Detailed Colombia Review & Itinerary 💃🇨🇴

We NAILED it with this anniversary trip and can't wait to share with YOU!

Benny Boo Bear and I just celebrated our 15-year anny with a SANS KIDS TRIP 💃.

As we were dreamin’ and a schemin’, a few of you recommended Colombia on what became an EPIC thread of Off-The-Beaten-Path travel destinations over on my Instgram page. (SAVE for when you need inspo for your next trip!)

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So, after a few mentions on this thread, I did a quick bit of research, and it ticked (most) of my boxes:

1.) Not a huge time zone change and within 15ish hours of Portland.

2.) A place neither Ben nor I had ever been.

3.) “Off the beaten path” (Meaning it wouldn’t be a hot spot for American tourists in the middle of summer and would feel a little on the unique and wild 🐆 side.)

4.) STRONG VIBES.

According to these standards, Colombia seemed to pass, so, Wham, bam, I snagged us two tickets to Colombia and started building out our trip.

And I have to say, I think we NAILED IT.

Full Itinerary and Review Below! ⬇️

Days 1-2: Medellín

We flew from Portland into Medellín, Colombia. (To my very American ears, it sounds like “meda-jean”.

Vibes:

Every time I travel, the first kind of gut feeling/question I seem to ask myself subconsciously is:

Would I want to live here?

When visiting some places, I IMMEDIATELY start dreaming about what life would look like, and others feel like just a nice place to visit.

So on the “WIWTLH (Would I want to live here?) Scale,” I rate Medellin as a 3/10. Very little fantasizing about living real life in Medellin.

But on the AIGICH (Am I glad I came here?) scale, it rates a solid 8/10 and let me tell you WHY:

It’s the literal greenest city 🌱 I’ve ever been to. It felt like a city built into a jungle, and let me tell you: They really lean into the jungle aesthetic, and BOY, DID I LOVE THAT.

So lush. 🌱

So many leopards 🐆 snuck into the interior and graphic design LIKE MY DREAMS COME TRUE.

There was also this vintage botanical sciences vibe around the city that I was SUPER INTO. 

It was easy (and CHEAP!) to get around the city. We mostly walked everywhere or took a VERY affordable Uber or two.

Hotel: Selvario36.

Good jungle-y design. Pretty affordable. Great location for only having 2 days to explore the city. It won’t change your entire life, but good vibes and a great location mean I will recommend it.

Activities:

One of our FAVORITE things to do when we get to a new city and we have limited time is to take a guided bike tour. It might look/sound a little goofy/cheesy, but there is no better or more fun way to get oriented to a city! It also helps us decide where we want to spend the remainder of our time in that city. It kinda gives you peace of mind that you’re not missing some “can’t miss” area of the city since you typically get exposure to the most notable parts of a city on these tours. It is great for seeing the whole city and then helping you decide where you want to spend the rest of your time.

We chose to do e-bikes, which was a win! E-bikes are becoming more and more standard with bike tour companies and are a GREAT option if you feel a bit nervous about the physical exertion or just to cover more ground faster. With an e-bike, you can make it as easy or challenging as you’d like!

We went with Green Bike Tours and LOVED our guide and our whole experience. Recommend!

Other ratings:

Food: 10/10. Medellín is, IMHO, one of the best food cities in the world. Everything we ate was good. And keep in mind that I live in one of the food capitals of the world (shoutout to Portland!) and have V HIGH FOOD STANDARDS.

For street food, we filled up on arepas, empanadas, and Buñuelos, which are my new favorite foods. (Basically, fried cheese balls LET’S GO.) 

We ate dinner at Alambique Cafe, Oci, and lunch at Lezzet, and all were 10/10 for both food and ambiance.

The coffee at Pergamino Cafe was also a 10/10.

I snagged a massage (duh, you guys) at Celestino Hotel, and while the massage was fine (I’m a connoisseur, okay), the ambiance and location was great.

Shopping: 

TBH, the shopping scene and overall fashion vibe in Medellín was not really my vibe, so I didn’t spend much time looking for great shops. But the best area I did find was at Via Primavera. I really liked the vibe of this shopping district more than the shopping itself, but I found a treasure or two, and it was worth the ramble down the curated street. (This is the same street where I got my massage, so super convenient.)

Touristy Quotient:

Okay. So this is a big deal to me. Call me pretentious or hypocritical, whatever, I don’t care, but my enjoyment of a place is very impacted by how many tourists are there. I just cannot handle spending time and money to go somewhere new and different from my everyday life only to feel like I am wading through throngs of tourists (especially other Americans.) It just messes with the immersive vibe I love so much when traveling.

And Medellín got a 10/10 on the touristy quotient! I did not see A SINGLE American the entire time. I am sure there were some South American tourists I couldn’t distinguish from residents, but overall, it felt like a LIVING city vs. a city built for tourists, which I LOVE.

Brava!

Weather: 

This region of Colombia is called the “eternal spring.” We went in July, and it was mid-60s to high 70s, and it rained a bit every day. It would be a GREAT place to escape if you live somewhere that has HOT summers and want a bit of an escape but I wouldn’t bank on staying here for your entire trip if you’re hoping to get your Vitamin D and a stellar tan. (Which feels very 1990’s, but you do you!)

Safety:

In the 1990’s Meddelín was one of the most violent and dangerous cities in the world. Drugs, cartel, Pablo Escobar, the whole deal. Medellín has done an incredible job turning what was once one of the most dangerous cities in the world into a thriving community with tons of intentionally designed public spaces, from sports courts to sculpture parks and green spaces. 

BRAVA!

I had several people HIGHLY recommend the walking tours where you learn more about the history of Medellin city and HOW it transformed from being one of the most dangerous cities in the world to a super liveable and thriving city. We chose not to partake only due to our limited time, but from my not-super-educated perspective, I will say this:

We felt totally safe and comfortable the whole time we were there. It truly did not feel any more dangerous than your average similarly-sized city. While I always encourage you to follow common sense safety practices no matter where you go, I didn’t feel unsafe at any point.

I will say that when I wandered around the city for an hour or two without Ben, I did notice a significant shift in the amount of attention I received from men. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon for most women in many Latin American cultures. I was annoyed, but even then, I never felt scared. And it wouldn’t keep me from returning there solo if the opportunity presented itself.

Would I take kids?

Personally, no.

Not because of safety so much as I just don’t really love traveling in cities with my kids, and there wasn’t anything about this city that felt like it would make it particularly amazing for my family.  If you have a reason to bring your family, I wouldn’t advise against it. Just wouldn’t do it myself or recommend it for young families.

Misc:

Colombia played Brazil ⚽️ on our first night, and it was SO FUN to see the football obsession in real-time. And overall, it is such an ACTIVE city! So many people were out running on outdoor tracks and rollerblading and playing football. I loved the vibrancy and activity across the city.

Overall:

Do I need to go back every year and dream about having a second home in Medellín?

Nope.

But I am VERY HAPPY we made the stop and definitely could have done another full day and night there and snuck in at least three more meals 🤤🤤🤤

Days 3-4: Bosko/Guatape

After two nights in Medellín, we drove about 1.5 hours outside the city to stay at an “eco-dome resort” called Bosko.

Long story short, 10/10 recommend this place!!

We had our own private little dome nestled into a cliff, with a private deck and hot tub overlooking the river.

Come on.

In addition to the RAD domes, it had an awesome “sky pool,” and the service and hospitality experience was 10/10.

Also, THE FOOD WAS SO GOOD and very reasonably priced for the quality. We chose to eat every meal there (breakfast was included!) and were DELIGHTED with every single meal.

We stayed at Bosko for two nights and just LOVED it. It thunderstormed both nights, which made the dome experience extra epic. (And maybe a smidge scared that we were going to get washed off the cliff, which I assure you, we did not.)

In addition to an in-room couples massage, we also went on a riverboat ride, which was also very fun. It was the perfect amount of activity vs. rest that we were looking for.

Then, we took a Tuk Tuk about 5 minutes to visit a pretty well known little town called Guatape, which honestly felt like…

a total tourist trap 🫠

Like, if you’ve NEVER been to a small Central or South American town and you’ll never have the chance again, sure, fine, go to this one. You’ll see colorful buildings and a town square with a pretty church, etc.

But it just honestly felt pretty fabricated, and it was FULL of tourists. Like, all the tourists we DIDN’T see in Medellin were apparently hanging out in Guatape 😅

In short, skip Guatape. This was the one “bust” of our whole trip, which wasn’t a huge bummer because it was only five minutes away from Bosko.

Overall: If you go to Medellín, I highly recommend making the short trek to Bosko.

BRAVA!

Days 4-5: Cartegena

After two nights at Bosko, we drove (took a cheap Uber) back into Medellín to catch a quick (and cheap) less-than-two-hour flight to the coastal city of Cartagena.

🚨VIBE CHANGE ALERT 🚨

We went from Urban Jungle Eternal Spring vibes to Caribean Coastal HOT HOT HOT vibes. It truly felt like an entirely different country, and that was SO FUN!

Overall Emo Review of Cartagena:

One of my very favorite things is visiting a place that has such a strong, distinct, and cohesive VIBE that it’s like we all got the same memo 💌

And reader, the Cartagena memo includes:

RUFFLES for the ladies in the same colors as the old limewashed buildings and white linen for the men and mojitos in hand for all, which makes you feel like maybe you’re on the most realistic set ever built and at any moment you could slip off the curb only to be caught by the gentleman sweeping in front of his shop who twirls you around, but curiously everyone around you twirls at the very same moment and all of a sudden we’re all singing some Lin Manual Miranda song you’ve never heard before but somehow know all the words.

BUT

(And this is a very important BUT)

It has to NOT be a set with doors that lead to backstage break rooms filled with bad lighting and snacks bought at the Costco in Culver City; a relic of a place that once teemed with life but now is littered with gift shops and turnstiles and DO NOT CLIMB signs in English.

It has to feel like a movie set but be a real-life, living, breathing city that doesn’t know you’re even alive, let alone exists for you. Instead, it just warmly lets you come to be a part of the chorus line for a brief moment if you’d like.

A vibrant, bustling place with babies with mops of thick black hair strapped to their mamas and toddlers with sticky hands falling on the uneven sidewalks and little narrow streets that are PACKED with neighbors playing cards at plastic tables and laughing loudly at jokes you’ll never understand, and a town square lit by street lamps illuminating folk dancers visiting from Mexico who end their elaborate story told through dance by spraying the crowd with bottles of shaken Coronas while a young man puts his strong arm around his abuela and guides her through the rowdy crowd as if it’s his life’s mission to deliver this precious package safely to the best seat in the house.

BRAVA, CARTAGENA. I adore you and rate your vibes at 10/10.

Hotel:

We stayed at the Charleston Hotel, which was in a fantastic location, with a lovely rooftop pool and a FANTASTIC breakfast included.

I will say the Charleston was pretty spendy, and if I were going again and wasn’t using credit card points, I think I’d look for a little boutique hotel that was less expensive. We didn’t spend much time at our hotel because we were really out and about all day and night so, it’s not one I would splurge on.

I have no complaints; I'm just not really sure it was worth the price, and it did seem there were some other cool boutique options out there.

Activities:

We started (again!) with a bike tour of the Old City. (Where we stayed and never left. If you only have a few days like us, stay in the Old City! It’s where the vibes are!) We did a private tour with these folks and would TOTALLY recommend it.

The rest of the time in Cartegena, we kinda just spent putzing and exploring the Old City! We walked around the city during the day and went to the Gethsemane neighborhood late one night. The streets were just PACKED with people playing cards and eating and drinking on little tables set up on the narrow streets and watching football and dancing and it was SO LIVELY AND FUN!

Shopping:

The shopping here was MUCH more appealing than in Medellín, but SUPER SPENDY!

But KA-UTE you guys 🤩

It was super fun to window shop and bop around, but I was not prepared to spend that kinda coin shopping, okay. (A silk kaftan I adored was $1,500, and this dress by a local designer that WAS MY ACTUAL DREAM was close to $2k.)

I did pick up some fun fabric and an artisan-made hat from Calambuco, a tagua seed bracelet from a little street vendor, and an EPIC brass doorknocker from another street vendor. (Who was in the square across the street from Sofitel Legend Santa Clara Cartagena). I also stumbled in a local fabric shop and snagged some fabric that I am now having made into a skirt/top set by my local tailor. (Stay tuned!)

I could have definitely spent some more time treasure-hunting and shopping in Cartagena!

Eating:

The food was good! Not Medellín GREAT, but really good.

The most notable meal we had was at the other fancy hotel in town (Sofitel Legend Santa Clara Cartagena), and I will say the vibe and the food DID NOT DISAPPOINT. We had the BEST ceviche I’ve ever had, and our cutie pie waiter gave us a sweet anniversary dessert.

We also had lunch at Crepes and Waffles, and it kind of felt like the Cheesecake Factory of, well, crepes and waffles, but y’all, it was SO GOOD and I see why it was PACKED every time we walked by.

Touristy Quotient:

Listen. It’s a coastal town, so there were WAY more tourists here than in Medellín, but still not a super notable American presence.

It *felt* (I mean, these are not researchy facts, just my experience!) like the vast majority of tourists were South American, and despite all the tourists and the things built to accommodate tourists, it still had the feeling of being a lively, living city, and I didn’t really mind the tourism vibes it one bit. If anything, it added to the feeling that we were all there to have fun and be in vacay mode.

Overall:

Considering that Cartagena is just a few hours' flight from Miami but truly feels like a different world, I highly recommend a trip there.

✨MA-GI-CAL, okay ✨

Days 5-7: Rosario Islands/ Las Isla Baru

We took another 1.5 hour Uber from Cartagena to get out to the Rosario Islands.

Hotel: Las Isla Baru.

We arrived at this magical little place and promptly boarded a boat to get us to the private island where our bungalow was.

Y’all. This place was DREAMY! While the food wasn’t as good as Bosko's, it was the best “island” experience I’ve personally ever had.

It was LOW KEY in the sense that you are literally on an island with a dozen or so other bungalows, a couple of places to eat, a spa, a beach, and … that’s it!

So if slow and low key isn’t the vibe you’re looking for, you can skip this part but it was a PERFECT ending to our trip.

We especially loved the little private ocean-water infinity pool outside our bungalow. I got an EXCELLENT massage at the spa, and overall, the service was fantastic.

This place was pretty spendy but totally SPLURGE-worthy if you’re looking for a romantic getaway.

(FWIW, not a CHANCE I would like to bring my family here. My kids are way too feral, and the vibe was way too low-key for those little hoodlums. This is totally a romantic getaway place in my book.)

After two nights at Las Isla Baru, we headed back into Cartagena and began the journey home ✈️

Overall Review:

The diversity of this trip is part of what makes me SO HIGHLY recommend Colombia! It felt less like an eight-day trip to Colombia and more like we took four little vacations within the same country.

Combine the diversity with the fact that it is relatively close to America with very little time change, and I think Colombia packs a HUGE punch for both adventure and romance.

BRAVA!

(And if you use any of these recs and end up in Colombia, please let me know! I love hearing from fellow travelers!)

xo,

Liz

P.S. I am working on a round-up of what I packed and wore on this trip. Stay tuned!