Bogota and Medellin Columbia

i live part time in medellin...
2 nights?.... will you be alone... or with locals?




too cold in bogota (cant help there)

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When’s the best time to do Medellin? How hard is it to get to Cartagena from there?

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cartagena from medellin is not difficult...if flying. iirc, is a 1 hour flight and should be around $50 usd.

weatherwise... medellin is the "city of eternal springtime".. so is pleasant year round. the city is green(so expect rain). usually there is a light shower in morning.


lots of bloggers try to be cool and recommend staying somethere like el centro or the laureles/stadium area.
(don't)

medellin is in a valley. with lots of people and their pollution.
so you want to avoid low lying areas

for a 1st visit.. stick with poblado.
it is most popular with foreigners not just because it "more secure" and rich... it it located in the hills.
not only are the views awesome..but good air quality too. (with good shopping and eating)





best time... for medellin i'd say july. (there really isnt a bad time)
try to go during fashion week.


for cartagena..
imo, this month (november) is the best
it is carnival time and the city hosts the national beauty pageants(it is a big deal).

Bogota doesn’t have a shite ton of cool stuff to do and see, but December is a fantastic time to go to Colombia.

I’ve never been to Medellin but have spent 2-3 months in Bogota.

I’d suggest you go check out Candelaria (the touristy historic district) in downtown Bogota during the day, then Monserrate on the top of the mountain overlooking downtown Bogota at night. Monserrate is extremely close to Candelaria.

From what I remember Candelaria is kind of sketchy at night, I was almost mugged there, lots of crazy homeless and Venezuelans. But you’ll be 100% fine during the day and see other tourists.

Monserrate is really fun time during Christmas and they should have Christmas lights everywhere when you take the gondola thing up there.

Once you’re up there’s a bunch of little vendor stalls and a cafe I think and places to look out over the city at night. Bogota is fricking massive so it was extremely cool to see all the city lights at night. Then you can go check out the Catholic Church on the compound.

Bogota will be cold. Bring long sleeves and jacket and pants. Make sure to drink Aguardiente y Panela while you’re there. Should be easy to find being sold in the streets / at Monserrate. It’s Colombian alcohol mixed with like sugary cinnamon shite served in small cups ... amazing when it’s cold out.

For your other day, I’d go check out the multiple museums downtown. There’s the national gold mueseum which has a shite ton of gold and emeralds from the indigenous period of Colombia. I think it’s the worlds largest collection of that kind of stuff in a museum.

Go check out the Colombian Supreme Court at the Bolivar Plaza downtown ... lots of cool buildings and cathedrals and for me the history of the place when Escobar and the communists attacked it was cool to see.

There ain’t really shite else to do in Bogota that I can remember ... but the place does have some amazing restaurants, bars, and discotheques if that’s your thing.

I believe all the good shite is in Zona T or Zona G. Think Zona G is mainly restaurants and shite and T is for bars, clubs, and high end shopping.

The national gardens in Bogota might be worth checking out too, beautiful place.

Edit - Getting acclimated to the altitude in Bogota took me awhile having lived at sea level my entire life. It is 3,000 feet higher than Denver ... Leaving the airport to go outside and take a taxi made me feel shitty, and I was a young healthy dude when I went. Be prepared for that if you go. Drinking Coca Tea helped me make it through my first day or two.

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I will be with locals at times. We also have some employees down there.

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perfect.
you'll have the critical social group already.
have them take you out.
and can not be shy there.. literally have *them* take you out.
ever. single. day.
(seriously)

that is what you do in medellin... you go out.
..and meet people.
enjoy being alive.
having the in a colombian social group is a much different experience than traveling solo (right or wrong..a single gringo in medellin is frequently labeled the sex tourist until proven otherwise)


you will quickly discover that the women of medellin are not just pretty... they are absolutely gorgeous and easy to approach. arguably the most beautiful women in the country with the most beautiful women on the planet.

unlike people in somewhere like buenos aires..they're super friendly and easy to approach (and have yet to develop that bitch shield)

even if already married/not-single...still go out.

if single...
it takes tremendous effort to spend time there and not make a one of them your housewife.

I’ve read that protest are going on in Bogota. Is there anything to worry about right now?

I just returned home from this trip. Absolutely incredible! The traffic however was a nightmare. Some great advice was given. I appreciate the help for sure.

this thread makes me wish I would have spent a few weeks in Colombia before I was married