Colombia 10 day travel itinerary, advice :)
 

Hey!

I'm planning a trip to Colombia on the 16th of November to the 26th November

This is my travel Itinerary so far..
Flying from LA to Bogota Airport
-stay in Bogota for 2 days

Fly into Pereira
-stay for one day in Salento (coffee tour)

Fly into Santa Marta
-stay for 5 days doing the Lost City Trek

Fly into Medellin
stay for 2 days and head back to LA

I would love to see all those places and if only I had more time to stay longer, do you think the trip will be too rushed or do you think thats enough times in those places. Anything I should add or skip?
Thank you so much, any advice will be appreciated! :)

I do think it is too rushed. I think it is easier to think in terms of nights rather than days. 2 nights will give you one full day to see and do stuff. By the time you factor checking in and out of hotels, travel to and from airports, flight and waiting times etc. , every time you move location you are going to lose a day in transit.

We decided against the Lost City Trek even though we were there for a couple of month. In your case, 5 days is 50% of your time. If that is your primary objective for visiting, fair enough, but for me, it would be too high a proportion of my time. Colombia just has so much to offer, both urban and rural.

For small towns, we loved Salento ( esp a hike in the Cocora Valley ) also loved Jardin. We preferred Bogota to Medellin although both are amazing cities.

Some details and photos of our last trip on our blog @ https://accidentalnomads.com/category/colombia/ which may provide some ideas.

Thank you for replying back, yes I agree it may be slightly too rushed.
I love your blog, some great advice on there and pictures look amazing! I would have loved to stay for 2 months.

You said that you preferred Medellin over Bogota, would it be wise to skip Bogota, fly in and out of Medellin instead. That way I'll have more time to see Medellin, Jardin and Guatape?

Thanks so much :)

You are very welcome. What I actually said was that I preferred Bogota to Medellin! Both are great cities and both have a lot to offer in terms of small towns nearby. Clearly if Jardín and Guatape are of interest to you then Medellin would make more sense. From Bogota you could look at Barichara, an amazingly pretty village and Villa de Leyva Zipiquira also makes a nice half day from Bogota. I think with 10 days it would be wide to stick with one city and a couple of side trips. Whichever you decide, I am sure you will love colombia, in know we did.

You are flying in less than 2 weeks? and you have 10 days. I presume you already have your tickets booked but seeing as you asked, my advice on your limited time would be to skip Bogota altogether and catch a connecting flight to Pereira from the start. Spend at least 3 nights in Salento for Valle de Cocora, coffee tour, etc second day but you may want to stay longer so it's nice to have the option. I also agree with crellston to bypass the Lost City trek this time and use those days instead around Medellin and Guatape. As to Santa Marta, if not doing the trek and you are not interested in Cartagena or Tayrona I would avoid the Caribbean altogether and just concentrate on the two areas of Medellin and the coffee district. There is more than enough to keep you busy and stimulated in those two places for 10 days