12 day trip to Columbia: Any advice on the best way to travel from Bogota to Cartagena to Medellin?

Gator says on Dec 29, 2007, 17:21:

FLY-you will waste a day coming and going on the bus-can't say much about prices since you did not give anticipated travel dates.

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

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travelingirl says on Dec 29, 2007, 19:17:

Good idea to fly to Cartagena from Bogota instead of trying to take a bus. When I looked online my round trip flight (with Avianca) Bogota-Cartagena was going to be around $180 USD but once I finally got around to booking it (on the phone), it ended up being around $300... but that was round trip. I'd just check out one of the domestic airline websites for more precise info regarding prices. I recommend booking online too.. seems to be cheaper than on the phone.

Around her hair she wore a yellow ribbon...

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huovinen says on Dec 29, 2007, 20:54:

I would typically fly but you can take a bus depending up how much money you want to save and how much sight seeing you want to do.

The bus from Bogotá to Medellin would be about $25 USD whereas a 1 way flight would run you around $90 USD. Additionally once you arrive at the MDE airport you would need to take a collectivo or taxi down to Medellin proper. I haven't taken the collectivo but a taxi would be another $20 USD.

If you want to see the country side you take the bus during the day. If you don't want to see the sights are just looking for more economical travel then you can travel through the night and arrive in Medellin in the morning.

Getting out and back to Cartagena is longer so would probably be worth flying. Avianca is pretty good about 1-way fares so you could fly all around or simply fly BOG->CTG, and CTG->MDE and take a bus back from Medellin to Bogota, etc.

btw, you can get better prices for airline flights in Colombia than trying to book from outside. Also to book on-line may require a Colombia issued credit card for the best rates so you may simply want to check the rates on-line and then good to a local office to make the payment, which is the approach I typically take.

..con dinero y sin dinero hago siempre lo que quiero

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scotty says on Dec 29, 2007, 21:18:

you need more than 12 days

Get Rhythm, when you got the blues. Johnny Cash

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travelingirl says on Dec 30, 2007, 01:04:

Yeah, I guess I should have mentioned that when I bought my Avianca ticket to Cartagena from Bogota it was in-country and with a Colombian credit card. It would be great if you knew someone there that could get it for you with their card for a better price.

Around her hair she wore a yellow ribbon...

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leftside says on Dec 30, 2007, 09:57:

Great tips! Thanks. I'm flying in from Vancouver, Canada and don't arrive in Bogota until late in the evening, so I'll probably stay in Bogota for a couple of days before flying to Cartagena and then take the bus to Medellin and possibly Malgar.

I'll do a google and see if I can find the Avianca site. Do flights fill up quickly? If I arrive in Bogota one day, will it be easy for me to get a flight to Cartagena the next day or the day after? I'll be arriving the middle or March.

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john_stark says on Dec 30, 2007, 11:00:

You can also try Aerorepublica: http://www.aerorepublica.com/

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tomtom33 says on Dec 30, 2007, 12:02:

I have flown Aires(http://www.aires.aero/Website/Default.aspx) BOG-MDE and MDE-CTG. And they fly out of MDE's Olaya Herrera Airport in the city.

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LaMovidCh(u)eca says on Dec 30, 2007, 20:04:

Learning how to spell the name of the country correctly will be an awful lot of help when trying to purchase a map.

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Enrique187 says on Dec 30, 2007, 21:18:

I have seen COLOMBIA spelled with a U in US newspapers. Is this an acceptable spelling at times? I find it amazing that newspapers would even make that mistake. It's irritating.

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tompower says on Dec 31, 2007, 05:41:

dear mr.leftside here's my 2 cents.,
I imagine ur taking the air canada toronto-bogota flight to get to colombia, maybe u live outside of vancouver. so on day one of ur trip ur gonna drive to the airport fly the 4.5 hours to toronto and have to spend the night because no flight can get u to toronto the same day as ur flight to bogota. U dont leave toronto till 2pm the next day so another day of travel u arrive too late to bogota to make any connection to cartagena so u overnight in bogota by the time you get to cartagena the next day u probably wont have any desire to go anywhere else. Just sit on the beach and rest your weary bones from all the travel. And prepare yourself for the return to canada ( its a long process catching that return flight to toronto, lots of line-ups and OH the humanity cramming on that toronto flight!!)
I love colombia and i'm flying that same flight from toronto this month and i'll be staying in cartagena for a month and I'm going straight to the beach and no where else. You only got 12 days live like a king in cartagena for as many as you can. You'll come back to colombia guaranteed then u can maybe go to medellin or then maybe not just go back to cartagena,.. it's all there.
Remember, we're all in this together.
Tom Power

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leftside says on Dec 31, 2007, 07:37:

Thanks for the other airline tips.

> Learning how to spell the name of the country correctly will be an awful lot of help
> when trying to purchase a map.
Wooo... thanks for that (blush)

Yes, Tom I'm flying from Toronto. Not a problem - fly from Vancouver to Toronto one day and have a night in Toronto. The next day I fly from Toronto. My 12 days is all in Columbia. Arrive Saturday night in Bogota - will dump stuff off in hotel and then hit the bars/clubs in Bogota (any good recommendations for techno/trance/electronica would be appreciated - but perhaps I'll ask that in another thread). Then we'll head to Cartagena the next day (or even day after).

My friends from Toronto are going to stay in Cartagena the whole week - but I'd really like to at least see Medellin as well, as I have a few extra days. I'm more of a "mountain person" than a "beach person" (though in Vancouver we have both - but quite different to Colombia I bet - lol).

I've heard the return flight can be fun :-)

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manINred says on Dec 31, 2007, 09:00:

Hey, I'm from Toronto.

Take the bus at night to save time and money, but if money is not an issue and time is tight, fly. You can take a sleeping pill they sell in stores, fall asleep on the night bus, and wake up refreshed.

Bogota-Cartagena: 20 hours by bus
Bogota-Medellin: 8 hours by bus
Cartagena-Medellin: 12 hours by bus.

I have done all three trips during the day and night. Check the routes beforehand to make sure they're safe at night, the safety situation changes in Colombia often, but has generally been stable with these routes over the past 3 years.

Have fun!

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aztec says on Dec 31, 2007, 09:22:

Fly!

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leftside says on Dec 31, 2007, 11:07:

If it's 12 hours from Cartagena-Medellin then I think I'll fly, but judging by Tom's pics I'm not sure I'm going to leave Cartagena! I might be a convert to a "beach person" ;-)

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tompower says on Dec 31, 2007, 12:12:

now ur talking sense!!!

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