes and runners, feel better in December simply because everyone else has gone.
The Novena, December 16-24, is the pulse of Colombian Christmas, and most visitors never hear of it. For nine nights, families and neighbors gather to belt out aguinaldos, pray, and, most, eat. The spread is the star: natilla (panela-and-cinnamon custard), buñuelos (fried cheese dough balls, crisp outside and soft-salty inside), sugar-dusted hojaldras, and rivers of hot chocolate. If your guesthouse or rental hosts invite you, say yes on the spot. No tour operator can fake this; it's the most honest taste of December Colombia offers.
Colombia's safety story has flipped. Yet street sense still counts. Medellín and Bogotá are largely safe for travelers using normal city caution, no flashing pricey tech, stick to registered taxis or apps, and watch pockets in festival crowds. Cartagena's tourist zones (walled city, Getsemaní, Bocagrande) are thick with police. The real December threat is petty theft during packed events, not violence. Keep your phone in a front pocket and your bag in front during Feria de Cali and Alumbrados.
Domestic flights are the only sane way to span the country, Bogotá to Cartagena is 1,060 km (660 miles) and 17 hours by road, 90 minutes by air. December seats sell fast and prices spike after November. Lock in internal flights the instant your international ticket is booked. Overnight buses on premium lines (Bogotá-Medellín, about 8 hours) are comfy, with full-recline seats and meals, and they save a hotel night.
Avoid These Mistakes
Booking only Cartagena and calling it Colombia is a rookie mistake. Late-December Cartagena is the priciest, most packed, least authentic slice of the country. Visitors who fly in, spend five days inside the walls, and fly out have seen the equivalent of visiting Times Square and claiming America. The Colombia that lingers lives in Coffee Region green valleys, Medellín's barrio buzz, Cali's dance floors, and Bogotá's sharp cultural edge. Plan at least two distinct regions or miss the point.
Altitude blindsides people in Bogotá and the Coffee Region. The capital sits at 2,640 m (8,660 ft), higher than most ski resorts in Colorado. Fly straight from sea level and you will probably feel headache, shortness of breath, and fatigue for the first 24-48 hours. The usual tips, drink water, skip alcohol the first night, take it slow, sound dull. Yet they work. If your plan runs Cartagena at sea level straight to Bogotá, that same-day jump can knock you flat. Arrive in Bogotá first, then descend to the coast. Reversing the order saves energy.
Do not treat every purchase like a bazaar. Colombia is not Southeast Asia, prices in markets and shops are fixed or close to it, and fierce haggling feels disrespectful, not clever. Taxis remain the exception (always confirm the fare or insist on the meter before you climb in), yet at Bazurto Market or Paloquemao the price quoted is usually final. Colombians are generous hosts and proud people. Treating every exchange as a negotiation drains goodwill quickly.
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