More Columbia Itinerary Help
Oct 28th, 2017 | 07:32 PM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
More Columbia Itinerary Help
Hello, I will be traveling in Colombia with my spouse and 2 young adult kids at the end of January. "highlights." We are interested in spectacular scenery, possibly hiking/trekking, and local/village life. We have less interest in large cities, museums etc. We are happy to take public busses when possible, and would like to stay in ecolodges and other close-to-nature places. I am afraid that this itinerary is too much moving around. Ideally we would stay in fewer places.
I don't know if we are trying to cram in too much, but how does this sound?
Days 1-3 in or around Medellin - we would like to see Guatape, Salento, the Corcora Valley. Not sure if we should stay in Medellin or elsewhere.
4 Fly to Santa Marta
5, 6, 7 Lost City Trek
8, 9. 10 stay near Tayrona, hike in the park
11, 12, 13 bus to Cartagena, visit Rosario islands
14, 15, 16, 17 still undecided: a beach getaway? bus to El Cocuy/Barichara?
18, 19 Bogota
Thank you so much for any ideas and suggestions!
I don't know if we are trying to cram in too much, but how does this sound?
Days 1-3 in or around Medellin - we would like to see Guatape, Salento, the Corcora Valley. Not sure if we should stay in Medellin or elsewhere.
4 Fly to Santa Marta
5, 6, 7 Lost City Trek
8, 9. 10 stay near Tayrona, hike in the park
11, 12, 13 bus to Cartagena, visit Rosario islands
14, 15, 16, 17 still undecided: a beach getaway? bus to El Cocuy/Barichara?
18, 19 Bogota
Thank you so much for any ideas and suggestions!
Oct 28th, 2017 | 10:23 PM
#2
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 9,773
Likes: 0
Looks ok to me but I would check out the travel times from place to place and factor in getting to and from where you are staying to bus stations etc. Travel always seems to take a lot longer in Colombia than one would assume.
Dindnt make it to Guatapé but loved Salento and the Cocora Valley. Some photos in te Colombiasection of our blog from last year https://accidentalnomads.com/category/colombia/
Medellin is the logical place to base for that area and you are probably going to have to travel through there anyway. Jardin is also worth considering as an alternative or in addition, to Salento.
Our plan during our two months in the country was to travel everywhere by bus as we had through the rest of SA. However, we quickly changed our minds after a few days on the buses, witnessing several serious crashes and being involved in one minor one ourselves. We decided to fly any long sections. Generally the same costs and quicker.
We didn’t make it to Santa Marta or Tayrona but would love to hear how you get on just in case we make it back!
Barichara is lovely but VERY quiet. Walking the Camino Real to Guane is a nice hike.
Dindnt make it to Guatapé but loved Salento and the Cocora Valley. Some photos in te Colombiasection of our blog from last year https://accidentalnomads.com/category/colombia/
Medellin is the logical place to base for that area and you are probably going to have to travel through there anyway. Jardin is also worth considering as an alternative or in addition, to Salento.
Our plan during our two months in the country was to travel everywhere by bus as we had through the rest of SA. However, we quickly changed our minds after a few days on the buses, witnessing several serious crashes and being involved in one minor one ourselves. We decided to fly any long sections. Generally the same costs and quicker.
We didn’t make it to Santa Marta or Tayrona but would love to hear how you get on just in case we make it back!
Barichara is lovely but VERY quiet. Walking the Camino Real to Guane is a nice hike.
