Are you planning a trip to Colombia but aren’t sure how much it’s going to cost? I know the feeling, but now after returning from my own trip, I can tell you exactly what I spent. Using this information, I hope you are able to come up with a reasonable Colombia travel budget.
But, if you don’t want to read all of the details, the bottom line is Colombia is a cheap and affordable country to travel.
About My Trip
My trip to Colombia was nine days (technically ten because my last day was a very long travel day). I started in Bogotá and then headed east to Villa de Leyva and San Gil before catching a flight back to Bogotá from Bucaramanga. During this time, I mostly stuck to self exploring although I did take a guided day trip from Bogotá.
About My Travel Style
While I am a solo traveler, I prefer a private room. My alone time is much more valuable to me than meeting other travelers. So in each stop, I had a private room. In all but one stop, I had a private bathroom.
As a note, I booked my hotels early so I could find hotels at a good price that met my requirements. However, the day before I left, I got an email from my hotel in Bogotá stating that there was an issue with my room and I wouldn’t be able to stay, so I had to scramble for a last minute room. Options were very limited, hence why I ended up with a room without a private bathroom.
As far as food, two of my four hotels provided breakfast (the exceptions being that last minute hostel in Bogotá and an airport hotel in Bogotá), which covered one meal. Every day I would go out for a late lunch and make that my one big meal. I typically had some snacks at my hotel for later at night if I was still hungry.
A Note about Currency
Colombia uses the Colombian Peso (COP) as their currency. When you pay with cash, or even if you charge it to your credit card, this is the currency you will use. That said, I’m an American and so this post will use US dollars (USD).
How Much Did I Spend in Colombia?
| Total Spent | Average Per Day (9 Nights) | |
| Hotel | $279.57 | $31.06 |
| Transportation | $72.26 | $8.03 |
| Food | $73.50 | $8.17 |
| Activities | $90.74 | $10.08 |
| Miscellaneous | $0.30 | $0.03 |
| Total | $517.29 | $57.47 |
Colombia Travel Budget Breakdown
Sure, numbers are fine, but lets breakdown each of those categories further to give a little more detail. I’ll also give some ideas for ways you can adjust the budget, either to save money or to travel more luxuriously.
Hotels
I stayed in four hotels in Colombia. Three of the four were average hotels, but one was a splurge because it was an international chain that I used for my overnight layover in Bogotá. In total, I spent $279.57 on my nine nights in Colombia, but let’s break that down.
First and foremost, let’s cover my airport hotel. I took an evening flight from Bucaramanga to Bogotá, had a 14 hour overnight layover in Bogotá, and then had a 9:00 am flight from Bogotá back to the United States. So, it made sense to just stay at an airport hotel. This was the most expensive hotel of my trip and it cost me $75.20 for the night. Compared to traveling in the United States, this was a bargain. However, for Colombia, it was nearly double what I paid for most other hotels.
If we eliminate my airport hotel, I can bring my hotel costs down from $279.57 for nine nights to $204.37 for eight nights, and that makes a pretty big difference. So let’s talk about my other hotels.
I spent three nights in Bogotá where I spent $33.16 per night in a private room in a hostel. It did have a shared bathroom, but I have an important caveat here. I originally had a different hotel booked in Bogotá. It was almost the exact same price and had a private bathroom and included daily breakfast (the hostel I stayed in had breakfast for an extra charge).
The day before my flight to Colombia, my hotel cancelled on me and I had to find a new place to stay last minute, so I had to decide if I wanted to spend more or receive less. I chose to receive less because there weren’t many options available that close (at least in my price range).
So, the lesson here is that to have the most choice and get the best value, book early.
Continuing on, I spent two nights in Villa de Leyva for $23.40 per night and three nights in San Gil for $19.36 per night. Both places had a private room, private bathroom, and included breakfast in the morning. Though as a note, I do have to mention that in San Gil, there was no hot water for showers. Thankfully it was very warm in San Gil, but a warm shower would have been nice.
As I wrap up the hotel aspect of my budget, what are my thoughts? In general, I think if you budget $25 per night (slightly more in Bogotá), you’ll be able to sleep relatively comfortably in private rooms.
Adjustments to the Budget
You can absolutely go cheaper than what I did, especially if you’re willing to use hostel dorm beds. Still, I was comfortable with each of my accommodations, but I could have absolutely spent more for nicer accommodations.
My advice here is that if you plan to stay in more private rooms, you should look to book earlier. I learned from experience that if you need to book a budget hotel room last minute, it can be hard to do. Obviously this may be different based on days (my stay was for a weekend where there was a big concert in Plaza de Bolivar in Bogotá), but I had significantly more options when I booked a few months in advance.
Transportation
Normally when I cover transportation, I break it into two categories: intercity transportation and intracity transportation. Well, in Colombia, it makes more sense to do one big bucket because I didn’t have much intracity transportation.
During my trip to Colombia, I spent $72.26 on transportation. This includes all of my transportation including airport taxis, large intercity buses, and the smaller, regional buses for day trips. This works out to $8.04 per day, even though not every day had transportation expenses.
So let’s break down that $72.26.
I had two airport taxis. The first was a taxi from the Bogotá airport to my hostel and the second was from the Bucaramanga bus station to the airport. I spent $19.19 on the taxi from Bogotá, but I accidentally got in line for the expensive Imperial Taxis. A normal yellow taxi would have been half this cost. In Bucaramanga, I paid $9.57 for a metered taxi from the taxi rank at the bus station.
I had several long distance buses and for each of these buses, I purchased tickets at the bus station. I went from Bogotá to Villa de Leyva ($8.98), Villa de Leyva to Tunja ($2.76), Tunja to San Gil ($11.50), and San Gil to Bucaramanga ($5.75).
I also took a handful of local buses in San Gil to reach Barichara and the Juan Curi Waterfalls. These buses ranged from $1 to $2 depending on how long I was on the bus.
And lastly, I had one Uber to get from my hostel to the bus station in Bogotá. This cost $6.69.
So what does all of this mean?
In general, I think it means that it’s affordable to get around in Colombia. In general, I’d recommend setting aside the following.
Taxis to/from airport: $10 to $15
Local, regional buses: $2 (for a journey of about one hour)
Intercity buses: $2.50 per hour (so $10 for a four hour bus ride)
Adjustments to the Budget
There are two big things I could have done to save money. The first is at the airport in Bogotá. I could have gotten a yellow taxi instead of the white Imperial Taxis. The price would have been half the cost that I actually paid.
The second thing would have been to ask around at the different bus stations. Bus schedules aren’t posted, nor are ticket prices. I was able to gather enough information from the internet to figure out a rough schedule and which company would take me where I needed to go. But there are several companies doing these routes so if you’re on a budget, don’t be afraid to ask at multiple ticket desks. You may find a bus that’s cheaper.
Food
During my nine days in Colombia, I spent $73.50 on food, or roughly $8.17 per day. Let’s break that down.
At my hotels in Villa de Leyva and San Gil, I had an included breakfast each morning. In Bogotá, I paid for my breakfast at the hotel for two of my three days (and stuck to snacks due to an early wake up call on the third day). Each day, I had a meal out (typically lunch) where most of this money comes from.
Additionally, this amount includes bottled water and a few snacks picked up from the grocery store.
As far as what I ate, I looked for reasonably priced meals. It was never the cheapest restaurant, but I also didn’t splurge every single day. For the average traveler, I think setting aside about $10 per day for food will leave you satisfied.
I also picked up a few snacks from the grocery store, but these costs were pretty minimal as I mostly stuck to eating in restaurants.
Additionally, it’s not safe to drink the tap water in most places in Colombia, so I stuck to bottled water for my time in the country. Since I don’t typically drink soda or alcohol, water is pretty much all I drink, so my water costs may be slightly higher than the average person. In general, I found it was about 1500 to 2000 COP ($0.30 to $0.45 in USD) for a one liter bottle of water from the supermarket.
Adjustments to the Budget
If you’re a foodie traveler, you could absolutely increase this budget and treat yourself. On the other hand, I splurged on a handful of meals and could have kept my budget down by eating more local food if I wanted to. For the average traveler, I think my budget is a good place to start. You’ll eat on a budget, but occasionally be able to treat yourself.
Activities
Finally we get to activities. I spent $90.74 on activities in Colombia. While that number seems like a lot, I think it’s really important to see what went into that number.
By far, my biggest cost was a guided day trip that I took from Bogotá. It was a full day day trip to Guatavita and Zipaquirá that cost $80.96. That means that the rest of my activities for all of Colombia was just $10. That seems like such a small amount but it includes the funicular to Monseratte, the Museo del Oro in Bogotá, and entrance to the Juan Curi Waterfall in San Gil.
Everything else in Colombia was free. I hiked to a lot of viewpoints, toured free churches, explored the street art in La Candelaria in Bogotá, and strolled the streets of Villa de Leyva and Barichara. I don’t feel like I missed out on much in the places that I visited, although some could say that I skipped all of the adventure activities in San Gil (which is technically true, but I wasn’t feeling it and I have no regrets about skipping these).
So, what does this mean for your budget. For full day, guided day trips, plan to spend between $50 to $100. This is where so much of your activity expense will come from. But for museums and other small entrance fees, I think you’d be fine with budgeting between $5 and $10 per day if you plan to be very busy.
Adjustments to the Budget
You could absolutely spend more on your activities. Bogotá is full of museums, but many of these have small entrance fees ($1 to $2 each). In San Gil, there are so many adventure activities like ziplining, rafting, bungee jumping, and so much more. If you’re interested in these types of activities, you’ll want to raise your budget.
Still, if you are on a tighter budget, look to do as much as you can independently. That’s what will save you the most money. And keep an eye out for free activities. There are so many free and cheap options throughout Colombia.
Miscellaneous
My miscellaneous budget is so small that it’s barely worth mentioning, but I did spend a tiny bit of money to use a bathroom at the bus station in Tunja. In general, expect to pay between 1000 and 1500 COP ($0.25 and $0.30 USD) to use a bathroom in a bus station. You’ll need to have cash for this.
A Reminder About Inflation
I traveled in November of 2024. It’s only natural that prices will increase over time, so do your research to make sure you are still on track for your budget.
Final Thoughts
I knew from my initial research that Colombia would not be a strain on my budget. That’s great news because earlier in the year, I had traveled to Scandinavia where I did have to keep a close eye on my budget. But in general, my trip to Colombia was more affordable that I had planned and I’d even go so far as to say it was cheap for an American to visit. There are plenty of places for a splurge, but I feel like Colombia is a place where you can make your travel budget stretch just a bit further.
Continue Your Adventure
Colombia: My nine day itinerary is perfect for your first trip to Colombia. Start in the capital city of Bogotá, head east to the colonial town of Villa de Leyva, and finish in the adventure capital of San Gil. Don’t miss my Colombia Travel Guide for tips, safety advice, and everything you need to plan your trip.
More Travel Budgets: For more about travel budgeting, check out my detailed travel budgets for Chile and Scandinavia.