1 Week In Colombia Holiday Travel Guide (Step-By-Step Itinerary)

Colombia is a big nation, with all kinds of landscapes and experiences to discover. Whether you’re on the lookout for journey actions, cultural sights, or a chance to calm down on beautiful seashores, Colombia has all of it.

I’ve beforehand shared in depth itineraries for Colombia for backpackers on lengthy journeys wanting to go away no stone unturned. In this Colombia journey information I’ll deal with a straightforward route that’s excellent for a shorter trip.

If you will have 1 week in Colombia, your greatest wager is to deal with one space of the nation. Some of the preferred focal factors are Bogota, Medellín, and Cartagena. Each of those cities is exclusive and presents many alternatives for exploring the encircling space.

This information is particularly for 1 week within the North of Colombia, the place you possibly can discover the attractive colonial metropolis of Cartagena, benefit from the tropical seashores of the Rosario Islands, and go to espresso farms and expertise the Colombian jungle in Minca.

1 Week Itinerary

This one-week itinerary features a little bit of every part, is straightforward to do, and is in part of Colombia identified for its good security ranges. It’s excellent for first-timers in Colombia, {couples}, and households as nicely.

Transportation, lodging, and actions may be simply booked by on-line platforms or by native brokers (e.g. for bus or ferry tickets it may be simpler to purchase immediately on the terminals).

You can observe this normal define:

Day 1 + 2: Cartagena

Arriving in Cartagena, you can be instantly struck by the attractive colonial structure and heat Caribbean environment.

But first let’s talk about some logistics. Flying into Cartagena is the best choice, as it’ll help you actually profit from your one week in Colombia. When planning your journey, consider each the price and journey time required to get from place to put.

The airport is simply quarter-hour from town middle and there will likely be loads of taxis ready for you, however don’t allow them to rip you off. It is usually that when Colombian taxi drivers see gringos the worth magically doubles and even triples typically.

The value ought to be round 15,000 COP and would possibly go up a bit extra relying on the place you’re staying, however not more than 20,000 COP.

To get the complete expertise and ambiance in Cartagena I like to recommend staying in one of many lovely colonial resorts. Casa Morales is my favourite resort in the entire outdated city, with its beautiful colonial-style structure and fashionable facilities. You can calm down from the tropical local weather within the pool or take pleasure in your espresso on the non-public balconies.

(Book Casa Morales at Expedia, Booking, or Hotels.com.)

Once settled in, head out to discover town.

The City of Cartagena

Cartagena was based in 1533 by Spanish settlers and have become a commerce hub for gold and slaves within the seventeenth century. The metropolis’s afro-Caribbean affect may be traced to its colonial historical past.

The city nonetheless has many colonial treasures to discover, such because the well-known Walled City. With its brightly coloured buildings, quaint plazas, and charming cobblestone streets, Cartagena is ideal for wandering round and getting misplaced on goal.

So let’s get on the market and begin exploring!

For Day 1, I like to recommend doing a tour targeted on the Walled City. This offers you some important historic background however will even merely allow you to orient your self within the metropolis.

You will get to discover all the principle sights inside Cartagena’s colonial middle, together with Plaza Bolivar and San Felipe de Barajas Castle. The outdated city is sort of small, so it is possible for you to to see every part in just some hours.

A bit additional exterior the outdated city (however nonetheless inside strolling distance) is the San Felipe fort, the biggest colonial Spanish fortification in South America.

Cartagena is a well-liked vacationer city, so be ready to be approached by avenue distributors promoting fruit, Panama hats, or souvenirs. Occasionally they do get annoying, however don’t let this deter you from having fun with your time in Cartagena. Simply ignoring them often works greatest.

To get away from the hustle and bustle of the road sellers head to the Getsemani neighborhood, which is a colourful space full of bars, cafes, and artwork retailers.

Head to one of many native spots for a cheeky 15,000 COP menu del dia. These day by day set menus are widespread in Colombia and often embody a soup, contemporary fruit juice, and a primary plate with meat or fish and patacones (fried plantain slices). The menus del dia are a enjoyable and cheap option to get acquainted with the native meals. Alternatively, take pleasure in my favourite ceviche place, La Cevecheria for a few of the freshest seafood within the metropolis.

On Day 2, head to the Totumo mud volcano. This is the proper exercise for youths as they will climb within the mud and run round. Just beware that it will get very messy!

It is a couple of half hour to the volcano and I like to recommend taking a half-day tour to profit from your time on this distinctive location. There are departures at 7.30 AM and 1 PM. For an early begin, think about getting the 7.30 AM tour. You can e book this expertise at GetYourGuide or at Viator.com.

After getting again into city and washing up — which you’ll actually wish to do after having mud in all your nooks and crannies — you possibly can spend the remainder of your day additional exploring Cartagena by yourself, or hitting up certainly one of its many seashores.

If you wished to take some social media-worthy snaps now’s the time, as a result of Cartagena has simply so many lovely partitions with avenue artwork, colourful buildings, and vintage doorways that make for nice backdrops for some selfies.

Cartagena is plenty of enjoyable to wander round as there are quite a few boutique retailers, cocktail bars, and specialty cafes. Colombia is, in fact, famed for its unbelievable arabica espresso beans — and as of late they do a tremendous job roasting them as nicely. My favourite place for a batch brew or V60 is Café La Manchuria, which additionally sells its personal beans and different artisanal native merchandise.

Craving some seashore time? The hottest seashore is Playa Blanca, which has lovely white sand and turquoise water. If you desire a extra secluded expertise, head to Boca Chica or San Lázaro as a substitute. These are a lot much less crowded so it is possible for you to to calm down and benefit from the views in peace.

For the night, head to the highest 10 bars within the WORLD which is positioned in Cartagena. Alquimico is a three-story bar with the very best cocktails and is a can’t-miss night time out in Cartagena. The afrobeats, reggae and salsa music will get you dancing very quickly.

Day 3 + 4: Rosario Islands

After just a few days in Cartagena, it’s time to get away from the crowds and head to the Rosario islands. This is a small cluster of islands simply off the coast of Cartagena, which provides you a real tropical getaway.

A whole lot of vacationers go to the principle island of Isla Grande just for the day, however I don’t advocate it. With the seashores in Cartagena being fairly crowded, I counsel staying on one of many islands for at the very least one night time. This approach you possibly can actually calm down and revel in this lovely tropical oasis.

The white sand and turquoise water seashores are unmatched by Cartagena, making it the prime spot to sit back and calm down or strive your hand at water sports activities like kayaking and scuba diving.

Considering the ferry schedule, in the event you did a day journey you’d solely have 6 hours of enjoyable within the solar, which is why it’s nicer to spend two days there.

Hotel Isla Bella is the proper place to remain on Isla Marina, an unspoiled smaller island subsequent to Isla Grande, with a spread of bungalows positioned proper on the beachfront. You can take pleasure in waking up every morning to the sound of the waves, swinging in your non-public hammock in your balcony and taking within the tropical vibes.

Spend your days exploring the island, renting one of many paddle boards or kayaks and hitting the waves, or strive your hand at snorkeling and diving within the crystal blue water. And don’t overlook to take a sundown stroll alongside the seashore!

And in the event you’re feeling adventurous, head out for an all-day journey by yourself non-public yacht. You will be capable to snorkel, take pleasure in your lunch and calm down on a lovely seashore, all whereas floating alongside the massive blue sea.

Alternatively, think about any of these Rosaria Island excursions which can take you to the very best bays and islands.

Day 5 – 7: Minca

After stress-free on the islands, it’s time to move inland and discover Colombia’s lush inexperienced mountains.

Minca is a small mountain village positioned 1 hour away from Santa Marta. It’s certainly one of my favourite locations in Colombia, identified for its unimaginable views of the Caribbean and its surrounding jungle.

It’s an ecotourism hotspot, residence to some beautiful eco-lodges, nice mountaineering trails, waterfalls, and bird-watching spots.

There are a ton of wonderful locations to remain in Minca — from high-end eco resorts to extra budget-friendly hostels and leases — however the one place I extremely advocate staying is Masaya Casas Viejas.

This lovely jungle lodge is ideal for these seeking to escape town and revel in nature within the coronary heart of Colombia. And the infinity pool overlooking the jungle is the proper place to chill off and calm down.

(You can e book Masaya at Expedia, Booking, or Hotels.com.)

Spend Day 1 in Minca stress-free after your lengthy journey, and take within the lovely views out of your resort. Consider a stroll into Minca city for a meal at the Lazy Cat, some native specialty espresso at Caficosta, or some amazingly yummy artsinal icecream at WAIRA.

On Day 2, you’ll want to be sure that to discover the encircling space. There are tons of nice hikes that lead by espresso fields or up waterfalls, together with zip traces and horseback using excursions for these on the lookout for just a little extra journey.

All these actions can both be achieved independently or may be booked at native brokers without having to pre-book on-line. If you’re unsure what to do, go to Jungle Joe in town’s primary avenue the place you possibly can collect all the knowledge.

In the afternoon, be sure that to go to the Pozo Azul, a lovely set of waterfalls and two pure swimming holes to chill off in after a day of mountaineering.

Minca can also be an incredible place to expertise many various unique birds of their pure habitat, making it the proper vacation spot for birdwatchers. Jungle Joe’s bird-watching tour is unimaginable, providing the prospect to identify the elusive toucan and lots of different creatures.

And no journey to Minca can be full with out visiting a espresso farm. Colombia is among the high coffee-producing nations on the earth, so don’t miss out on taking a tour of certainly one of its many native plantations. You will learn the way they make their distinctive espresso processing and revel in a cup of their freshly brewed brew.

On Day 3, I counsel both doing extra actions round Minca, or to take your likelihood to see one of the vital lovely locations in all of Colombia, Tayrona National Park. This large 1,200-hectare park stretches alongside the coast of Colombia and is residence to beautiful seashores and unimaginable wildlife.

The hottest option to discover Tayrona National Park is by a day journey from Santa Marta. So you have to to make your approach again to the larger metropolis and head to one of many many tour firms. You also can contact your tour supplier and ask if they provide a pick-up from Minca. This is the preferred tour possibility on Viator, whereas you will get the same Tayrona tour by GetYourGuide.

They will prepare for a roundtrip transport and entrance payment into the park, in addition to providing a number of totally different mountaineering excursions all through the jungle areas inside Tayrona National Park.

Start your day with a fast 1-hour hike by some dense jungle-lined paths till you attain Cabo San Juan seashore. This beautiful tropical white sand seashore is a must-see, and one of the vital lovely in all of Colombia.

Spend the remainder of your day absorbing the solar, swimming within the glowing blue waters, or mountaineering to some hidden spots round Cabo San Juan seashore.

I like to recommend attending to the park as early as attainable, because the seashores and trails will begin to get extra crowded because the day goes on. So be sure that to get up early, pack a picnic lunch with some contemporary fruit, and revel in your final day surrounded by untouched nature.

Extending your journey

If you possibly can prolong your time to 9 days in Colombia I extremely advocate visiting town of Medellin. As so many worldwide flights go away from Medellin to locations round on the earth, it’s a excellent place to cease and take 1 additional day earlier than heading residence.

Medellin was as soon as probably the most harmful metropolis on the earth however is now a bustling metropolis filled with attention-grabbing structure, unimaginable museums, pleasant locals, and a lot extra. Due to its tumultuous previous it’s the very best place to find out about Colombia’s latest historical past. The Real City Tour Medellin is extraordinarily informative and eye-opening.

You also can wander by the street-art-covered neighborhood of Comuna 13 in your go to, as it’s a actually distinctive expertise. This offers you a style of what Medellin went by and the way they’ve come again higher than ever.

Alternatively, in case your flight is by way of the capital Bogota, you should use your additional day in Bogota to go to the spectacular Gold Museum, the Botero Museum, and take a strolling tour across the outdated metropolis. Neither Bogota nor Medellin are lovely like Cartagena, however they will present you much more about Colombian historical past and tradition.

So whether or not you will have 1 week or 9 days, Colombia is the proper vacation spot for a jam-packed journey, as this Colombia journey information has hopefully demonstrated! It is an unforgettable nation, so don’t miss out on this wonderful alternative to discover one of the vital lovely nations in South America.

Travel Tips for First-time Colombia

Do you want a visa for Colombia?

No visa is important as most nations are granted 90 days in Colombia with out a visa.

Is Colombia secure?

Colombia is usually a secure nation. While there could also be some dangers in sure areas, with widespread sense and a little bit of analysis you need to be capable to take pleasure in your journey with none points. The nation has turn into an enormous vacationer vacation spot lately and has turn into very secure for guests to take pleasure in their time right here.

You can learn extra Colombia security data right here, although the outdated metropolis of Cartagena, Minca, and the close by seashores and islands lined listed below are identified to be very safe and headache-free.

Do you could know Spanish?

While understanding some Spanish may be useful, it’s not completely essential to take pleasure in your time in Colombia. There are loads of English-speaking locals and lots of excursions particularly designed for vacationers within the nation.

However, studying just a little bit forward of time or utilizing a translation app might help you navigate town and talk with locals.

What plug sort is utilized in Colombia?

The plug sort in Colombia is the usual North American model with two flat prongs.

How to pay for issues in Colombia?

The most typical choices for paying for issues in Colombia are by money or bank card. Many companies are actually accepting main bank cards, however I like to recommend at all times having money as many native locations and taxi drivers solely settle for money.

There are loads of ATMs all around the nation and yow will discover ones with low charges making it straightforward to withdraw money.

The native forex in Colombia is the Colombian peso. The Colombian Peso is an especially excessive forex that’s within the hundreds, so 25,000 COP is the equal of about $5.

At first, it will possibly appear insane when a taxi driver tells you your journey is 10,000 COP, however you’ll rapidly get the dangle of the forex and it gained’t appear as daunting.

When’s the very best time to go?

The greatest time to go to Colombia is from December to February when the climate is usually gentle and nice with hardly any rainfall.

However, that is additionally the height vacationer season in Colombia, so if you wish to keep away from crowds and better costs, it could be greatest to journey throughout the spring or fall as a substitute.

Regardless of whenever you go, with its pure magnificence and vibrant tradition, Colombia is bound to be an unforgettable expertise.