Before diving into the detailed itinerary, let’s cover some essential information to help you plan your Colombian adventure.
Quick Facts About This Trip
- Total Distance: Approximately 2,400 km (1,500 miles)
- Budget: $60-90 per day (mid-range, not including flights)
- Best Time to Visit: December to March (dry season – but we visited in September, and the weather was perfect)
- Transportation: Domestic flights, buses, and taxis
- Visa: Most visitors get 90 days visa-free
- Language: Basic Spanish helpful but not required
- Ideal For: Active travelers aged 30-50 seeking culture and nature
Overview & Planning Tips
Colombia’s size and varied landscape mean you’ll need to make some choices – you simply can’t see everything in three weeks. We’ve designed this itinerary to give you a perfect mix of Colombia’s highlights: bustling cities, Caribbean beaches, mountain villages, and historical sites. The route starts and ends in Bogotá, making it easy to book international flights. We’ll use a combination of domestic flights and ground transportation to make the most of your time. While you could do this trip spending less (or much more), we’ve aimed for a comfortable mid-range budget that doesn’t break the bank but avoids the cheapest hostels.
A few important things to keep in mind:
- Book your Tayrona National Park visit in advance – it can get crowded
- Don’t pack too tight a schedule in Medellín and Cartagena – these cities deserve time for wandering
- Consider the altitude in Bogotá (2,640 m / 8,660 ft) – take it easy on your first day
- Colombia is safe for tourists, but as in any other place, stay aware of your surroundings, especially in bigger cities
Colombia Itinerary at a Glance
Week 1: Capital City & Caribbean Coast
- Days 1-3: Bogotá – Colonial streets, museums, and vibrant urban culture
- Days 4-5: Santa Marta – Beach vibes and coastal atmosphere
- Days 6-7: Minca – Mountain retreat and nature exploration
- Days 7-8: Tayrona National Park – Stunning beaches and jungle trails
Week 2: Colonial Cartagena
- Day 9: Transit day to Cartagena
- Days 10-14: Cartagena and surroundings – UNESCO heritage sites, colorful streets, island trips
Week 3: Medellín & Return
- Days 15-20: Medellín and day trips – City innovation, transformation stories, Guatapé
- Day 21: Return to Bogotá and departure
This route gives you a fantastic blend of experiences while keeping travel times manageable. You’ll get to experience Colombia’s famous Caribbean coast, explore two of South America’s most fascinating cities, and discover some hidden gems along the way. We’ve included enough time in each location to actually experience the place rather than just checking it off your list.
Colombia is a massive country that deserves a spot at the top of your South America travel itinerary. With incredibly diverse landscapes ranging from Caribbean beaches to Andean mountains, and cities each telling their own unique story, it’s a traveler’s dream. As the world’s 25th largest country, covering more than 1.1 million km2 (440,000 square miles), three weeks definitely won’t be enough to experience all the best places to visit in Colombia. But we’ll show you an itinerary that helps you make the most of your Colombian adventure, even with limited time.
Of course, you don’t have to follow this Colombia travel guide exactly as written, but we’ve designed this backpacking route in what we think is the most practical way – most people will likely arrive in Bogotá and probably depart from there too. We’ll make a loop around the country, keeping in mind both Colombia travel costs and efficient transportation options. The schedule is moderately relaxed, so you won’t need to rush, but if you don’t mind a faster pace and constant movement, we’ll outline some alternatives too. And if the pace feels too tight, you can always skip certain Colombia tourist attractions. We followed almost exactly this route (the only difference being that we headed to Peru from Medellín), and left Colombia enriched with amazing experiences.
Detailed Day-by-Day Itinerary
Days 1-3 – Exploring Bogotá
Your Colombia travel route will most likely begin in Bogotá, the country’s capital and largest city. The first day will probably be spent getting to your accommodation and, depending on your arrival time, exploring the immediate area. On the second and third days, you can discover Bogotá’s main attractions and its surroundings. It’s a huge and incredibly diverse city, so you probably won’t be able to see everything in this time, but we’ve gathered the most important places to visit in Bogotá in a separate article.
Days 4-5 – Discovering Santa Marta
On day four, we’ll fly to Colombia’s Caribbean coast. It’s best to arrive in or around Santa Marta, as it’s easy to continue your Colombia route from here. Spend these two days with quick city exploration and beach time. If this is your first time in South America or Colombia, Santa Marta might feel a bit intimidating – especially if you start reading about Colombia safety tips online before arriving.
Days 6-7 – Minca: A Mountain Paradise in the Sierra Nevada
This small village at the foot of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains is an excellent destination if you’re interested in Colombia’s jungles, want to escape the urban buzz, or fancy some hiking. It’s very close to Santa Marta and makes for a great stop before heading to Tayrona. We especially recommend it to nature lovers, those excited about early morning bird watching, and anyone who doesn’t mind a heavy tropical downpour. We’ll tell you more about Minca in a separate article. This is one stop that could be skipped if you’d prefer to spend more time in Santa Marta or Tayrona.
Days 7-8 – Tayrona National Park: Where Jungle Meets Caribbean Sea
Colombia’s famous Caribbean national park offers stunning natural attractions, challenging accommodation options, and plenty of tourists. We’ll share our experience of tackling Tayrona in a separate article, and this is one stop where you might want to spend more time.
Day 9 – En Route to Cartagena
This gets its own day because it’s quite challenging to get directly and quickly from Tayrona to Cartagena, perhaps Colombia’s most famous and spectacular city. We made a stop in Santa Marta, taking a taxi there and continuing by local bus the next morning.
Days 10-14 – Colonial Cartagena: Exploring Colombia’s Most Beautiful City
For many people, Cartagena (officially Cartagena de Indias) is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of Colombia – Caribbean vibes and weather, colorful houses, and even more colorfully dressed palenqueras. You can easily lose several days in and around this UNESCO World Heritage city – which is exactly what we did, and we’ll tell you all about it in a separate article. If the atmosphere doesn’t captivate you quite as much, this stop can be shortened by a few days.
Days 15-20 – Medellín and Beyond: From City Innovation to Mountain Views
Since Narcos, Medellín’s name has become even more intertwined with Pablo Escobar and drug trafficking, but this is terribly unfair to this wonderful city. Medellín is actually a story about local residents’ perseverance, courage, and renewal – an incredibly interesting, respectable, and moving story. Plus, the surrounding area includes exciting and beautiful (albeit somewhat touristy) places like Guatapé. We’ll cover all of this in a separate article.
Day 21 – Bogotá and Farewell to Colombia
The day of departure has arrived, and we’re heading back to our starting point – which in this itinerary is Bogotá, but since it’s a loop, it could really be any of our previous stops. Depending on flight schedules, you might want to spend one more night in the capital and leave Medellín a day earlier, but if it works out, same-day departures from Medellín and Bogotá are doable.
Transportation Guide Through Colombia
Getting between destinations in Colombia requires a mix of transportation methods. We primarily used domestic flights for longer distances (like Bogotá to Santa Marta) and buses or taxis for shorter routes. Colombia’s transportation system is relatively efficient, though you’ll want to book flights in advance for better rates. We share specific Colombia travel tips about getting between each destination in our detailed destination guides.
Extras – More Places to Visit in Colombia
The above Colombia travel itinerary – as we mentioned in the introduction – doesn’t come close to covering everything this amazing country has to offer. If you don’t mind frequent location changes and a faster pace, you could shorten the days allocated to Cartagena and Medellín, and maybe squeeze in Valle de Cocora with its surreally tall palm trees, or even Cali. Or if you’d prefer more time exploring Colombia’s Caribbean coast, you could visit Palomino, a favorite among backpackers, alongside Tayrona.
Final Thoughts – Customizing Your Colombian Adventure
This 3-week Colombia itinerary isn’t the perfect plan – such a thing couldn’t exist, as everyone values different things and enjoys different types of adventures. We followed almost exactly this route, although it wasn’t our original plan – we ended up spending more time than planned in both Cartagena and Medellín, which meant we didn’t make it to Valle de Cocora despite our initial intentions.
You might also arrive in a different city – it’s relatively easy to find international flights arriving in Cartagena or Medellín, in which case you can adjust your Colombia travel route accordingly. And of course, if you’re lucky, you might not be heading home after your Colombian adventure but continuing your journey through South America like we did, so you won’t need to return to your starting point.
If you’re curious about how we experienced our three-week Colombian journey, you can find our other Colombia travel guides here, and if you’re planning to continue to Peru like we did, click here!
