When I bought my tickets to Colombia, I had no idea what to expect. My friends and I decided to buy roundtrip tickets because they were the ones on sale at the time and it was a decently hot destination to go to in February. I speak for all of us when I say Colombia way exceeded all of our expectations and we would highly recommend visiting this country to everyone.
My Flight: Depart YYZ 01:00 | Arrive MEX 05:50 | Depart MEX 09:00 | Arrive BOG 14:30 (Roundtrip YYZ-BOG costed $438.85 CAD).
Knowing we wanted to start our adventure in Cartagena we bought a flight from BOG to CTG for the same day. Depart BOG 17:42 | Arrive CTG 19:13 (One way BOG-CTG costed $175,520 COP)
Cities Visited
The Colombian Excursion
CARTAGENA
Cartagena for 3 days: Spending 3 days in Cartagena felt like the perfect amount of time to see all the different sites and live the Cartagena beach lifestyle. If you like to relax more on the beach and enjoy the hot weather, then I would recommend staying a bit longer, but if you’re like me and like to do both sightseeing and relaxing then 3 days is the exact amount of time.
What we did
- Day 1: Outside Old Town Cartagena: Convento de Santa Cruz de la Popa, Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, Getsemani and finish with watching sunset in the Old Town wall.
- Day 2: Old Town Cartagena and Bocagrande (newer resort area and beaches).
- Day 3: Island tour: We did a tour to Bora Bora resort (going to the islands is where you see the best sand and clear water).
Where we stayed
Old town Cartagena: We found that this was the most convenient location to be in if most of our trip was mainly sightseeing and it was our first time here. If you’re aiming more to relax, then I would stay in Bocagrande. We stayed at an airbnb: https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/52517775?source_impression_id=p3_1692810994_tgNaa8yqCdNuU53N
Getting Around
Within Cartagena, we took Ubers most of the time. This was the easiest way to ensure the driver knew where to go and have a set price. When there were no Ubers available (usually during rush hour) we had to take an official taxi. As you would expect there are both drivers who negotiate the price with you beforehand or use the meter. If you can, definitely get the driver to use the meter, otherwise I like to use Uber prices (+10%) as a reference for how much you should be paying.
Note there are other ride-share apps in Colombia that are also widely used such as DiDi and Cabify. These are slightly cheaper than Uber, but sometimes did not activate with my Canadian number.
MEDELLIN
My Flight: Depart CTG 19:33 | Arrive MDE 19:47 (One-way CTG-MDE costed $175,520 COP)
Medellin for 3 days: Medellin was my favourite city of the trip because there is constantly stuff to do and offered a fun city vibe. We felt 3 days was definitely not enough time to see everything we wanted to see, nor do all the stuff we wanted to do, but this is a city that you can constantly go back to and discover more.
What we did
- Day 1: Helicopter tour, Parque Explora, Santafe Mall/Ovideo (Unfortunately it was a rainy day for us so we had to do indoor activities)
- Day 2: Day trip to Guatape (this is a must): we booked a tour with a private driver.
- Day 3: Paragliding above Medellin and explored El Poblato
I have a whole list of stuff I wanted to do but we just didn’t have enough time to do it all: Parque Lleras, Parque Arvi, Jardin Botanico, Communa 13, Mercado del Rio, Medellin Modern Art Museum, El Centro, Parque Berrio, Plaza Botero, Antioquia Museum, Plaza Minorista Jose Maria Villa
Where we stayed
El Poblato: This is the best area to stay in for safety and English speaking. We stayed at Loma Verde Aparthotel.
Getting Around
Within Medellin, same as Medellin we used Ubers most of the time along with other ride-share apps (i.e. DiDi and Cabify). More ride-share cars were available in Medellin we didn’t have to use regular taxis at any point. For our day trip to Guatape we booked a tour with a private driver that drove us everywhere from our hotel in Medellin to all the spots in Guatape and surrounding.
SALENTO
My Flight: Depart MDE 20:00 | Arrive PEI 20:50 (One-way MDE-PEI costed $26.50 CAD). There is no airport in Salento itself, so you’ll have to fly to Pereira (which is said to be a mini Medellin) From PEI airport, we arranged a transfer with our hotel. This costed us $160,000 COP for the car. I recommend you ask your hotel in Salento to do the same if you want ease and convenience.
Salento for 2 days: No we did not come here because of Encanto. I actually watched Encanto while I was in Salento due to all the hype, but highly highly recommend Salento if you’re into more nature and hiking. 2 days was a perfect amount of time for us to see the main stuff in Salento. If you want to do more coffee tourism or spend more time in nature then you can extend your stay by another day, but there’s not much more to do outside of these days.
What we did
- Day 1: Cocora Valley Hike
- Day 2: Coffee plantation tour and explore Salento town
Where we stayed
Definitely stay inside the Salento main town as there is not much outside of this town. This is where you’ll get all your food and head off to your tours. We stayed at Salento Pequeño Hotel.
Getting Around
Within Salento, there is a main town square where there is a schedule of jeeps that go around to the biggest tourist destinations such as Cocora Valley and the different coffee plantations. For both days, we went just showed up at the town square and bought day of tickets to Cocora Valley and the different coffee plantations. The tickets were very cheap and you never had to wait long. If you want to plan your schedule accordingly, I would recommend going to the town square the day you arrive and take a picture of the schedules.
BOGOTA
My Flight: Depart PEI 17:45 | Arrive BOG 18:40 (One-way PEI-BOG costed $152,610 COP). This time from Salento, we took a bus from the town square to Pereira airport, which was cheaper than our private transfer.
Bogota for 2 days: Bogota is your classic capital city where there is some stuff to do, but not a whole lot. 2 days is definitely enough to see the main sights.
What we did
- Day 1: Teleferico y Funicular Monserrate, Plaza de Bolivar
- Day 2: Graffiti tour
One place you have to go eat/go out is Andres DC, it’s such a fun vibe and constantly packed!
Where we stayed
We stayed in Chapinero at Hotel Bogota Virrey. This was a safe area and close to the going out scene (Andres DC).
We chose to stay in a lot of hotels due to the fact that they were safe, close to city centres and costed around the same as Airbnbs. My go to website for hotel booking is Booking.com
Getting Around
Within Bogota, again we used Ubers most of the time along with other ride-share apps (i.e. DiDi and Cabify). As Bogota is another big city, more ride-share cars were available and we didn’t have to use regular taxis at any point.
VINTURE WITH ME 
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