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Transportation

From outside and inside Colombia.

How to fly from Europe to Colombia

The most common route to Colombia is from Madrid. Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD) offers direct connections to major Colombian cities such as Bogotá, Medellín, Cartagena, Cali, and Santa Marta. However, you can also find direct flights from other cities, such as Paris-Bogotá with Air France and Amsterdam-Bogotá with KLM Airlines.

Another good option is to fly from the US with one layover. While it adds a stop to your journey, the flights are generally cheaper. It's up to you to decide how you want to manage your trip to Colombia.

Airlines:

  • From Madrid: Avianca, Air Europa, Iberia,
  • From Paris: Air France
  • From Amsterdam: KLM
  • From Frankfurt: Lufthansa

How to travel between cities

We are realistic; moving around Colombia can be chaotic, but with proper planning, there is nothing to worry about.

🛩 By Plane: It is easy to travel within Colombia by plane, and sometimes you can find really cheap flights depending on the season.

  1. For short distances or small cities, you can find affordable airlines such as Atenas (which flies to Providencia, the Colombian Caribbean island) and EasyFly.
  2. The biggest airlines that also go internationally are LATAM, Avianca, and Wingo.

🚌 By Bus: We do not recommend this mode of transportation as the routes can be long and sometimes involve roadwork or complete road closures due to mountain slides during the rainy season. But anyway, in Colombia, it's possible to travel anywhere by bus. You'll need to go to 'La terminal de transporte' of each city and take your bus. Keep in mind that in big cities like Bogotá and Medellín, there are two terminals: the southern terminal and the northern terminal. Depending on where you're going, you'll need to go to one or the other.

🚗 Renting a car: We love to rent cars for short distances, such as from Medellín to Guatapé, from Salento to Ibagué, from Pereira to Salento, etc. However, it's important to check carefully which driver's licenses are acceptable for the rental car company. Additionally, your credit card must be a genuine credit card, as not all types of cards used in the US and Europe are accepted. Our favorite car rental company is Localiza, which can be found throughout South America (including Brazil). But again, you better double-check your license and credit card. We see a lot of foreigners with reservations in the office but not being able to take the car out.

How to move inside the cities?

  • Mobility Apps: Uber: Yes, we have Uber in Colombia, but also Didi, Beat, and Picap (the Motorcycle transport). If you already have an account on any of them, you can use it freely. Tip: 💡 If you are in Medellín and you are traveling from or to the Medellín airport José María Córdova, the toll is included in the price you pay inside the app., so don’t pay an extra in cash to the driver.
  • Metro: Funny or sad, Medellín is the only city in Colombia with a metro, so this information just applies to Medellín. You’ll need to buy the Metro ‘Civica’ Card that cost COP $10.000 (US 2.5) + COP 2.800 of the journey.
  • Taxis: We do not recommend using taxis in Bogotá or Cartagena, especially if you do not speak Spanish, as it is not very safe. Instead, we suggest using the Uber app for quick and easy rides in the city. For other cities such as Medellín, Ibagué, Salento, Pereira, Armenia, Santa Marta, etc., you can easily use taxi services. These taxis usually have a small machine in the front that displays the journey prices or the miles you are consuming.
  • Bus: Buses in Bogotá are called Transmilenio and require a Transmilenio card to use it. In addition, there is a complementary service called SITP that provides access from Transmilenio to neighborhoods not directly served by Transmilenio.

Nice spots to travel from Colombia (short distances) 🛫

  1. Curaçao 🇨🇼 from Bogotá with Avianca
  2. La Havana 🇨🇺 from Medellín with Wingo
  3. Cancun 🇲🇽 from Medellín with Wingo
  4. Río de Janeiro 🇧🇷 from Medellín with Latam
  5. Lima 🇵🇪 from Medellín with Latam
  6. Panamá 🇵🇦 from Bogotá or Medellín with Copa airlines
  7. San José 🇨🇷 from Medellín with Copa airlines or Avianca
  8. Santo Domingo 🇩🇴 from Bogotá with Wingo
  9. Miami 🇺🇸 from Bogotá with American Airline or Avianca
  10. Guatemala 🇬🇹 from Bogotá with Avianca
Extra Tips 🙂 • If you arrive in Medellín, you can use our driver (Mercedes car) to travel from Medellin Airport to El Poblado for 40€. Follow this link to access our contact book. • Google Maps does not display bus or metro routes as it does in Europe or the US. Therefore, it is recommended that you check online to see what types of transportation are available and their routes. • In general, taxi drivers do not speak English, so be prepared to use a translator app to improve communication.