Travelling from Bogota to Cartagena

Gomezman5 says on Dec 20, 2004, 07:13:

Fly---forget the bus I'm assuming you're a tourist. From Bogota to Cartagena it's simple...you have to fly. Taking a bus is out of the question. First domestic flights are reasonable and if you are going as a tourist, contact any travel agency in Bogota (there are many) and they can get you package deals for a good price. September is a good time because it is off season (after summer, but before Christmas)

A bus is simply too long and too dangerous. You can get robbed, pickpocketed, kidnapped en route. I don't even know of a Colombian that would travel that way. Oh, I am sure some fool reading this thread will tell you take a bus it's safe. DON'T LISTEN to that nonsense---any one or all three can happen. Which leads to my next point. Colombia is generally ok, but stay in the big cities. (Bogota, Cali, Medellin) There is plenty to see and do. Also consider Santa Marta. You can go to some local places out of the big city but only with someone you know and trust.

Colombia, is a beatutiful place go. Enjoy it. But travel inteligently.

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El Unit says on Dec 20, 2004, 07:34:

Thanks for the advice Gomezman I had a feeling that flying would be the only sensible option. Thanks for the tip about booking flights in Bogota travel agencies. Do you reckon that in low season it would be possible to book internal flights on very short notice e.g. 1 or 2 days before travelling?

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Gomezman5 says on Dec 20, 2004, 07:59:

Yes and No I don't know what the purpose of your travel is. I'll assume it's personal (vacation) In that case, you are better off buying a package deal--hotel,air, meals or without meals, etc. As to whether the domestic flight are cheaper with advance notice....Colombia doesn't nearly have the staggered prices of flights that the US does. Sometimes it's cheaper, sometimes not. But to play it safe, and to lock in the best price, I would buy the ticket as far in advance as possible....when you know you can travel....got to go...

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kernow62 says on Dec 20, 2004, 13:19:

If you want to get there in a reasonable amount of time fly. Buses aren't bad if you can handle 18 hours or so with ice cold AC. The route isn't too bad from Bogota to Cartagena as far as safety, but why take a chance unless you want to see the countryside. I wouldn't go so far as to say they are out of the question for travel though.

No problems booking a few days in advance in September.

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caslug says on Dec 20, 2004, 13:50:

airplane ticket.. from BOG to CTG are about $160-200 USD for r/t or half of that for one way when purchased 1-6 days in advance. I paid $220 or so for my ticket for a r/t from Cali to CTG in June w/ 1 day notice. June was consider low season(at least regarding hotel).

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Gomezman5 says on Dec 20, 2004, 14:03:

El Unit Play it safe---fly !!you clearly travel through a lot of land controlled by the guerillas---especially the FARC. They have "miracle fishing" stops along the way. And you don't want to potentially be the "Catch of the day." If you want to know about "miracle fishing". Google
the following: Miracle fishing colombia. You will get more than you care to read about.

Fly to Cartagena, you will need a hotel and it is almost always cheaper to buy it in advance as part of a package deal.
Look, we're not travel agents, but one of my best friends is one in el centro of Cali. She knows. It's just nice to have all your affairs taken care of in advance.

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YEP says on Dec 20, 2004, 15:54:

What is considered low/high season in Colombia ???

And how early do you have to order tickets to enjoy cheaper tickets/special programs from the airlines there ;-)

------------------------------------------------------------------- Just another scandinavian getting ready to explore South America

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Gomezman5 says on Dec 20, 2004, 16:04:

Call a travel agent These guys get special package deals that they buy in bulk--airfare--hotel included. Often they will have chep last minute specials b/c things did not sell as well as they wanted...Just check with the agents.

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caslug says on Dec 20, 2004, 16:17:

good advice about the package deal.. if you have time in-country or plan ahead, you'll get those deals. Even the last minute ones. Another thing to look at is the air pass, I remember avianca had them for 4 cities for $250 USD duringl low season, so you can travel r/t to ANY FOUR CITIES in COL. Hotel/apt in CTG during low season is pretty cheap, $40-60/night, for a pretty good place.

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YEP says on Dec 21, 2004, 11:43:

Yes .... sounds good
And what is low-season in Colombia ..... stop walking around that pie ;-)

------------------------------------------------------------------- Just another scandinavian getting ready to explore South America

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oldbongo says on Dec 21, 2004, 11:49:

it's high season all the time.. in cartagena, if you are gringo, you will
find every holiday is high season,plus when school is out
its high season, never mind there are at least two different
school calendars,and at the same time that all the hotels are
asking high prices, all the aprtment,condo, buildings are empty.
go figure....

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YEP says on Dec 21, 2004, 14:27:

Thanks Oldgringo .... Sounds like I'll have to ask more specifically when I get closer to "lift off" ;-)

------------------------------------------------------------------- Just another scandinavian getting ready to explore South America

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kernow62 says on Dec 21, 2004, 14:33:

Yep go in September, its cloudy and rainy and you will get a better deal.

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michaelz says on Dec 22, 2004, 09:02:

Travelling from Bogota to Cartagena If you speak a little spanish, wait until you get there and go to a local travel agency. Even better, have a local do the preliminary negociations for you. My girlfriend books trips to Cartegena or Santa Marta for two frequently at the last minute) where the total cost is $300 or so dollars per person, including airfare, hotel, meals and drinks.

Check out the websites for aerorepublica.com.co or Avianca.com

You can check out prices or even make reservations for Colombian airlines. (As of 2 weeks ago, there were some problems with the aerorepublica site, but it should be fixed by now.)

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juanalejo says on Dec 22, 2004, 10:32:

travelling I agree with the last post, I travel on my own private car through most areas in Colombia. Bus travel in Colombia is extremely developed and well used. Contrary to Mr. Gomez most people I know use their private cars to go to the Caribbean coast as moving around their is not easy during holidays. September is not as full as mid year or this time of the year. Try www.berlinasdelfonce.com which is one of the companies that travel between Caribbean area and Bogota. There are two roads from Cartagena to Bogota a more direct one called troncal del Magdalena and a second one that splits from the first into Bucaramanga. I tend to travel on the latter as I love the scenery near around here, there are a few historic places and for ecosports and ecotourism have become really popular here. Plus I can split my trip into two days. A non stop (just for meals) from Bogota via the shortest route takes me 13 hours. I leave Bogota around 5 in the morning and arrive in Cartagena in the evening. I rather travel to Bucaramanga 7 hours and 7 more the following day.

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RolaParaTodaLaVida says on Dec 24, 2004, 12:52:

Bogota/ Cartagena Bogota ...well its a brand new place from the first time I left and moved to N.Y. There is much to do: clubs, shopping, restaurants, sight seeing.
places to see: Monserrate, Zipaquira, Tunja, top of Colpatria Building in Bogota
These are the top choice for me. They include culture, religion, and enormous amount of the countries history.

Cartagena ... very nice. if you live in the EEUU and you see commercials for Puerto Rico...well that is a small idea of what this beautiful coast is like.
W/in Cartagena you must visit The Islas del Rosario. It’s a string of Islands of the coast of Cartagena. The water is the color of Emeralds. Awesome beauty surround you. Offering you perfect water for snorkeling. The people are friendly and helpful.

The hotel we stayed at is the oldest... "Hotel Caribe" very nice.
When purchasing a flight to Colombia, my airline included one free round trip flight from my destination (Botoga) to another location with in Colombia. So our flight to Cartagena was free! Flight from Bogota to Cartagena is about two 1/2 to three hours. Very close. So leave early in the morning to enjoy a full day there. The town itself has a wonderful history. You get old Cartagena with all its history and culture and all the new w/the great restaurants and discotecas.

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Gomezman5 says on Dec 24, 2004, 13:22:

DonNegro If you say so all the travellers i met in colombia would not waste a peso on a flight.

You must not know that many travelers. My good friend works for one of the biggest travel agencies in Cali. She says, that what you said is--shall I quote "absurdo". For one thing she says a majority of people who go there, go for relatively short periods--long weekends- a
week is on the high side. She said, by definition, if people drove there, they would spend more time traveling than acutally vacationing in Ctg. Secondly, she says, that the package deals are so enticing, that after the costs of fuel and hotels are factored in, in combination of the premium price you would pay at hotels based on a nightly as opposed to a package air fare/hotel/meal rate, the trip would actually be more expensive to drive than it would be to fly. That fact alone Don, makes it illogical to drive. Lastly, she says just because you know people foolish enough to drive through guerilla infested territory, and have done so safely, it does not make it safe to do so. She said, if you really are european, you sound like one of those i..d...p... sympathetic to the FARC...and that in and of itself would make your advice suspect and that to deny that there isn't at least some chance of getting kidnapped, means the credability of your advice is of a questionable nature. Therefore, assuming that you are honest with yourself, given the fact there is a real chance of getting kidnapped, why in gods name would you take the chance???

Or are you simply another one of those characters who is in denial.

By the way, Mr. UK, your press (BBC)today reports of another event that makes my point: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4124341.stm
Even missionaries, as you know are frequent targets----yea you're right, drive to ctg....it's safer. ja ja

In summery, she lives there, she is in the travel business, she knows better than all of us, myself included.

Aside from that....Merry Christmas

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carter says on Feb 7, 2005, 08:50:

Sorry Gomezman, but I think your wrong Sorry to bring up an old thread but I couldn`t leave this garbage lying around for potential visitors to read.

Two types of travellers in Colombia
1) the vacationer - here for 2 weeks and wants to lie on the beach, (nothing wrong with that)
2) the backpacker - travels by bus usually stays a bit longer sees as much of the country as possible before continuing North or sth to the next country

As a backpacker I can give advice on backpacker travel in Colombia although some might consider me a "fool" or "sympathetic to the FARC" (Probably the dumbest comment of 2004 on PBH)

Each day in Colombia their is 100´s of backpackers here with around 10 daily taking the bus between the coast and Bogota. Despite what some people may suggest on this site no backpackers travelling by bus have been kidnapped, at least not in the last 5 years. Foriegners have been kidnapped including US military, businessman for oil and other major companies, UK butterfly collectors (I think they were butterfly collectors) in a very dangerous area and the unfortunate incident of the backpackers at the lost city. (the only backpackers to be taken)

In fact this week I know of two foriengners riding there bikes through this area without any incident as have many other foriegners each year on bikes, motorbikes and in cars.

The 2nd dumbest comment of the year is advising someone to only see the big cities in Colombia. This road to the coast from Bogota has some of the most beautiful colonial towns in Colombia including Barichara and Villa de Lleyva as well as San Gil which is great for adventure tourism. You will never get a real understanding of Colombia without visiting a small town and its the easiest place to meet and talk to Colombians. To even suggest that the area of Santander is dangerous and FARC controlled is ridiculous and uneducated.

I wonder where you get your kidnap info from Gomezman, your travel agent. Travel agents in Colombia thrive on scare mongering of course they will tell you to fly. As for a package deal being enticing they must be pretty low to match the $35 for bus and $6 for hostal dorm that the Backpacker would otherwise be paying.

El Unit if you want to see more of Colombia than the big cities email me I will be happy to have you visit in San Gil. There are many backpackers on this site that will give you up to date information on what to see or do. You just sometimes have to filter through the garbage.

Travel by bus its safe, wear a money belt, be careful with your belongings in the terminal and don't put your camera in an over head compartment. A great place for info is the hostal network in Colombia full of backpackers travelling by bus and seeing the country. If you start in Bogota go to the Platypus or in Cartagena try Casa Vienna. Let me know if I can be of more assistance.

In summary, I live here, I work in the travel business, Ive travelled the country, I know better than some travel agent in Zona Rosa.

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mariaellena says on Jun 9, 2005, 14:10:

travelling Hi, I am from Canada and I am planning a trip to Cartagena Colombia to see a couple of my friends in the navy there. I am planning around the middle of October 2005 for a couple weeks and I am flying into Bogata but I need transportation to Cartagena. I am wondering if you know of any means of reasonable transportation to Cartagena from Bogata besides flying which is kinda pricey. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Oh also I am wondering if you know where the naval base is located in Cartagena so I can book a hotel close by..
Thanks a bunch

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carter says on Jun 9, 2005, 14:49:

don't know where a naval base is but a bus takes around 20 hours and costs around 80.000 pesos
around $40 Canadian.

Its safe and you could stop to do some sight seeing on the way if you wanted to break up the trip.

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Manolo58 says on Aug 5, 2005, 07:29:

Roadtrip to Cartagena Recently made a roadtrip 3 days from Bogota to Cartagena by car and visited many small towns and barrios. Trip of a lifetime, a must do ...dangerous...maybe..don't really know...but so is NYC and Philadelphia.

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sen says on Aug 5, 2005, 08:07:

Barranquilla flight is cheaper I think.

Try avianca.com. My experience has been that flights to Cartagena and Santa Marta are more expensive that to Barranquilla. So, may be you should fly to Barranquilla and then take a bus to Cartagena, provided it is not nighttime.

I booked tickets to Bogota-Barranquilla, Cartagena-Bogota (it appears the return flight prices are the same) and it cost me 169 US.

Airpass is a good thing, but Avianca charges a higher price if you are not flying to Bogota with them.
good luck.
sen.

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hotpunkin says on May 7, 2007, 11:26:

If your still out there CARTER email me about Bogata!!!!
Would like to travel by bus bogata to cartagena, but we have 3 kids. It would be great to break up the trip 3-4 chunks...Take a few days to get to Cartagena and experience the country. We travel with backpacks and i do speak spanish...but we probably look very american. We dont travel with jewelry...just the basics. any advice....too risky with kids??? good places to stop??? thanks
thecacyfamily at hotmail.com

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miamimike says on May 7, 2007, 15:41:

Its a Beautiful trip but somewhat dangerous due to the Bus Drivers and the lack of safety inspections on commercial Buses(Brakes, tires). I took this Trip in 95(over 4 days as I wanted to see the real Colombia off the beaten tourist traps) and the Scenary was breathtaking, especially when you cross the Andes with White Clouds on the road as the Bus plows through. Spectacular but dangerous albeit very cheap! Good places to stop?? Too many to count! With 3 kids, it may be a stretch as the Kids would probably be bored.

"Wait a minute. What did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon gas? That's interesting. I hadn't heard that." -- Feb. 28, 2008 --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.

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Gator says on May 7, 2007, 20:47:

a longgg trip by bus, say about 1100 km. and kinda round about and you have to go through Barranquilla and back east to Cartagena.With three kids added it would be an even longggggggggggggggggggggggger!!! trip.

Why not take the Medellin route which is about the same distance?

Suggestions: Bogotá/Medellin(400km) then Medellin/Sincelego(425kn) then Sincelejo/Cartagena(200km). Three days and if you can keep the kids amused a cheap way to make the trip and see the country side.
Take one of the express buses and if you are not worried about a specific time frame it wold be a great way to see the country.


"Brevior Sltare Cum Deformibus Mulieribus Est Vita!" .

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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