A little more
Colombia.
A lot less roaming.

Travelling to Colombia: what to know before you go

Colombia has coasts on both the Caribbean and the Pacific, three ranges of the Andes, a share of the Amazon and an extraordinary range of wildlife. Travellers come for the colonial walls of Cartagena, the coffee farms and wax palms of the Coffee Region, the energy of Medellín and Bogotá, and treks to ancient ruins in the jungle. It suits active travellers, food and music lovers, and anyone who likes variety.

Where to go

• Cartagena. A Caribbean port with a walled old town of colourful balconies, plazas and churches, guarded by the huge San Felipe fortress.
• The Coffee Region and Cocora Valley. Green hills of coffee farms around Salento, Filandia and Manizales, where you can tour a finca and taste the harvest.
• Medellín. A city in a valley, linked by a metro and cable cars that climb the hillsides.
• Bogotá. The high-altitude capital has the historic La Candelaria district, the Gold Museum with its collection of pre-Hispanic gold, the Botero Museum, and Monserrate, a mountain reached by cable car or funicular with views across the city.

Best time to visit

Colombia is close to the equator, so temperatures depend on altitude rather than season: hot on the coasts, mild in Medellín and the Coffee Region, and cool in Bogotá. The drier months in much of the Andes are roughly December to March and July to August, which are also busy holiday periods for Colombians.

Staying online in Colombia

Mobile coverage is good in cities and towns and along main roads, with 4G widely available. Signal is weak or missing in the Amazon, on parts of the Pacific coast, on the Ciudad Perdida trek, in Tayrona's more remote corners and in some mountain areas. Hotels, hostels and cafés usually have Wi-Fi. Keep your phone out of sight on busy streets, download offline maps, install an eSIM before you fly and switch it on when you land.