Colombia is such a fun country to travel to and there are so many awesome and unique things to do. It’s so easy to just focus on what you will do when you actually arrive in Colombia. But this means you can overlook the little things.
So, this post is all about the little things. It’s all of the things that I think all travelers should know before traveling to Colombia (including some things that I wish I knew before my own trip).
Colombia Travel Tips About Money
Let’s start with focusing on money in Colombia.
ATMs will dispense large bills. Be prepared to break them.
When you arrive at Bogotá’s El Dorado airport, you’ll likely look for an ATM to withdraw some money. Since you’re just starting your trip, you decide to take out a larger amount of cash to cut down on ATM fees, so you withdraw 300,000 pesos. You’re almost certain to receive six 50,000 peso notes. Even when I withdrew 100,000 pesos, I got 50,000 peso notes.
These 50,000 notes are fine for larger purchases, but in general, you’ll want to have smaller notes. If you’re on local buses, buying something from a street vendor, or even taking a taxi, you’ll want to have as close to exact change as possible. Be prepared to break those big notes as soon as you can. For me, this meant going to the supermarket and paying for a bottle of water with a 50,000 note just to get smaller bills.
As a note, I expected more push back from vendors about having exact change or not wanting to give change. Based on what I had read, it seemed like you always needed to have exact change, but honestly, I never had issues. In general, I tried to avoid giving huge bills for small purchases (supermarkets excluded), but no one ever said anything or tried to avoid giving me change. Maybe I got lucky or maybe things have changed since other people have visited. Regardless, try to keep smaller bills.
Colombia Travel Tip #1 – Keep smaller bills and always try to have as close to exact change as possible.
Card is more accepted than you think.
Sometimes it’s a pain to mess with cash, especially for large purchases. The good news is that credit cards are widely accepted throughout Colombia. Of course, it’s a good idea to always have cash on you because it’s not uncommon to find restaurants or buses that will only accept cash. However, cards are more accepted than you think.
Throughout my trip, I paid with a combination of cash and card. I paid for all of my hotels with my credit card. I paid for half of my long distance buses with card (which was only possible if I bought a ticket from the ticket office) while the other half, I paid the driver in cash. For restaurants, it was a mix. I tended to pay with cash, but there were a handful that I could pay with credit card.
As far as activities, I booked one of my activities online by contacting the operator directly (as their website had a cheaper price than GetYourGuide). They sent me a link to pay with credit card, but it didn’t work. In this instance, I ended up paying for my tour in cash (yes, 352,000 pesos in cash).
Colombia Travel Tip #2 – Always carry cash, but you will often be able to use your credit card.
Many restaurants will include the tip.
When you get your bill, one of two things will happen. You’ll either be asked if you want to include the service or you will just be handed your bill.
If you include the service, an additional 10% will be added to your bill. This is the tip and you don’t have to leave anything extra.
If you are handed a bill, look for the word “Propina”. If you see this line on your bill, this is the tip and you do not have to leave anything extra.
Colombia Travel Tip #3 – Pay attention to your bill because the tip may already be included.
Colombia Travel Tips About Bogotá
Bogotá is the capital city of Colombia and most international travelers will start or end their trip here.
Bogotá is high in elevation and hills can feel like you’re dying.
Colombia is one of the highest capital cities in the world. The city sits at about 8500 feet (about 2600 meters) above sea level. While it’s very unlikely to experience altitude sickness, you may still be affected by the altitude.
I live at sea level, so any time I travel to higher elevations, it takes me awhile to acclimatize. In Bogotá, that meant that I huffed and puffed up every single hill in the city. I like to think that I’m in decent shape, but preparing for altitude is very difficult. So my advice is to be ready for it, take it slow, and drink plenty of water if you’re not used to these elevations.
Colombia Travel Tip #4 – You may constantly find yourself out of breath while walking in Bogotá.
Traffic in Bogotá is awful.
Bogotá is a huge city with over 11 million residents. All of those people, and the millions of tourists who visit every year, need to get around and that causes chaos. Bogotá’s streets are just not meant for this many people. So, you need to pack your patience because the traffic in Bogotá is brutal and it takes a lot longer than you think to get anywhere in the city.
When I left Bogotá to travel to Villa de Leyva, I went to the bus station at Terminal Salitre. We then stopped at Bogotá’s Terminal del Norte on the way out of the city. If you put this route into Google Maps, you’ll see that it’s only 22 kilometers (13.7 miles) between the two bus terminals. Yet it takes nearly an hour to crawl your way through the city. Likewise, it was 13 kilometers (8.1 miles) from the airport to my hostel, but it took nearly 40 minutes for the taxi journey.
Bogotá is in the process of building an underground metro system which should help to alleviate some of the traffic issues. However, the first line of the metro is not scheduled to open until 2028, and a Colombian I spoke to said that felt optimistic.
Colombia Travel Tip #5 – Prepare for traffic and give yourself plenty of time while traveling in Bogotá.
Colombia Travel Tips About Transportation
Bogotá is great, but there’s so much more to see in Colombia. But in order to see all of these great places, you’ll need to physically travel there. Here’s my tips for transportation in Colombia.
Some cities have multiple bus stations.
Bogotá is a massive city so it’s not too much of a surprise that it has two bus stations. You’ll find Terminal Salitre and Terminal del Norte. But even smaller cities have multiple bus stations. In San Gil, there’s the main bus terminal which handles connections to major cities throughout Colombia and the smaller Terminalito station that handles local buses to other cities in the region (like Barichara).
These are just two examples, but you need to pay attention and make sure you know which bus station you need. In Bogotá, I took a bus to Villa de Leyva and my bus stopped at both Terminal Salitre and Terminal del Norte. But this isn’t always the case. Do your research (or ask a local or your hotel) which bus station you need for your particular bus route.
Colombia Travel Tip #6 – Make sure you use the correct bus station.
It can be impossible to find bus schedules online.
I am a planner and like to know what my options are. Even if I don’t book a bus ticket until the day I travel, I still want to have a rough idea of what the bus schedule is so I can plan the rest of my day. Colombia does not make this easy.
Yes, you can find some bus schedules online, particularly if it’s a major bus route (like Bogotá to Medellin). But this isn’t always a guarantee. There are loads of bus companies in Colombia and not every company has an online presence.
So what do you do?
First, you have to understand that Colombia has a huge network of buses and you will almost certainly be able to find a bus to where you need to go (even if you need to transfer at some point along the way).
Next, do your best for research. Rome2Rio provides a start and redbus.co also proved helpful while planning. But even then, I still struggled to find some of the routes. Research travel blogs and forums. If you’re going to anywhere that other tourists visit, someone has written about it online.
Lastly, in a worst case scenario, show up to the bus station and ask when the next bus leaves .
Colombia Travel Tip #7 – Bus schedules are difficult to find, but there are so many routes that will get you to where you need to go.
Bus schedules may not be posted at the station either.
Ok, so bus schedules aren’t posted online, but they’re posted at the bus station, right? That would be way too easy. I visited bus stations in Bogotá, Villa de Leyva, Tunja, and San Gil on my trip to Colombia.
Only one of those stations had bus schedules posted. That station was Villa de Leyva and was the smallest of the bus stations that I visited.
When I arrived at the bus stations in Bogotá, Tunja, and San Gil, there were no posted schedules. Instead, there was a counter for each bus line above each counter was a digital sign advertising destinations.
Thankfully through my online research I had been able to put together a schedule of when I thought the bus would leave (and which company operated that bus), so I just went up to that counter and asked “Cuando es la Proxima bus a ___ ?” (When is the next bus to ___?). They confirmed that the bus left soon and I purchased a ticket. It all worked out, but I’ll be the first to admit, it would have been so nice to have schedules (and prices!) posted.
Colombia Travel Tip #8 – You will likely need to ask each company for a bus schedule.
Don’t be surprised by a late bus.
Things don’t necessarily run on time in Colombia and this includes buses.
In Bogotá, I arrived at the bus station and asked when the next bus to Villa de Leyva left. I was told in five minutes, so I bought my ticket and went to board the bus. Here’s the problem. The bus wasn’t there. Not only did we not leave until twenty minutes after the bus was scheduled to depart but the bus didn’t arrive until 15 minutes after it was scheduled to depart. And this the bus originated in Bogotá.
On the other end of the spectrum, I took a small, local bus from Guane to Barichara. We left at 11:20 am. Later that day, I found a sign posted at the bus station in Barichara stating that the bus from Guane to Barichara left at 11:30 am.
Time just works differently in Colombia.
Colombia Travel Tip #9 – Just because a bus says it will leave at 10:00, doesn’t mean it will leave at 10:00.
You can use Uber, but not every city has Uber.
If you don’t speak much Spanish, you may not feel comfortable negotiating with taxi drivers. Therefore, you might feel more comfortable using Uber (or some other ride sharing service).
First, if you look online to see if Uber exists in Colombia, you’ll find mixed answers. There was a court case a few years ago and Uber’s legal status was questionable. When I traveled in 2024, Uber was operating in the big cities in Colombia (like Bogotá, Medellin, Bucaramanga, Cartagena, etc.). And yes, it was operating legally.
Next, just because Uber exists in the big cities, don’t expect to see it everywhere. I used Uber in Bogotá and saw it in Bucaramanga, but when I was in San Gil, Uber did not exist. It wasn’t that there weren’t drivers in San Gil, Uber was just not available in San Gil. So while you may have access to Uber, you won’t always have access to Uber everywhere.
Lastly, based on advice from other travelers, use caution when using an Uber to connect with an airport. While in general, travelers seem to be in agreement that it’s fine to take an Uber to the airport, you may have some issues getting a pick up from the airport. This stems from the court case that brought Uber’s legality into question. The taxi drivers don’t like Uber had been known to harass Uber drivers from the airport.
Personally, I used taxis to get to and from the airport, but I used Uber to get from my hostel to the bus station in Bogotá.
Colombia Travel Tip #10 – Uber is available is many large cities, but it’s not available everywhere.
Do you track your steps? Not on Colombian buses you don’t.
I don’t track my steps religiously, but I do often look to my phone to see how many steps I’ve taken. I just like to get a gauge of how active I’ve been. That’s all good and fine, except Colombian roads are very bumpy. My phone counted nearly 2000 steps while I sat on a bus. I can guarantee you that I was not walking during that time, but my phone thought I was.
It doesn’t just stop at activity tracking. I like to read while in transit but the roads in Colombia were so bumpy that I had to just give up. I couldn’t read when my Kindle was bouncing all over the place.
Colombia Travel Tip #11 – Colombian buses are extremely bumpy.
Colombia drivers are something else.
One of the biggest things I learned in Colombia is that every lane is a passing lane if you believe in yourself. It does not matter what lines are on the road, what signs you might see, or if you’re coming up to a curve. If you driver thinks he can pass the car in front of him, he will do so. This may lead you to question the sanity of your bus driver.
I arrived at each of my destinations without any issues, but I will admit that my bus drivers made me a bit nervous. It got a lot better when I looked out my own window instead of looking ahead to what the driver was doing.
Colombia Travel Tip #12 – Take care on buses and don’t panic when you’re driver makes a crazy maneuver.
Give yourself more time than you think you’ll need for transportation.
From Terminal Salitre in Bogotá to the bus station in Villa de Leyva, Google Maps says it’s 169 kilometers (105 miles). It doesn’t seem like it should take that long, but that journey took me nearly four hours. This isn’t an isolated incident. Every bus ride I took in Colombia looked short if you went strictly by mileage, but took much longer than you’d expect.
So why do buses take so long? There’s two reasons.
The first is traffic. If you’re in a big city like Bogotá, Medellin, or Cartagena, it will take you time to get out of the city. In my case, it took nearly an hour to get from Terminal Salitre to Terminal del Norte in Bogotá (a distance of 22 kilometers, or 13 miles).
The second reason is the terrain of Colombia. The country is covered in mountains and that means bumpy and windy roads. Even if there wasn’t traffic, you couldn’t travel that fast (although I’m sure there are some Colombian drivers who would try).
These two things put together can add up to some frustrating travel days if you’re not prepared. In general, I recommend giving yourself a full day for travel, regardless of how long you think it will take. If you arrive early, fantastic! If you don’t, you didn’t have big plans anyway.
Colombia Travel Tip #13 – Driving anywhere in Colombia will take longer than you think.
Colombia Travel Tips About Weather
In general, Colombia has two seasons: rainy season and dry season. While the weather is less volatile than other countries, there’s still some tips related to weather in Colombia.
If you’re traveling in the rainy season, always carry an umbrella.
Rainy season doesn’t meant that it will rain 24/7, but rather you need to be prepared for rain at any time. I traveled during rainy season and it rained every day of my trip. That said, the rain was typically limited to the afternoon (although there was at least one rainy morning).
Be prepared for rain at any time and carry an umbrella. Learn from my mistakes. I needed to run to the supermarket and I figured I’d be gone for twenty minutes. I had just walked out of the hostel and realized I didn’t have an umbrella. I figured, no big deal. It’ll only be twenty minutes. I’ll be fine. As you can probably imagine, I was not fine and it started absolutely pouring. I was only a few blocks away from my hostel, but I still ended up soaked.
Colombia Travel Tip #14 – In rainy season, always be prepared for rain.
Sunshine exists even in the rainy season.
As I just explained, it does not rain 24/7 during rainy season. Likewise, you’ll likely still see the sun during rainy season. On my trip, there was sunshine on every day except one.
With that sunshine, you’ll want to make sure you have protection against the sun. Colombia is close to the equator, plus with the mountains, you will be higher in elevation (depending on where you are in the country). You will need sun protection for your trip, even during the rainy season.
Colombia Travel Tip #15 – In rainy season, it will not rain all day, every day.
Don’t trust the weather apps for when the rain will start.
In general, weather apps should just be treated as a general guide. However, I find that at home, weather apps are decently accurate about telling me when the rain might start. This was not the case in Colombia.
Maybe I was using the wrong app, but it was never accurate with the rain. It would tell me that it was currently raining even though I was outside in the sunshine. On the other end of the spectrum, there were times where it was raining and my phone said it was clear.
Colombia Travel Tip #16 – Use weather apps as a guide, but not absolute truth.
Colombia Travel Tips About Safety
When you tell people you plan to travel to Colombia, be ready for all sorts of comments asking about whether it’s safe to visit Colombia. In fact, I got so many comments that I wrote an entire post about safety in Colombia. But let’s talk about some less obvious safety tips.
Cross streets with care.
In large cities like Bogotá, you’ll probably find cross signals at major intersections. But in small towns and some parts of the large cities, there’s no controls. It seems like all intersections become uncontrolled intersections. Those uncontrolled intersections aren’t just for cars, they’re for pedestrians as well.
Cross the streets with care, making sure that it’s mostly clear before you cross. Follow the lead from locals and cross confidently. Particularly when I was in San Gil, I found myself just having to “go for it” when crossing some streets. There was always a line of cars and if I wanted to get to my destination, I just had to wait for what looked like the best opportunity (typically when a car from a different direction was turning) and go for it.
Colombia Travel Tip #17 – Walk with the appropriate mix of caution and confidence.
You can use your phone in public but be smart about it.
One of the top safety tips you’ll find is to not use your phone in public. If you use your phone in public, you make it easier for thieves to steal it from you. If you’ve never traveled to Colombia or South America before, you might feel the need to follow this advice to the letter. And if you rely on your phone for maps or as your camera, you might be concerned.
Here’s the thing, you can use your phone while you travel in Colombia but you need to be smart about it. This means that keeping your phone use minimal when you are in public. If you need to take a photo or look at your map, step to the side, do it quickly, and immediately put your phone away again. Plus, keep a tight grip on your phone when you do use it in public.
Colombia Travel Tip #18 – Bring your phone with you, but be smart about its use.
In general, it is not safe to drink the tap water.
If you’re from a western country, it’s a bad idea to drink the tap water. The good news is that bottled water is readily available at supermarkets and convenience stores and it’s cheap (1500 to 2000 COP for a one liter bottle).
I don’t love the idea of using plastic bottles, but I really don’t like the idea of stomach sickness from bad water. So for me, it meant using plastic bottles for my nine days in Colombia.
There are options to avoid plastic bottles that you can bring with you (Steri-Pen, filtering/purifying water bottles, etc.) and a few hotels may offer purified water for you to fill up your reusable water bottle. But in general, be prepared to not drink water from the tap.
Colombia Travel Tip #19 – Stick to bottled water to avoid stomach issues.
Colombia Travel Tips About Communication
So now that you’re going to Colombia, you need to be able to communicate with Colombians. Let’s talk about it.
You will need more Spanish than you think.
Colombians speak Spanish so it should be no surprise that you’ll need to know some Spanish for your trip. But my advice is to learn as much Spanish as you can before your trip. The more Spanish you understand, the easier your trip will be.
Occasionally you may find some English, but I wouldn’t count on it. It was very rare that I found any English while traveling Colombia. Outside of the Bogotá airport, there was one bus station where I remember seeing signs in both Spanish and English (in Tunja) and quite frankly I was shocked to see the English titles.
While it should seem obvious that you’ll need to speak Spanish when you’re in Colombia, I feel the need to point it out. If you’ve traveled in Europe, you may know that it’s pretty easy to travel if you don’t speak English. There’s loads of subtitles and plenty of Europeans who speak English as a second language. This is not standard in Colombia and you need to be prepared.
Colombia Travel Tip #20 – The more Spanish you know, the easier your trip will be.
Colombians are so friendly and so patient.
I speak a little Spanish. I can read a menu, ask for directions, and purchase a bus ticket. It’s not great, but I got by during my time in Colombia. Even though many Colombians don’t speak English, they are so patient while you try to struggle through Spanish. Try your best, but know that Colombians are so friendly and willing to help.
Colombia Travel Tip #21 – Colombians are so nice and willing to help.
Pay attention when booking your accommodation if English is important to you.
I’ve already talked about how English is limited and this extends to hotels. If it’s important to have English at your hotel, pay attention when you are making your reservation. On booking.com, they’ll list which languages are spoken at each accommodation. Many hotels in Colombia will only have English listed, but there will be options, especially if you have a larger budget.
Colombia Travel Tip #22 – Not every hotel will have staff that speak English.
Even if the accommodation says “English”, you may not get English.
So you’ve decided that you wanted to have some peace of mind and you booked a hotel that said that the staff speaks English. You still may not have staff that speaks English. Many times, this may mean that there is one staff member that speaks English but there’s no guarantee that they will be working when you arrive.
I booked a hostel in San Gil that said that English was an option. I did the entire check in process, including an overview of everything there is to do in the area, in Spanish. And believe me, it’s pretty obvious that I am not a Spanish speaker. I got through it (and was able to understand most of what they were telling me), but I think it’s something to be aware of, especially if having English speakers at your hotel is important to you.
Colombia Travel Tip #23 – Just because a hotel listing says “English”, doesn’t mean you will have English speaking hoteliers.
Download Google Translate for offline use.
So by now it’s clear that you need to be prepared to communicate in Spanish. But, what you can, and should, do is download a translation app. I use Google Translate and there is the ability to use translation offline. Download it ahead of time, and use it. It will help you decipher menus and conversations with locals.
Colombia Travel Tip #24 – Don’t be afraid to use Google Translate in a conversation.
Colombia Travel Tips About Everything Else
I have three more tips that don’t really feel fit anywhere else in these categories. So let’s get into these last travel tips.
When you go to a restaurant, be ready to eat.
At every restaurant I ate at, the portions were huge. Thankfully I was always very hungry, but portions were huge and it was not unusual that I couldn’t finish all of my food (or that I left unbelievably full). As an example, I was craving a burger toward the end of my trip so I went to the famous Gringo Mike’s in San Gil. The children’s burger was huge and enough for me for a meal.
And if you think it’s just one restaurant, think again. On my day trip from Bogotá, we stopped at a restaurant in Zipaquirá. I don’t think anyone on my tour was able to finish all of their food.
Every single meal left me incredibly full.
Colombia Travel Tip #25 – Food portions can be huge.
Not every restroom has toilet paper.
In many places in the world, including Colombia, it’s a good idea to carry toilet paper throughout the day. You just never know when public toilet will have toilet paper. You don’t want to find out once you’re already in the stall that there isn’t toilet paper there.
And it’s also good to note that in many places throughout Colombia, you can’t flush the toilet paper.
Colombia Travel Tip #26 – Always carry some spare toilet paper in your day pack.
Plan to sleep in or have lazy mornings.
Things do not start early in Colombia. For some travelers, that’s not really a concern. But for people who like to get an early start, this can be problematic. Many sights won’t open until 10:00 and if you’re an early riser, that can throw off your day. Sleep in, get a good breakfast, and don’t plan things too early in the morning.
Colombia Travel Tip #27 – Things do not start early in the day in Colombia.
Final Thoughts
That’s a wrap on my top travel tips for Colombia. Hopefully, these will help you plan, and have, a better trip.
Continue Your Adventure
Colombia: Start your adventure in Bogotá with its famous museums and street art. Venture to Villa de Leyva for its picturesque streets. In San Gil, you can day trip to the colonial town of Barichara.
Colombia Travel Guide: Use my Colombia Travel Guide for everything you need to your trip to Colombia started including my nine day itinerary and a realistic travel budget.