Essential Tips To Visit Colombia For The First Time
It is normal that if you are thinking about travelling to Colombia you may have some doubts to solve. We had them too, and that is why we bring you this post with tips to visit Colombia, as it is something that would have been very useful for us when we were in the process of planning our trip.
Colombia is not a difficult country to travel to and even less so for a Spanish speaker, as the Colombian people are very welcoming and always willing to help you, so you are sure to have support throughout your trip. However, there are some things you should know before you go, as it is a big country with a lot of contrasts between areas.
If you want to know all the details of our trip itself, we recommend that you also visit our other posts about Colombia:
With that said, let’s get to the Tips to visit Colombia post!
Official Currency, tips to visit Colombia
The official currency of Colombia is the Colombian Peso. 1 € is equivalent to approximately 4400 Colombian pesos (2024). To always check that the exchange rate is correct, you can check the value on this conversion website.
To the question of whether they accept other currencies, we say yes, there were places where they accepted dollars (although we were not carrying them).
Regarding currency or credit card payments, we have to say that we had no problems paying by credit card in almost any place, so it is a fairly advanced country in this sense and you won’t have too much of a problem.
Finally, we found exchange offices without too many problems in all the tourist sites, so it is also easy to change money from euros.
Travel Insurance
One of the first tips to visit Colombia, it seems obvious because it is said in all the travel posts and recommendations to any place, but it is the reality that any problem that happens in a distant country can make your experience very bitter if you do not take travel insurance as the costs can be really high. That is why we would 100% recommend you to take travel insurance. We have read of many cases of people who have suffered problems abroad and all of them have been saved by insurance, so don’t hesitate to do so.
As far as travel insurance is concerned, you already know that our favourite and the one we have been working with for years is IATI Seguros. For the trip to Colombia, we selected an insurance with adventure cover, as we did activities and trekking and we preferred to be covered in any situation. This is the insurance we used, the IATI Backpackers (With our link you get a 5% discount on your travel insurance and you also help us if you like our content 🙂 )
visa for access to Colombia
Currently (2024), you do not need a visa to enter Colombia if you are a Spanish citizen.
Likewise, one of our tips to visit Colombia and any other country is to consult the information page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of your country (or of your country in its absence) if you want to know the latest update on this subject. Here is an example of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs website for Colombia.
Internet in Colombia, tips to visit Colombia
Let’s be honest, we wanted to completely disconnect from the phone and we only contracted 1 SIM when we arrived (we were 6 friends). We recommend it from time to time 🙂
Anyway, at the airport and in the cities, we saw a lot of Claro stands, the leader in South America, and also others like Movistar or Tigo. I can’t specify the price, but it’s the cheapest way to do it for sure.
For those who prefer the security of carrying a SIM card from home (that’s us most of the time), you have the option of buying a digital card from Holafly, who are always a guarantee of quality, coverage and acceptable price. This will save you the hassle of searching and negotiating at the airport with the nerves of arrival.
Electricity, tips to visit Colombia
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The next piece of advice for visiting Colombia is about connecting electronic devices to electricity. On this point, we don’t have good news for many Europeans, in Colombia they use A and B type plugs, so we need an adapter to be able to connect.
We have this power adapter for all types of plugs that we take with us on all our trips, so if you are a frequent traveller, we recommend you to always take it with you 🙂
Best period to visit Colombia
Colombia is located almost on the equator, which guarantees constant temperatures all year round. This means that any time of the year is pleasant in terms of temperature, with temperatures always similar to summer in Europe.
Apart from the temperature, there are dry and wet seasons. In turn, these periods vary depending on the area of the country.
- In the Caribbean and the Eje Cafetero, the dry season runs from December to March, the summer months in the southern hemisphere. This would be the best time to visit the country. The only handicap is that it is the holiday season for Colombians and in most of South America, so there may be a bit more overcrowding from local tourism.
- In Bogota (centre of the country) or the Amazon, the best time is from June to September.
In any case, Colombia is not a place that stands out for having a particular time of year when it is best to go. It is always a pleasant country to visit at any time of the year.
Health and vaccines, tips to visit Colombia
Currently (2024), there are no mandatory vaccinations for entering the country from Spain, but it may be safe to get a yellow fever vaccination if you plan to visit the Amazon or Tayrona.
Also, to prevent mosquito-borne diseases, it is very important to carry extra-strength mosquito repellent. We normally always use RELEC EXTRA STRONG and it works very well.
Finally, we would like to comment that several of us got a tummy ache for several days, so keep an eye on your food. We think we got it from drinking the wonderful Jugos in Tayrona Park, which are fruit juices that are amazing, but they do have this handicap, so be warned 🙂
What to bring for a trip to Colombia
In our list of tips to visit Colombia, we wanted to include a point with this information as it is important on a visit to this country.
Obviously, the choice will vary depending on the activities you are going to do. Firstly, whether to take a suitcase or a backpack, we are clear. Colombia is a country to visit with a backpack, and even more so if you’re going to move around its different areas. We believe that it is ideal, as it is a country with all kinds of environments, activities and places, to go as light and adapted as possible, so a suitcase can be uncomfortable at some point to move around the country.
I am going to explain you what my backpack was for part of the trip on the coast, another in the mountains and to visit cities (a bit of everything). We took clothes for 1 week and washed them halfway through the trip:
- Two swimming costumes for beach areas, diving activities and even trekking with rivers and pools to swim in (coffee axis).
- 6 sports or cotton T-shirts (short sleeves + braces) to be able to do everything.
- 2 summer shirts to go out at night in Medellín.
- 2 dress trousers, one long and one short.
- 5 sports trousers.
- Teva flip-flops (for trekking), travel shoes (Tropicfeel) and dress shoes.
- Photographic equipment (DJI mini 3 drone + GoPro).
- Underwear
- First aid kit
As we say, Colombia has a bit of everything, so it’s good to be covered for all the adventures that may happen on the trip.
Accommodation selection
We wanted to emphasise the list of tips to visit Colombia in terms of accommodation, as we think it is important. We are going to recommend the ones we were able to stay in, but also a bad experience we had so that you can avoid it.
One of the main problems in the country, especially in cities like Medellín, is prostitution. You will see that there are areas where there are a barbaric amount of girls. This affects some areas of the cities and certain hotels, which have agreements so that prostitutes can use their rooms with clients. We took a makeshift hotel in Medellín and this happened to us, they were coming in and out all night long, which didn’t make us feel too comfortable. So if you want to avoid this, check the area very well and the hotel reviews, where you will be able to see clearly if the place is good in this sense or not.
That said, we recommend the places to stay in each place we went:
Tayrona + Santa Marta + Guachaca
- Distrito Hostel – ¡TOP! and very well located in Santa Marta.
- Cabañas Tequendama – The best accommodation inside Tayrona and the only one bookable by booking!
- Tayrona Tented Lodge – One of the TOP sites of the trip, located in Guachaca.
- La Brisa Tranquila – VERY TOP! We didn’t stay there, but we spent the afternoon playing volleyball in the pool and drinking beers. The atmosphere and restaurant is amazing.
San Andrés
- Hostal Viajero Isla de San Andres – Our home for 4 days where we were treated AMAZINGLY. They do a lot of activities with the clients and the atmosphere is unbeatable.
- Hotel Bahía Sardina – It is a more classic hotel but the location is unbeatable.
Medellín + Guatapé
- Hostal The Garden Lleras – DO NOT GO. This is the hotel where we had the bad experience.
- Hostal Viajero Medellín – After the good experience in San Andrés, we wanted to repeat in Medellín. The hostel is amazing, it has a brutal rooftop, but the atmosphere is much more European. Anyway, we highly recommend it.
- Finca Hotel Montecarlo by Hope – VERY TOP. This is a finca overlooking the rock with a barbecue. We loved it and it is in a very quiet area where you can do lots of activities.
Eje Cafetero (Salento + Pereira)
- Hostal Viajero Salento – Another TOP. The location, the attention, the food…. It was a great stay there, the way we were treated, the recommendations…
- DeRequka Hostel – Another place we loved. It is a small hostel run by a very nice old lady and very well kept. If you go to Pereira, visit them.
Security in Colombia
We weren’t too sure what we were going to find once in Colombia and, we have to say, at least in the tourist areas we felt at home, with no sense of danger at any time. Obviously, if you go out at night in Medellín, for example, you may feel less safe, as the night is often what it brings, but other than that we found the country to be quite safe.
It has to be said that they cancelled our trip to the least safe area of the whole trip, Nuquí, where there are still some problems with guerrillas. The truth is that it doesn’t usually affect tourists because it harms them, so we were told that there was no problem going there and we know people who have been there and it seems safe.
Therefore, we want to tell you that you should not be reluctant to go to Colombia because of security, the situation is far from what it was a few years ago and it is a country adapted for tourists and where you can feel comfortable and without problems.
Transport
The last of the tips to visit Colombia that we want to discuss in this post is transport in the country. The truth is that it is not the country with the best land transport network we have seen, because as we have said, it is a very mountainous country and it is difficult to find good train and bus routes.
We have to say that we travelled mostly by plane at good prices, so it is a good option if you want to visit remote areas of the country. The only trip we took by bus was Medellín – Salento (coffee-growing area), and of the 5 hours it was supposed to take, it ended up taking 8-9 because of the state of the roads, stops along the way… It’s cheap but if you’re going for a few days it wouldn’t be the most recommendable way to get around as you can lose a lot of time.
Another route we looked at is from Medellín to Nuqui, as our flight was cancelled once we were in the country and we wanted to find an alternative. In this case, there is no way to reach this area by land, only by plane or boat.
We hope that this summary of tips to visit Colombia has dispelled some of the doubts you may have before visiting the country. Our best advice is to enjoy the country as it is a marvellous place and talk a lot with its people, who are very interesting.
If you have any questions, please contact us via social media or comments and we will be happy to help you.
