Shush, don´t say it too loud, but Colombia is quite safe to travel measured by South American standards nowadays. It still suffers from its bad reputation from the drug war times but once the word spreads, Colombia will take off. There are already many backpackers around and places like Cartagena are really touristy with cruise ships stopping by. However you rarely run into big tour groups yet. Right now I would say Colombia is the most interesting country to travel in South America, as it has everything: Caribbean Coast, Pacific Coast, Amazon Rainforest, 5,000m high mountains, deserts, interesting archaeologic sites, extremely charming colonial towns, lovely people, a good travel infrastructure and a reasonable price level. There is so much to see, you can easily spend 5 to 6 weeks just to experience the highlights. So, what are you waiting for?
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In one of the biggest cities in South America, the most interesting points for tourists are fortunately packed together in the Candelaria (old town) area. After having seen already some stunning colonial architecture on this trip, the Candelaria couldn‘t impress me too much. I also haven’t seen that many beggars and homeless on the streets than around here. It’s worthwhile spending some time in the famous gold and Botero museums. I heard it’s also nice to visit Cerro de Monserrate, a viewpoint offering a great view over the city. I didn’t go as I felt not that well - maybe an effect of the altitude at 2,625m in Bogotá.
Featuring in many telenovelas, Barichara is the superstar among the small colonial villages with cobblestone streets, whitewashed buildings and red-tiled roofs. Surprisingly it didn’t feel touristy at all, especially in the afternoon and early morning, without the day trippers from San Gil. A nice path leads 5 kilometers to Guane, an even quieter village.
Being the adventure capital of Colombia, San Gil offers something for everyone, from rafting to canyoning, from ziplining to paragliding and much more. I decided to go on a rafting trip and was not disappointed. After a gentle start, the rapids became more and more spectacular, even flipping our raft one time. It was quite a struggle to get back in the raft and at least during the time in the wild water no fun at all. But shortly after, everything was forgotten: the adventure went on…
The tiny fishing village of Taganga is a classical backpacker hangout with many hostels, restaurants, bars and a chilled atmosphere. I loved the place and especially enjoyed to chill out in a hammock in the nice green setting of my hostel Casa Felipe, sipping on one of my favorite fresh fruit juices of passion fruit or lulo. Originally I planned to stay three nights in Tayrona National Park, but finally I just stayed one night, spending more time in Taganga. The park offers beautiful beaches and a great mountain backdrop covered with jungle. Unfortunately the place is extremely popular around Christmas and New Year, so queues in front of the few toilets and showers are common and long at Capo San Juan (the most popular place). We were extremely lucky as we arrived late and all hammocks were already full, but suddenly got offered one of the two rooms in the mirador over the water. Someone didn’t show up in time - jackpot!!!
IMHO, Cartagena is the Champions League winner of all the glorious colonial cities. It’s a bit like Havanna, however without the morbid appearance in some areas. It’s full of fascinating colorful houses with the famous wooden balconies. There is music all around and it’s busy until late at night. A true pearl, although already very touristy.
It’s not the most beautiful city with its huge modern blocks, but it’s lovely located in a valley and offers spring temperature the whole year around. The locals called paisas are extremely nice. Everyone seems to love Medellin. Actually it made a huge turnover. Not that long ago, during the times of druglord Pablo Escobar, the city had the highest murder rate in the world. Since his death, the city did amazingly well with an innovative way to establish a safe environment, based on a strong and omnipresent police force. Furthermore, visible social projects were initiated, such as the teleferrico. It connects the poor area in a fast way with the city center, so people have access to the job market. The third pillar is education, e.g. lots of libraries were build in the barrios. Every single one is a architectonical highlight, so people are quite proud of them. The metro, built with huge difficulties in the darkest times, is not just a transport system but a symbol for the people - so nobody dares to spray, damage or litter it as in other places.
Salento is a small typical village and I expected a quiet time at New Year’s Eve. Man, was I wrong! All Bogotá and Medellin must have had decided to invade this village for the holidays: the center was packed with people, the main plaza was surrounded by food stalls selling the famous trouts, and the main road seemed to be a huge shopping mall. Almost all hostel showed a sign, saying “no accommodation available”. Luckily I‘d booked in advance. On New Year’s Eve, many people gathered in the main square. Surprisingly there is almost no firework, instead man-sized puppets are being burned in the streets.
Salento wouldn’t see so many tourist without this close-by valley, which is full of wax palms, the official national trees which are up to 50 m high - word record! To avoid the masses, I took the first Jeep at 6:10h to the valley, to do the 5 hours trek. There where not many people on the trek except at the last part, as this can be reached easily from the other side. Here ,ll the the day trippers and lazy tourist gathered. What a chaos!
© 2026 Beyond All Maps - Portraits of our Planet by Thorsten Mehret
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