September 10, 2026
Colombia does not have a bad month, and it does not have a best one either, because the country is not one climate. It is a hot Caribbean coast, a cool capital at 2,640 meters, a warm coffee region that gets rain in every month, a Pacific shore where humpback whales arrive in July, an Amazon whose wettest months run from January to April, and an island in the western Caribbean with a hurricane season. The calendar decides how much it rains; the altitude decides how warm it is; and the Colombian holiday calendar decides what it costs and how full the flights are. We run private tours in eleven destinations all year, so what follows is the honest version: how the seasons actually work, what each month is like where you are likely to go, the weeks we would avoid, the festivals worth building a trip around, and the one thing that is different about 2026 and 2027.
The short version
For the coast, Cartagena, Santa Marta and the islands, December to April is the dry season and the best of it; October is the wettest month. For Bogotá, Medellín and the coffee region, the driest windows are December to February and July to August, the wettest are April to May and October to November, and none of it is a reason to stay away, because rain in the Andes usually means an afternoon shower, not a lost day. Prices and crowds have three peaks: the second half of December into the second week of January, Holy Week, and mid-June to mid-July. The best value with the best weather is the second half of January through February, and again from mid-July through August. This year has a twist: Colombia’s weather service expects a strong El Niño through the first months of 2027, which usually means less rain and more heat on the coast and in the Andes, so the October and November rains of 2026 may be lighter than the tables below suggest, and the dry season that follows hotter. If you only remember one thing, remember that altitude sets the temperature and the month sets the rain.
How Colombia’s weather actually works
The country sits on the equator, so days are the same length all year, the sun rises around six and sets around six, and there is no summer or winter. Temperature is a function of altitude, and Colombians talk about it in floors: hot below about 1,000 meters, where Cartagena, Santa Marta and the Amazon sit above 24 degrees Celsius all year; warm between roughly 1,000 and 2,000 meters, where Medellín, Cali and the coffee towns live between 17 and 24; temperate between 2,000 and 3,000, which is Bogotá at 12 to 17; and colder above that, on the páramos and the peaks. Colombia’s official tourism portal uses these same bands, and they are a better guide to what to pack than any forecast.
Rain follows two patterns. In the Andean region, which includes Bogotá, Medellín, Cali and the coffee region, the year has two rainy seasons and two drier ones: rain builds from March and peaks in April and May, eases from June to August, returns in September to peak in October and November, and eases again in December. The official tourism portal puts the drier periods at December to January and July to August, and the rainier ones at April to May and October to November. On the Caribbean coast and in the lowlands of the east and south, there is one long wet season and one long dry one instead: Cartagena’s airport records under five millimeters of rain in each of January, February and March, then close to two hundred in October. IDEAM, the national weather service, publishes long-term monthly averages for the main airports, and this page uses them throughout; the tables are old enough that we quote them as averages rather than as a forecast for any given week.
Two more rules. In the mountains, rain tends to arrive in the afternoon, so the morning is for the things that need clear skies, from Monserrate to the Cocora Valley, and the afternoon is for museums, coffee and lunch. And on the coast, a wet-season day is usually a hot sunny morning, a short violent downpour in the afternoon, and a cooler evening; the sea is warm all year.
The 2026 and 2027 twist: El Niño
In its release of August 13, 2026, IDEAM reported El Niño conditions present in the Pacific for the third consecutive rolling quarter, gave a probability above 90 percent that they persist into the first quarter of 2027 and a 69 percent probability that the event reaches the “very strong” category between October and December, and warned of reduced rainfall in the Pacific, Andean and Caribbean regions with air temperatures above normal. For a traveler that cuts both ways. The second rainy season of 2026 is likely to be lighter than average in Bogotá, Medellín, the coffee region and on the coast, and the dry season from December 2026 to March 2027 hotter and drier than the averages below, which is good news for beach days and mountain views and less good for the páramos, the rivers and the water supply; IDEAM’s own release warns of lower reservoirs and a higher fire risk, and the coast can be uncomfortably hot by midday. The same event is why the United States’ NOAA gave the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season a 75 percent chance of running below normal, which matters only if San Andrés or Providencia are on your list. Check IDEAM’s monthly climate bulletin the week before you fly if a specific plan depends on the weather; we do.
Month by month
January
The driest month across the north and the Andes. Bogotá’s airport averages 29 millimeters of rain and its sunniest skies of the year, Cartagena four, Santa Marta seven; the Amazon, by contrast, is in its wettest stretch at more than 350. The first ten days are the tail of the Christmas peak, with Colombian families still on the move and Cartagena at its fullest and most expensive; the Reyes holiday falls on Monday, January 11, in 2027, and the country goes back to work the day after, at which point prices drop and the best weather of the year is suddenly cheap. Pasto’s Carnaval de Negros y Blancos, on the UNESCO list, runs every year from January 2 to 7, and the Hay Festival brings writers to Cartagena from January 28 to 31, 2027.
February
Our favorite month for a first trip. Cartagena averages less than a millimeter of rain, Santa Marta three, Bogotá 41, and the flights and hotels are in their quietest weeks. Two things to plan around: Tayrona National Park closed to visitors from February 1 to 15 in 2026 for the first of its three yearly “Respira Tayrona” rests, and the Carnaval de Barranquilla, the biggest party in the country, runs from Saturday, February 6, to Tuesday, February 9, in 2027, which fills Barranquilla and spills into Cartagena and Santa Marta hotels that weekend.
March
Still dry on the coast, with Cartagena and Santa Marta below two millimeters on average, and the first showers of the year arriving in the Andes in the second half of the month. Holy Week is early in 2027, from Sunday, March 21, to Easter Sunday, March 28: Thursday and Friday are national holidays, Colombians travel in numbers, Cartagena, the coffee region and the colonial towns fill, and Popayán holds the processions that are also on the UNESCO list. Bogotá empties that week, which makes it the easiest time of the year to see the capital. The Monday before, March 22, is a holiday too.
April
The wettest month of the first rainy season in the Andes: Bogotá averages 103 millimeters over 18 days with rain, Armenia in the coffee region 256, Medellín 163. The coast is still mostly dry, with Cartagena averaging 22 millimeters and Santa Marta nine. Prices are low outside Holy Week, and the rain in the mountains is mostly an afternoon affair; we run every tour as usual and move the viewpoints to the morning.
May
Rain continues in the Andes, with Bogotá averaging 92 millimeters over 20 days, and the coast’s wet season begins, with Cartagena at 89. The Caño Cristales season in the eastern plains opened on May 29 in 2026 and runs to December. May 1 is a holiday everywhere and the Ascension holiday moves to Monday, May 10, in 2027; otherwise this is a quiet, inexpensive month, and one of the greenest.
June
The Andes dry out. Bogotá drops to 54 millimeters, Cali to 55, the coffee region to about half its April figure, and Colombians call the drier weeks around the end of the month the veranillo de San Juan. The coast is in its wet season, with Cartagena averaging 98 millimeters, but the pattern is sunny mornings and short storms. Tayrona closed again from June 1 to 15 in 2026. The mid-year school holidays begin in the second half of the month, and with them the second price peak of the year: Corpus Christi falls on Monday, May 31, and Sagrado Corazón on Monday, June 7, in 2027.
July
The second-best window of the year in the mountains, and the best one for the Pacific. Bogotá averages 42 millimeters, Cali 28, Armenia 100, Medellín 119, and the humpback whales arrive off the Pacific coast, where Parques Nacionales opens the whale season in Utría, Gorgona and Bahía Málaga from July to October. The first half of the month is Colombian holiday season, with the San Pedro y San Pablo holiday on Monday, July 5, and Independence Day on Tuesday, July 20, in 2027, so domestic flights and Cartagena are full and priced accordingly until the schools go back in July.
August
Dry in the Andes and windy in Bogotá, where August is the month of kites on the hills. Bogotá averages 46 millimeters, Armenia 111; the coast is wetter, with Cartagena at 111 and Santa Marta at 57, though still with more sun than rain in any given day. Medellín’s Feria de las Flores fills the first ten days of the month, July 31 to August 9 in 2026, and ends with the Desfile de Silleteros on the final Sunday; book Medellín early for that week. August 7 is the Batalla de Boyacá holiday and the Asunción holiday moves to Monday, August 16, in 2027; after that, prices fall again.
September
The quietest month in the country, and a good one. Rain is moderate in the Andes, with Bogotá at 70 millimeters and Armenia at 168, the whales are still on the Pacific, the coast is warm and mostly sunny between storms, and there are no national holidays at all. If your dates are flexible and you would rather have fewer people than perfect skies, this is the month.
October
The wettest month almost everywhere: Bogotá averages 107 millimeters, Medellín 221, Armenia 252, Cartagena 198, Santa Marta 108 and San Andrés 309. It is also the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season for the islands, the month Tayrona closes for its third rest, from October 19 to November 2 in 2026 by the park’s own calendar (the gates, fees and closures are in our Tayrona guide), and the month of the school recess week in the second week of October, when Colombian families travel. In an El Niño year like 2026 the rain should be lighter than these averages; in an ordinary year we still run everything, with the day trips planned around the afternoon and a change of shoes in the car. Migratory birds from the north pass through in October, which is the best month of the year for birders in Antioquia.
November
Rain continues in the Andes, with Bogotá averaging 91 millimeters and Armenia 253, and eases on the coast through the month, with Cartagena at 121 and Santa Marta down to 46. Cartagena celebrates its independence with the Fiestas de Independencia around November 11, holidays fall on Monday, November 1, and Monday, November 15, in 2027, and the hurricane season ends on November 30. Prices are at their lowest of the year until the middle of December.
December
The dry season returns from the north down: Santa Marta averages 11 millimeters, Cartagena 35, Bogotá 53, and the coffee region is still green but drying. The first half of the month is one of the best-value windows of the year, with dry weather and Medellín’s Christmas lights already on; the Alumbrados were switched on November 28 in 2025 and stayed on until January 12. The Día de las Velitas on the evening of December 7 fills every street in the country with candles, the Feria de Cali runs from December 25 to 30, and from about December 15 to the second week of January the whole country is on holiday: this is the peak of the year for Cartagena, the coffee region and domestic flights, and the one window we tell people to book months ahead.
Region by region
Cartagena, Santa Marta and the Caribbean. Hot all year, with the airport averaging between 27 and 28 degrees in every month and the sea warm in all of them. December to April is the dry season and the best time; May to November is the wet season, with October the worst of it and September and November a fair bet. Our Cartagena beaches guide and Rosario Islands guide have the sea-state detail, and the things to do in Cartagena page explains why the middle of any afternoon is for shade.
Bogotá and the highlands. Cool in every month, about 13 degrees on average with mornings near 7 and afternoons near 19, so the packing list is the same in January and July: layers, a light rain jacket, real shoes. December to February and July to August are the driest and sunniest; April to May and October to November the wettest, and even then rain is mostly afternoon. Bogotá is at its best when Colombians leave it, which is Holy Week and the second half of December.
Villa de Leyva, three hours north of Bogotá, is drier and warmer than the capital, about 18 degrees, with October its wettest month and its two big weekends in mid-August, for the kites, and on December 7 and 8, for the lights; the town, the fossils and the day that works there are in our Villa de Leyva guide.
Medellín. Spring in every month, with two dry seasons and October the wettest; the details, month by month, are in our Medellín weather guide. Come in early August for the flower fair or in December for the lights, and book early for both.
The coffee region. Warm, green and wet: Armenia’s airport records more than 2,100 millimeters a year, with rain in every month and only July and August under 120. It does not matter as much as it sounds, because the valleys are at their best in morning light and the farms tour in any weather. The Cocora Valley is a morning walk in any month.
The Pacific. The rainiest region in the country, and worth it from July to October, when the humpback whales calve off Nuquí, Bahía Solano and Bahía Málaga. Go for the whales, not for the weather.
The Amazon. Hot and humid all year, about 26 degrees, and wettest from December to May, when Leticia’s airport averages more than 340 millimeters in each of January, February, March and April; June to September is the drier half. Both halves have their own season on the river, and both need a yellow fever vaccination at least ten days before you travel.
San Andrés and Providencia. Warm all year, driest from February to April, wettest from June to November, and inside the Atlantic hurricane season from June 1 to November 30, with most of the risk from August to October. A strong El Niño, as forecast for 2026, tends to quiet the season; it does not cancel it.
The plains and Caño Cristales. The river of five colors is open from late May or June to December, and its colors follow the rains, so ask before you fix a week.
Salento, the Cocora Valley, the coffee farms and Filandia, with the day that works there, are in our Salento and Cocora Valley guide; the rest of the coffee region is in our Colombia coffee region guide.
High season, holidays and what they do to prices
Colombia has eighteen public holidays a year, most of them moved to a Monday under a 1983 law, and the long weekends, the puentes, are when Colombians travel. The three real peaks are the Christmas season from about December 15 to the second week of January, Holy Week, and the mid-year school holidays from mid-June to mid-July; airlines and hotels price all three as high season, and a smaller bump comes with the October recess week. The 2027 holidays are January 1 and 11, March 22, 25 and 26, May 1, 10 and 31, June 7, July 5 and 20, August 7 and 16, October 18, November 1 and 15, and December 8 and 25; the remaining 2026 dates are October 12, November 2 and 16, December 8 and 25. What this means in practice: Cartagena and the coffee region are the places that fill, domestic flights in the peaks sell out weeks ahead and cost far more than the off-peak fare, and Bogotá is the exception, because it empties when everyone else travels. If your dates land on a peak, book the flights and the coast first and the rest around them; if they are flexible, the second half of January, February, and the whole stretch from mid-August to early December give you the same country at the lowest prices of the year.
Festivals worth planning a trip around
Pasto’s Carnaval de Negros y Blancos, January 2 to 7 every year, with the Día de Negros on the 5th and the Día de Blancos on the 6th. The Hay Festival in Cartagena, January 28 to 31, 2027. The Carnaval de Barranquilla, February 6 to 9, 2027, the Saturday to Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Holy Week in Popayán, March 21 to 28, 2027. The Feria de las Flores in Medellín in the first days of August, ending with the Desfile de Silleteros. The whale season on the Pacific, July to October. The Día de las Velitas on December 7, the Alumbrados in Medellín from the end of November to the second week of January, and the Feria de Cali, December 25 to 30, the salsa capital’s week of the year. For any of these, the hotel is the constraint, not the tour: book it first.
What to pack, whatever the month
Layers and a light rain jacket for Bogotá and anything above 2,000 meters, in every month; light clothes, a hat and the strongest sunscreen you own for the coast; real walking shoes for the coffee region and the day trips; and a small umbrella that lives in your bag in April, May, October and November. Nothing in Colombia requires a coat, and nothing on the coast requires long trousers except a nice restaurant.
What we do differently
Our tours run in every month of the year, and we plan them around the weather instead of hoping: viewpoints and hikes in the morning, museums and lunch in the afternoon, the park closures and the holiday calendar built into the itinerary before you see it. When a day trip is going to be rained out we say so the evening before and move it, and when a festival week is going to double your hotel bill we say that too. Tell us your dates and we will tell you what the country looks like on them.
Questions travelers ask
What is the best month to visit Colombia?
For weather across the whole country, January and February, then July and August. For value with good weather, the second half of January through February, and again from mid-August to early December outside October. For the Pacific whales, July to October.
What is the worst time to visit Colombia?
October is the wettest month almost everywhere and the peak of the hurricane season for the islands, and the second half of December is the most expensive and crowded. Neither is a reason not to come; both are reasons to plan the mornings and book early.
When is the rainy season in Colombia?
In Bogotá, Medellín and the coffee region there are two: April to May and October to November. On the Caribbean coast there is one, from May to November, heaviest in October. In the Amazon the wettest months are December to May.
Is December a good time to visit Colombia?
The weather is excellent, dry on the coast and in the Andes, and the country is at its most festive. The price is the price: from mid-December to the second week of January, flights and hotels in Cartagena and the coffee region run at their highest of the year and sell out early. The first two weeks of December are the sweet spot.
What is the cheapest time to visit Colombia?
Mid-August to early December outside the October recess week, and the second half of January through February outside Carnival weekend. September is the quietest month of all.
Does Colombia get hurricanes?
The mainland coast almost never; Cartagena and Santa Marta sit south of the usual tracks. San Andrés and Providencia are inside the Atlantic hurricane season, June 1 to November 30, with the risk concentrated from August to October.
Should I avoid Holy Week?
Only if your plan is Cartagena, the coffee region or the colonial towns on a budget, because Colombians travel that week and prices and crowds follow. Bogotá is at its emptiest and easiest during Holy Week, and Popayán’s processions are worth the trip on their own. In 2027 it runs from March 21 to 28.
Plan it with us
Every tour we run is private, in English or Spanish, in every month of the year. Send us your dates on WhatsApp and we will tell you what to expect where you are going, or start with our Colombia itinerary guide for the order of the cities.
