These are the guides we give our own travelers before they fly, written by the team that runs the tours in each city and checked against primary sources: the parks authority, the airports, the meteorological institute, the police figures and the museums’ own price lists. Every guide is dated, and when a park changes its fees or closes a gate, the guide changes too.
Start with the three at the top, then go to your destinations. Every guide links to the tours we run there, and the Travel Guides menu brings you back here from any page.
How many days do you need in Colombia? A local operator’s 7, 10 and 14-day itineraries: Bogotá, Medellín, coffee region, Cartagena, Tayrona, with the flights.
The best time to visit Colombia, month by month and region by region: IDEAM rain averages, the 2027 holidays and festivals, and what El Niño changes in 2026.
Our CEO answers the question we get most, in the first person: how safe Colombia is for tourists and the habits that keep you out of trouble.
Bogotá
The capital at 2,600 meters: what the city is and where to stay, Monserrate, how to arrive, how to move, whether it is safe, what the altitude does to your first day, the weather by IDEAM’s numbers, and the three day trips that leave from it.
The capital by the team that runs nineteen tours in it: what Bogotá is and how to read its grid, where to stay by neighborhood, the museums, Monserrate and the Sunday Ciclovía with 2026 hours and fees, the altitude, the weather, safety with the city’s numbers, Bogotá versus Medellín, and the shape of two, three or five days.
The white church 500 meters above Bogotá: the 2026 prices and hours, cable car against funicular against the 1,605-step trail with the IDRD’s rules, the history from the sanctuary’s own account, the altitude at 3,152 meters, the restaurants and the bird trail at the top, and the day and hour to choose.
El Dorado airport (BOG) to Bogotá in 2026: the taxi meter and its airport surcharge, TransMilenio from Door 2, the apps, and a transfer with the driver inside.
How high Bogotá really is, what the thin air does and to whom, the first 48 hours by the city’s health secretariat and the CDC, the medicine, when a headache is more than a headache, Monserrate by the operator’s numbers, the weather by IDEAM, and the order we give the first four days.
Bogotá’s weather by IDEAM’s numbers: the month-by-month table from the airport station, the two rainy seasons and two dry ones, why the eastern hills get twice the rain of the west and July is their wettest month, the shape of a Bogotá day, the 2026 El Niño outlook, and what to wear at 2,640 meters.
Getting around Bogotá in 2026: TransMilenio and the Tullave card, the metered taxi, the apps, the ciclovía, the metro not yet open, and when to hire a driver.
The church carved 180 meters underground an hour north of Bogotá: 2026 tickets and hours, what is inside, how to get there, and the day that works with Guatavita.
The green lake where the Muisca crowned the gilded chief, 90 minutes from Bogotá: 2026 tickets and hours, the guided walk, the town that moved and the day that works.
The colonial town three hours from Bogotá: the Plaza Mayor, the fossils, Pozos Azules, Ráquira and Iguaque, how to get there, when to go and what a day costs.
Things to do in Medellín in 2026, with real prices: Comuna 13, the Metrocable to Arví, Plaza Botero, Casa de la Memoria, Guatapé, the fair and what to skip.
Is Medellín safe in 2026? The homicide rate, the risks that actually reach visitors (drugging, phone theft), the safe neighborhoods and the rules that work.
Medellín weather month by month with IDEAM station data: the two rainy seasons, the driest weeks, what to pack and when to come for the fair or the lights.
How to get from Medellín airport (MDE) to El Poblado in 2026: the flat taxi fare, the 24-hour bus, the apps, private transfers, the tunnel and the fog.
Comuna 13, Medellín: the escalators, the murals and their history, how to get there by metro, which graffiti tour to take, safety and the hour that makes the visit.
How to do Guatapé and the Peñol rock in one day from Medellín: 740 steps, the 35,000-peso ticket, bus vs private tour, the boat, the zócalos and what to skip.
Things to do in Cartagena, planned around the heat: walls and San Felipe early, museums and food at midday, sunset from the water, Getsemaní, the islands.
Cartagena beaches in 2026: Bocagrande, Playa Blanca, Playa Tranquila and the Rosario Islands compared, what changed this year and how not to get overcharged.
Rosario Islands from Cartagena, 2026: private or shared boat, the day hour by hour, park fee and insurance, the rules and the truth about the aquarium.
Cartagena by IDEAM’s 1991 to 2020 normals: one temperature all year, a dry and windy season from December to April, the rains from May to November with October the wettest month, the sea’s own calendar for the island boats, the honest answer on hurricanes, El Niño for the end of 2026, and the hours of the day we use.
Is Cartagena safe in 2026? The police numbers, the risks in the order they reach visitors (bills, chains, drinks, boats), the neighborhoods, the rules.
Cartagena airport (CTG) to the Old City in 2026: taxi zone fares, the Transcaribe bus one street away, the apps, and a private transfer with the driver inside.
The coffee-region capital most people only drive through: what it is, what is open after the August 10 earthquake, the free gold museum, Cocora and the theme parks, El Edén airport, the weather, safety with the police’s figures, where to stay and a plan.
Salento and the Cocora Valley: the wax palm walk, the coffee farm, Filandia, how to get there from Bogotá or Medellín, when to go and what a day costs.
The coffee region’s airport city: what Pereira is like, the hot springs and Cocora day trips, the weather, safety, where to stay and the plan that works.
The salsa capital and the door to the Pacific a month after the earthquake: what the city is, the thirteen things to do in it, the weather by IDEAM’s numbers, and whether it is safe, with the police’s figures and the advisories.
The salsa capital a month after the August 10 earthquake: what the city is, what is open, Cristo Rey and the zoo, the salsotecas and Delirio, the day trips, the airport in Palmira, the weather, safety with the police’s figures, where to stay and a plan.
Thirteen things to do in Cali in the order we would do them, from people who live here: Cristo Rey with its new hours, San Antonio, the river and the cats, the Alameda market, salsa, the zoo, La Tertulia, Pance, the day trips, and the list of what is closed after the August 2026 earthquake.
Cali’s weather from IDEAM’s own station in the city: 30 degrees every afternoon, 19 every night, two rainy seasons, twice the rain in the hills as at the airport, a very strong El Niño for late 2026, and what each month means for Cristo Rey, the river, the whales and the Feria.
The honest answer on Cali’s safety in 2026, in two halves: the crime, with the police’s homicide and theft numbers and the comunas they belong to, and the earthquake, with what to ask a hotel and what to do if it shakes; plus the British and American advisories and what they mean for the whale and river days.
The oldest city in Colombia, the park that closes three times a year, the cool village above them both, the beach at the end of the road, the four-day trek to the Lost City, the airport and whether it is all safe.
The base for Tayrona, Minca and the Lost City: what Santa Marta is, the old city and the Quinta, the beaches, the airport, safety, weather, where to stay and a plan.
Simón Bolívar airport, 16.5 km from the center: the airlines, the taxi desk and the district’s fixed fares, the apps, the bus on the highway, the transfer with the driver inside, and the drive to Tayrona, Minca and Palomino.
The police figures for 2025 and 2026, what actually happens to visitors, the sea and its rules, Taganga, Tayrona, the Sierra behind the city, health, and the habits we use every day.
The park with an opening calendar: the four gates, the hike to Cabo San Juan, 2026 fees and insurance, hours, closures, weather and the Santa Marta days around it.
The village in the Sierra Nevada foothills above Santa Marta: the waterfalls, La Victoria coffee farm, the endemic birds, the road up, the park you cannot enter and a plan.
The beach village at the end of the Tayrona road: the sea and what it does, the river and the tubing, the Kogui valley, the Mendihuaca bridge, when to go, where to stay and what it costs.
Teyuna by the archaeologists who run it, the four days as they really go, how hard they are, what our trek costs and includes, the weather month by month from IDEAM’s stations on the mountain, the yellow fever rule, the four peoples’ rules, whether it is safe, and the October 1 to 31, 2026 closure.
The desert at the top of the map: Cabo de la Vela, Punta Gallinas, the salt flats, the flamingos, the Wayuu and their rules, the weather by IDEAM and the three days we run from Santa Marta.
The desert at the top of the map, by the census, the court and the parks authority: who the Wayuu are, why the car stops at Uribia, Cabo de la Vela, Punta Gallinas, the salt flats, the flamingo sanctuary and the Macuira, the weather by IDEAM, a night in a hammock, whether it is safe, and the rules of the land.
The river with one door: Leticia, the vaccine and the tax at the airport, the two seasons of the water, the national park, the dolphin lakes and the four days we run.
Leticia and the river by the authorities that run them: the yellow fever certificate and the airport tax, the high-water and low-water seasons by IDEAM’s numbers, Amacayacu and its fees, Puerto Nariño and the Tarapoto lakes, malaria and the rules of the communities, and our four-day program.
If you would rather we plan the whole trip, write to us on WhatsApp with your dates and we build it around these calendars, or start with our Colombia tours.
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