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Colombia Overview & Where to Stay
Oh, Colombia. How I loved thee. Though I doubt she’d admit it, I’m fairly certain my mother was quite leery that our travel plans involved spending almost a month in Colombia. What was once a feared, dangerous and terrifying place to be is now a country that’s opening it’s welcoming doors to tourists and embracing the tourism industry. For the entirety of our 23 days in the country, I never once felt unsafe or threatened and I’m hard-pressed to find a bad memory associated with our time there. I’m hoping that by sharing our experiences in Colombia here on this blog I’ve helped shatter the negative image that’s often associated with the country.
In 23 days, we spent a total of $1803.66USD working out to a total of $37.58USD per person, per day. Keep in mind that this also includes THREE flights (one international from Panama and two domestic) as you can see by the huge transportation percentage in the chart below. Colombia is a lot bigger than any of the Central American countries we visited and due to our short time there, we found it actually more cost effective to fly. Our two domestic flights were less than $100 each ($50 per person – including checked baggage)! That aside, Colombia is also very inexpensive. We cooked for ourselves a lot, but when we did eat out, meals were usually not more than 20,000 pesos (~$8USD).
Keep reading for an overview of where we stayed in each of the cities we visited as well as a gallery of some of my favourite pictures from our time in Colombia!
Medellin
The Wandering Paisa was an awesome first hostel to stay in when we got to Medellin. We each paid 21,000 pesos ($8.50USD) for a dorm bunk in an 8 bed dorm. This place was very social: there was an on-site bar, a hanging out area with TV, movies and a Wii, as well as two big areas for chilling (one downstairs outside the kitchen, and one upstairs near the dorms). The kitchen was great too. The location was also great. Located in the Laureles area, it was super close to quite a few banks, two grocery stores (Exito 1 block away, and the larger Jumbo about 5 blocks away), and the Estadio metro station was only a 10 minute walk.
The second place we stayed was Buddha Hostel. The location for this hostel wasn’t great. It was a 20 minute walk away from TWP, thus making it that much farther from the metro station. There were banks and grocery stores nearby though. This place wasn’t as social as TWP and it was quite lacking in hanging out areas. We each paid 24,000 pesos ($9.60USD) for a dorm bunk in an 8 bed dorm – breakfast was included though!
Also recommended: Happy Buddha hostel (in Poblado).
Related Post: Marvellous Medellin
Cartagena
We stayed at Mama Waldy hostel in the Getsimani district. It was a decent enough hostel and was very close to the old historic town as well as several bars and restaurants. We each paid 31,000 pesos ($12.50USD) for a bunk bed in a 4 bed dorm with private bathroom. This was during Semana Santa though, so I’m sure prices were jacked up a bit for the holiday. Breakfast was also included here.
Also recommended: Mama Llena
Related Post:The Walled City of Colombia
Santa Marta
We had heard about The Dreamer Hostel long before we arrived in Santa Marta, so we knew we had to check it out. For 35,000 pesos each ($14) we got a bunk bed in a 4 bed dorm with A/C (we splurged! Without A/C was 32,000 pesos), a private bathroom and lockers. This place is huge and is a total backpackers mecca. There’s a pool (of actual pool size, not a coffee table-sized hole in the ground that’s been filled with water and called a pool as we’ve seen in other hostels), a bar, a full restaurant as well as a big kitchen upstairs complete with a good sized common area with TV & lots of movies. The downside to this place is that it’s not remotely close to downtown Santa Marta. In fact, there’s not really much to do near the hostel. There’s a big mall with a grocery store but not much else. The hostel is close to Tayrona Park as well as other beaches making it a good base for day trips and excursions.
Also recommended: Masaya Hostel
Related Post:Tayrona National Park
Minca
This small little town might not be bursting at the seams with excitement, but there’s no shortage of things to do there. Mac and I stayed at the sister hostels – Casa Loma/La Loma. Casa Loma is the main lodge area where the restaurant and lounge are, and La Loma is up the hill where the private huts reside. We paid 50,000 pesos ($20USD) for a private cabana (literally a round hut with a mattress in it) and a shared (outdoor!) bathroom. There was also the option of buying dinner here (12,000 pesos) and it was amazing! It’s a vegetarian restaurant and both meals that we had were fantastic (they even veganized them for me!).
Also recommended: Casa Elemento (be warned, it’s FAR from town. You need to take a longgg moto-taxi ride to get there).
Related Post:A Trek to the Pines
Bogota
We stayed in the La Candelaria district – a historic part of the city and thought it was a great location. Very close to the TransMilenio transit system as well as museums, bars & restaurants, and other touristy type attractions. Our hostel was Masaya Hostel and it was more of a hotel than a hostel! The entire place was kept very clean, our sheets got replaced every day and there was even hot water!! Though small, the kitchen was great and had everything we needed. (A welcomed surprise – Bogota is in the mountains and it’s COLD!). We each paid 27,000 pesos ($10.80USD) for a bunk bed in a 6 bed dorm. Each bunk had an outlet, a light and there were even curtains! Pretty snazzy indeed.
Also recommended: Hostal Sue
Related Posts: Bogota Walkabouts – Part I, Bogota Walkabouts – Part II, Catedral de Sal
Cali
The Tostaky hostel is located right beside San Antonio park and was a good base for us while we planned our next travel moves. 50,000 pesos ($20USD) got us a private bedroom with shared bathroom. The kitchen was nothing to sneeze at (no bowls, cups, mugs, or sharp knives) but it did the job. Tostaky is close to several bars and restaurants (even a vegetarian restaurant with a daily vegan menu!).
Related Post: Coming soon!
San Agustin
This small town has no shortage of hotels on the main street. We stayed up the hill, a 10 minute walk from town, at Casa de Francois. This happened to be the least expensive place we stayed in Colombia – 40,000 pesos ($16USD) got us a private room with shared bathroom (there are a few showers, but only one has hot water). There is an onsite restaurant with reasonably priced meals, but there’s also a HUGE kitchen for guests to use as well. The kitchen also has a “tienda” (store) where they sell some of their homemade goods. Mac and I bought their homemade bread ($1) twice and at it at an alarmingly fast rate (considering it’s 500g and is veryyyy dense, but oh so delicious). They also sell jam (again, very delicious), pasta sauce, cheese, and fruit from the markets. They even helped us book the Jeep Tour which was very helpful. Oh! And there’s two loveable kitties there, one of which is the biggest lap cat. Mac and I seriously debated how we could bring her with us!
Also Recommended: Casa de Nelly
Related Post: The Ancient Statues of San Agustin
Mocoa
Though it seems like a small town, Mocoa actually boasts a population of over 200,000 people. That being said, it’s not an overly popular place for tourists and accommodations are slim. (There are quite a few hotels downtown, but they seemed a bit dodgy). We stayed at the ever popular Casa del Rio. It’s composed of the main house (with a good kitchen, dining area and lounge area), and the rooms. There are two buildings with 4 rooms each – 2 of which are dorms. All rooms come with a private bathroom too! We paid 43,000 pesos ($17.20USD) for our large room. This place is also the only hostel known to have a tennis court! Similar to Minca, there is definitely no shortage of things to do in Mocoa. The hostel has a giant binder filled with treks you can do to nearby swimming holes, waterfalls and the like.
Related Post: Coming soon!
See below for a gallery of some of my favourite pictures from this awesome country!
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P.S. For more country overviews, check out these posts:
Panama Overview & Where to Stay[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
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