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1. The Weather

Colombia is considered “The Land of Eternal Spring” thanks to year-round temperate and consistent weather throughout much of the country – which includes cities like Medellin (mild), Manizales (mild), Cali (warm) and Bogota (cool). High elevations of cities like Medellin (5,000 feet), Manizales (7,000 feet) and particularly Bogota (8,500 feet) is the reason for such refreshing weather, along with the country’s position so close to the equator.

In many places, there’s no fluctuation in temperature – it literally stays the same all year! Just take a look at the averages for the city of Manizales, located in the coffee triangle:

The country does receive a substantial amount of rain, but as a visitor you can be thankful, because it leads to incredibly lush greenery and picturesque mountain landscapes. And while it does rain a lot in Colombia, severe weather events like tornados and hurricanes rarely occur. Rather, the most common natural disasters are mudslides and landslides.

This leads to easy packing – light jackets, t-shirts, shorts, jeans and sweatpants are all you’ll need unless you’re an adventurist and planning long hikes in the highest elevations. If you’re going to the Caribbean coast, you can simply pack warm-weather clothes with a rain jacket.

Note: It doesn’t rain nearly as much on the Caribbean coast in cities like Cartagena and Barranquilla, unless you’re visiting in rainy season from August to November. In fact, northern coastal regions receive almost zero rainfall from December through April.

2. The Scenery

As mentioned, the high amount of rain leads to spectacular greenery and scenery throughout most of Colombia.

The eastern half is dominated by the mostly flat Amazon rainforest, while the far west and northwest is rural beach and jungle.

But the north, central, and southwestern regions of Colombia are likely where you’re going to be exploring, unless you’re feeling super adventurous.

In the north, not only do you have beaches on the Caribbean along cities like Cartagena, Santa Marta, and Barranquilla, but you also have desert, frozen tundra, and snowcapped peaks.

Yes, you read that right – the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Park lies just 25 miles from the coast and boasts incredible ranges of geography from forest, to rainforest, to desert, to frozen tundra and snowcapped mountains at the highest elevations.

In this region includes Playa del Pilón de Azúcar, one of the most unique, beautiful beaches in South America, and the highest point in Colombia – Cristóbal Colón (5,775m).

Further south, you have unrelenting greenery in the midst of the Andes Mountains surrounding cities such as Medellin, Manizales, Armenia, and Bogota. In the rural areas of these parts you’ll find some of the most picturesque towns in South America such as Jardin, Jerico, and Salenta where you’re surrounded 360 degrees by beautiful, green mountains.

You’ll be guaranteed to have hundreds of pictures on your phone after leaving Colombia – and often a lot of the photos and settings will look the same. But that’s because so much of the country is just too beautiful not to capture.

3. The People

Colombians are welcoming, fun, and friendly. Depending on your itinerary, there’s a good chance you’ll make lasting friends on your trip, especially if visiting smaller towns or doing group tours (from my experience, most tourists I met on group tours/activities were Colombian and visiting from other parts of the country).

I have a couple memorable stories in particular about Colombian folks that you can read in full here. They are honest people who for the most part have no interest in scamming foreigners and will even ensure you don’t accidentally pay more than things are worth, if your Spanish isn’t quite up to par.

I went to a karaoke bar in Manizales where the singer – to be blunt – had some not-so-great vocals, but nobody cared and everybody was laughing and having a great time. While Colombians are hard-working, they’re also laid back, funny and extremely patient (they handle long travel delays much better than the average American).

4. The Food (and Coffee)

The best thing about Colombian food isn’t just the taste, it’s the price and availability. You can grab a bite at most street vendors and get pretty decent quality empanadas and arepas. It depends where you are, but my first meal in Colombia was from a street vendor in the small city of Buga. Four empanadas for my traveling companion and I cost 4,000 Colombian pesos – or $1.

Colombian specializes in coffee (obviously), empanadas, arepas, Bandeja Paisa, and numerous soups. One thing you’ll notice, and that Colombians will admit, is that they don’t really like salad. But what they lack in greens they make up for in meat and fruit. Also make sure not to miss their ever-popular frozen coconut lemonade.

5. The History

You can see the history of Colombia through the architecture, whether it’s the Spanish style Gothic cathedrals scattered throughout the country or the European-influenced narrow streets in places like Old Town, Cartagena.

Colombia is a diverse country. There are significant indigenous, European, Indian and African influences in culture and heritage, and you can see the difference depending on what part of the country you’re in.

Unfortunately, Colombia does have a violent not-too-distant past. There’s a lot to learn about the numerous guerrilla groups, cartels, and paramilitaries who have made their presence felt throughout the country over the past 50 years in armed conflicts. There have tragically been over 450,000 total casualties including 177,000 civilians killed since these conflicts began in 1964.

But don’t worry, Colombia is far safer today than it has been at any point over the past 50 years and violent crime rates have drastically fallen since 2002. But if you want to see, and learn about Colombia’s past, there are plenty of ways to do so such as walking around the Comuna Trece neighborhood in Medellin, speaking to locals, and visiting one of many museums.

6. The Adventure

With the Andes Mountains permeating so much of the country, Colombia boasts numerous adventure opportunities and outdoors sports for those who like a thrill.

Some favorites:

• Paraglide off hillside cliffs
• Go surfing on the Pacific coast
• Ride an ATV through the mountains and valleys to beaches or hidden waterfalls 
• Or, go horseback riding to those waterfalls
• Or, go canyoning down those waterfalls
• Rent a road bike or mountain bike
• Take a hike! Check out some of the best here
• Take a tour of a coffee farm (need suggestions? Contact me below!)

There is no shortage of adventure in Colombia. I suggest you do at least a couple of the activities above to make for the most well-rounded trip. And if you haven’t done any of these before or they sound intimidating, Colombia is the perfect place to get out of your comfort zone.

Have questions about your travels to Colombia? Leave a comment below or reach out to me directly!

Yes, Colombia is safe. Don’t let the Netflix series Narcos or the country’s violent past make you think this South American nation of over 50 million people is too dangerous to visit.

Colombian people are some of the friendliest you’ll come across, and their troubled past makes for a humble population who seem to appreciate living in a country with far less crime than 20 to 30+ years ago.

Genuine, Honest People

When traveling through Colombia, I encountered extremely genuine people who look out for one another. In fact, these two stories from my first day in Colombia should tell you a lot about what your experience might be like:

Immediately after arriving in the city of Buga, my travelling partner and I dropped our backpacks at the hotel and began exploring the area. It was a relatively lively town, with a lot of people at the main square.

We decided to use our Colombian money for the first time, stopping at a street vendor whose empanadas were calling our name. We asked for four (for reference, the exchange rate at the time was 10,000 Colombian pesos = $2.40 USD), and the man handed us our empanadas before we thought we heard him say “cuarenta” (40,000 pesos), a reasonable price for four empanadas (about $10). So, we handed him four 10,000 bills.

The man chuckled and took one of the 10,000 bills before handing us 6,000 in change.

He’d actually said “quatro” (4,000).

Rather than taking 10 times as much as we owed – and I honestly wouldn’t have blamed him – he saved us 36,000 pesos.

Later on, while starting a popular hike up the mountain that sat just next to the small city, a 50,000 Colombian bill ($12 USD) slipped out of my pocket, likely when pulling out my phone. I hadn’t noticed until about halfway through the hike. I figured it was gone for good – either it blew away in the wind or someone found it and it was their lucky day.

I was wrong.

About one hour later, while mesmerized at the view of the city from the top of the mountain, a man approached me and handed over the bill, asking if it was mine. He must have spotted it on the ground and seen me walking further ahead and assumed it was the clumsy gringo’s.

This is what I experienced in Colombia. Not once did I feel threatened, including while taking public transportation in Medellin, riding crowded buses in between cities, and walking through huge swaths of people in the incredibly unique Comuna Trece neighborhood of Medellin – a place I highly recommend visiting.

Areas to Avoid

Like most countries, there are parts of Colombia that are currently no-goes. Mainly around the borders – the remote areas near Panama, Ecuador, and Brazil and a more heavily populated border-region near Venezuela. However, those places aren’t necessarily prime destinations for visitors anyway. You won’t miss out by not being able to see those parts of the country.

Geographically, when people think Colombia, they think the Andes Mountains, lush greenery, and Caribbean beaches. They think of cities like Medellin, Bogota, Cali, and Cartagena.

Good news – you can explore all of these places without worrying more about your safety than you would in the average American city.

Crime Rates in Colombia Similar to Many American Cities

I don’t intend to scare readers by including the following in this article (reading about ‘homicide rates’ in an article about safety likely won’t ease your mind on first instinct), but the numbers are where the truth lies.

Here are the homicide rates per 10,000 people in four U.S. cities, with Colombia’s 2021 homicide rate included as well:

4.1 – New Orleans

3.8 – Cleveland

3.1 – Las Vegas

3.1 – Kansas City

2.7 – Colombia

I felt very secure traveling in Colombia, where the vast majority of violent crime is targeted, inter-gang-related, especially compared to the U.S. where random gun violence is at an all-time high.

Simple Tips to Ensure Your Safety While Traveling in Colombia

If walking around Medellin or Bogota, you should take all the precautions you would in any large metropolitan city in the U.S.

• Know what neighborhood you’re in and where you’re headed.
• Avoid neighborhoods notorious for high crime.
• Don’t flaunt your most eye-catching jewelry.
• Try not to walk alone at night in larger cities. The, villages, towns and small cities are typically fine.
• When using your phone, be aware of your surroundings. I’d advise not to have it out at all when walking the streets at night, particularly in large cities.

These are five good tips that I feel are enough to keep you safe in Colombia. In reality, my largest safety concern was maybe two or three instances throughout my nine days in Colombia where I noticed someone take a glance down at my pockets, but it was never a real concern. After all, I was a tall gringo sticking out from most everyone else.

Will You Be Taken Advantage of or Scammed as a Foreigner in Colombia?

Although it depends on where you are, likely no. Being scammed is something most travelers will not have to worry about.

I mentioned to a Colombian that I hadn’t experienced any people trying to get an extra dollar out of me on my trip despite being an obvious American. He told me that taking advantage of foreigners doesn’t really exist in most of the country, especially in the inland areas including Medellin, Cali, and Bogota.

He did mention that it is very possible to happen along the more touristy areas on the coast though, particularly Cartagena, so that is something to keep in mind if you’re planning a trip to the beaches.

You may get concerned reactions, especially when telling people from a certain generation who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, that Colombia is where your next adventure awaits. While the stigma unfortunately hasn’t fully faded away, you can rest assured that – so long as you practice standard safety measures such as the ones listed above – you will feel safe and secure in Colombia.

Have questions about your travels to Colombia? Leave a comment below or reach out to me directly!