E L T I P S V R T
For decades, the South American country was ravaged by conflict between guerrilla groups and the government. Not to mention the wars between drug cartels, which made cities like Medellin and Cali murder hotspots, not holiday ones.
Although some conflicts rumble on, the country has been reinventing itself as a tourist destination, and t least three million people had been visiting every year.
And before all the lockdown madness kicked in, you could fly directly from Heathrow to the country’s capital, Bogota.
Our return flights cost £670 each, which was roughly the same as other flight options but without the lengthy and painful delays.
It’s not a short journey – the flight took 11 hours – but it was worth it to skip the hassle of a stressful airport transfer.
We started off with a few days in Bogota, choosing an Airbnb apartment in the vibrant La Candelaria district of the city.
We loved the Bogota graffiti tour, which is a great alternative way to learn about the city’s history through its colourful street art.
The tour is free to join but guides do expect to be tipped for their time, which they rightly deserve.
We then took a cable car to the top of Mount Monserrate, where you can enjoy panoramic views of Bogota with a glass of wine.
La Candeleria is packed with places to eat, tempting you in with traditional South American food, including T Bone Restaurante, which, as the name suggests, does sensational steaks.
Internal flights in Colombia are relatively cheap, which allowed us to travel around the country without wasting valuable time on long, sweaty bus journeys.
You can head from Bogota to Medellin for £50 – sometimes cheaper – with a flight time of roughly an hour. Medellin might
IN Bogota, make time to visit Mesa Franca on the outskirts of the city to tuck in to Colombian food with a modern twist. Check out restaurantemesafranca.com.
MEDELLIN’S La Comuna 13 is huge and easy to get lost in so visiting with a local guide is recommended.
IN Cartagena, stop by the district of Getsemani on a Friday evening to take in some terrific street
performances. have been seen as a drug-riddled no-go area in the 90s but it’s now broadly seen as being safe for tourists and was even voted the world’s most innovative city in 2013.
There are loads of tours that chart the city’s history and the rise of notorious drug baron Pablo Escobar, whose cartel originated there.
Respectful
We opted for the transformation tour, which finishes up in La Comuna 13, which was once considered the most deadly district in Medellin.
Although La Comuna 13 is now home to art, photography exhibitions and street performances, it still crammed with lots of local people, many still struggling with poverty. So it’s important to be respectful.
Next we hopped on another short flight to Cartagena, a beautiful old colonial city on the Caribbean coast.
We took a bus tour to learn about the history of the city, the first in Colombia to declare independence from Spain.
There we watched the sunset overlooking the sea with a cocktail in hand at Cafe del Mar.
We stuck with the bus to take a trip further along the coast, beyond Santa Marta to the El Rio Hostel, which was voted one of the best in Latin America.
Nestled in the jungle alongside the Buritaca River, it has no wi-fi and phone signal is scarce at best, making it the perfect place to escape the world for a few days.
The hostel organised lots of activities such as horse riding, volleyball and hiking.
We opted to go tubing, which involves floating down the river on a rubber ring. Which was about as scary as our trip got.
FACTFILE: Colombia hopes to welcome international flights from September. Return flights to Bogota from Heathrow cost around £670 with Avianca. See lastminute.com. Accommodation with Airbnb starts at £25pp. See airbnb.com. Private rooms at El Rio Hostel start at £34 per night. See their website elriohostel.com.