My boyfriend and I (early 30's) are planning a 6 month plus tour of South America and have some questions about Colombia that we hope forum members will be able to hep us with.

We want to experience the best Colombia has to offer for a period of 4 or so weeks (we can be flexible), focusing on food, beaches, culture and hiking (to counter the food).

We also plan to visit Peru (where we plan to do a lot of hiking), Ecuador and Bolivia on this trip.

Here is our rough plan and direction so far (these are the big targets):

Start in Medellin
Salento
Valle de Cocora
Bogota
Villa De Leiva
Barichara
The Santa Marta Area & Parque Tayrona
The hike to Ciudad Pérdida
Cartagena
Islas del Rosario

Will four weeks be enough time to see all of these places? We'll most likely be travelling by bus or plane depending on distance.

We also have places like Minca, San Gil and Giron on the list and we'd love to get to Mompos as well.

Are there any towns on here that you recommend over others? Or have I missed any that we should really see?

Apart from Tyrona, are there other National Parks that we should visit?

Cheers in advance!




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Any thoughts? We are starting to consider Colombia for a trip and would love to hear responses.

Also in the early stages looking at Columbia and would be vey interested in any suggestions. Initial thought are to start in Guataemala and to work our way south to Panama and then get a boat to Cartagena over 2-3 months

Here is a link to gloves excellent TR which has some great info
http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...n-colombia.cfm

Thanks Crellston. Will definitely check it out. Still very much in the early stage of planning but will post again when we've got a more detailed plan.

Another good TR, though not a month, is this one by SusaninToronto
http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...-very-long.cfm

If you make it to Cartagena, check out this guide to the city: http://ticartagena.com/

Some friends recommended it while I was there.

A great resource for the city.

Cartagena is definitely a must. It's old city takes you back to another time. The downside is that good restaurants tend to be quite pricey. Make sure you check they are charging you the right amount.

Prices in Colombia vary enormously, so the budget depends on where you want to go: smaller towns and cities are really cheap, but food, leisure and accomodation in Bogota and Cartagena can be really expensive.