Colombia vacations 2024 & 2025

Colombia offers a vibrant medley of experiences from exploring rainforests and snow-capped mountains to historic cities and sandy beaches. Whether you’re interested in history, wildlife, food, or quiet relaxation, Colombia offers it all in a single destination.

You can explore the historic streets of the country’s cities visiting cathedrals, galleries, and museums, discover the vestiges of mysterious pre-Inca cultures, track wildlife though lush rainforest, and see the finest Colombian coffee growing in the highlands.

Colombia also has two coastlines with forest-fringed beaches offering the chance to combine wildlife viewing with time spent simply relaxing under an umbrella in a cooling sea breeze.

Colombia offers stays in lovingly restored heritage buildings, intimate boutique townhouses, and luxurious five-star hotels. Bogotá and Cartagena offer a wide range of places to stay but in rural Colombia, the options can be more limited, although the choice is improving all the time.

For example, you could relax in a 17th-century convent now complete with gym and spa, stay on a working hacienda in the coffee region to learn about rural life, or retreat to the beach with a stay in a secluded island escape or a thatched casita on the waterfront.

For some more ideas, browse our collection of places to stay in Colombia.

A trip to Colombia could combine the urban delights of Cartagena and Bogotá with visits to the Amazon, the Caribbean Coast, or the Zona Cafetera. You could explore the cobbled streets of cosmopolitan Bogotá or the Caribbean culture of Cartagena, before heading off to see the Andean peaks and lush green valleys of the cool Zona Cafetera highlands where most of Colombia’s coffee is grown.

Alternatively, you could search for wildlife in the jungles of the Amazon or the national parks on the Caribbean Coast where dense rainforest fringes white-sand beaches.

In Colombia you can see a wide variety of wildlife from monkeys and capybaras to whales and dolphins. Thanks to its many ecosystems, Colombia’s wildlife is diverse with the lush lowland forests of the Amazon offering a chance to spot pink river dolphins, parrots, toucans, and monkeys, among many other species.

The tropical grasslands of Los Llanos are home to capybaras and roseate spoonbills, while the forests and moorland around Minca are home to about 300 bird species. Along the Pacific Coast you could go whale watching or see leatherback, green, and hawksbill turtles hatching on the beach.

It takes around six hours to fly from the East Coast of the US to Colombia, and around seven hours from the West Coast.

The time zone in Colombia is UTC-5 hours. Daylight Savings Time isn’t observed here.

The best way to get around in Colombia is by road and air. We can arrange a private car and driver to take you between destinations, and book internal flights for longer distances.

US citizens don’t need a visa to visit Colombia for stays of up to 90 days, but you may need to provide evidence of return or onward travel. Citizens of other countries should check their visa requirements. We recommend using our partner Visa Central.

All visitors to Colombia are required to complete the Check Mig immigration form between one and 72 hours prior to your flight. This will need to be completed again before departing the country.

Your doctor can advise you on recommended vaccines for Colombia, but you should also ensure you’re up to date with the recommended vaccinations for your home country. You can also check the suggested vaccinations on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

Check that your passport is valid for at least six months after your date of departure from Colombia.