Holidaying in Colombia: Caribbean Beaches, Buzzing Cities and the Good Life

Not so long ago, mentioning Colombia in the same breath as the word "holiday" would have raised a few eyebrows. For decades the country was tangled up in a brutal internal conflict, with guerrilla groups, paramilitaries and the drug trade dominating the headlines, and most travellers simply stayed away. Then things changed, and they changed fast. The 2016 peace deal with the FARC rebels was a turning point, cities that were once no-go zones reinvented themselves, and word started to spread that Colombia was, frankly, gorgeous. Tourism has more or less exploded since then, and while you still need your wits about you in certain areas, the country has opened its arms to visitors in a way that feels genuinely warm rather than performative. Colombians are chuffed to have you there, and it shows.

Cartagena: The Jewel of the Caribbean

If you only visit one place in Colombia, make it Cartagena. The walled old town is a UNESCO-listed fever dream of bougainvillea spilling over wooden balconies, candy-coloured colonial facades and plazas where street performers break into champeta dancing the moment the sun dips. Walking those cobbled streets at dusk, when the heat finally loosens its grip and the smell of grilled arepas drifts out from the corner stalls, is one of those travel moments that lodges itself in your memory for good.

Accommodation here runs the full gamut. In the old town and the hip Getsemaní district you will find gorgeous boutique hotels tucked inside restored colonial mansions, many with plunge pools in leafy courtyards, rooftop terraces and breakfast spreads piled high with tropical fruit. Expect to pay anywhere from £80 to £250 a night for something special, though budget travellers are well catered for too, with social hostels offering dorms from around a tenner. Amenities tend to be excellent, air con is a given (you will need it, trust me) and most places include WiFi, airport transfers and tour desks that can sort day trips to the nearby Rosario Islands.

Medellín: The City of Eternal Spring

Medellín's comeback story is the stuff of legend. Once infamous as the most dangerous city on earth, it is now better known for its cable cars swooping over the hillside barrios, its innovative public spaces and a nightlife scene that does not quit. The nickname "City of Eternal Spring" is well earned, the weather hovers around a perfect 24 degrees pretty much all year, so you can leave the jumpers at home.

Base yourself in El Poblado if you want trendy cafes, coworking spots and restaurants serving everything from bandeja paisa to sushi. Laureles is the more local, laid-back option, with tree-lined streets and bars where a beer costs about a quid. Hotels range from slick high-rises with rooftop infinity pools to family-run guesthouses where the owner insists on making you coffee every morning. Day trips are easy too, Guatapé with its enormous climbable rock and its rainbow-painted streets is about two hours away and worth every minute of the bus ride.

Bogotá: High Altitude, High Energy

The capital often gets skipped by beach-hungry travellers, which is a shame, because Bogotá has a gritty charm that grows on you. La Candelaria, the historic quarter, is all narrow lanes, bold street art and hole-in-the-wall cafes serving some of the best coffee you will ever taste. Take the cable car up Monserrate for views across the whole sprawling city, then head to the Gold Museum to gawp at pre-Columbian treasures. Sundays are magic here, the main roads close to traffic and fill with cyclists, joggers and food vendors. Just remember Bogotá sits at 2,600 metres, so take it easy on day one or the altitude will humble you.

The Coffee Region: Slow Days and Green Valleys

Ask Colombians where their heart is and plenty will point to the Eje Cafetero, the coffee triangle. Towns like Salento are postcard pretty, with brightly painted doors and balconies overflowing with flowers, and the surrounding Cocora Valley is home to wax palm trees that stretch up to 60 metres into the mist. They look like something Dr. Seuss dreamt up, honestly. Stay on a working coffee finca and you will wake to birdsong, the smell of fresh tinto and views across endless green hills. Many fincas offer tours where you pick the beans yourself, roast them and drink the results, which ruins supermarket coffee for you forever but is absolutely worth it.

The Caribbean Coast and Tayrona

Now for the bit many people come for, the beaches. Colombia's Caribbean coast delivers in spades. Tayrona National Park, an hour or so from Santa Marta, is the headline act, a stretch of jungle-clad coastline where enormous boulders frame coves of golden sand and impossibly blue water. The hike in takes you through humid rainforest alive with howler monkeys, and when you finally emerge at Cabo San Juan, with its iconic viewpoint hut perched between two bays, you will understand why people rave about this place. Accommodation inside the park is rustic, think hammocks under palm-thatched roofs, eco-habs on stilts and simple campsites. Facilities are basic but that is half the charm. Falling asleep to the sound of crashing waves in a hammock you rented for the price of a London pint is hard to beat.

Further along the coast, Palomino has become the backpacker darling, a scruffy-beachy village where you can float down the river on an inner tube in the morning and sip cocktails on the sand by sunset. Minca, up in the Sierra Nevada foothills, offers waterfalls, cacao farms and eco-lodges with jaw-dropping views for those who want a break from the heat.

San Andrés and Providencia: The Sea of Seven Colours

For proper postcard perfection, hop on a flight to San Andrés and its smaller sister island Providencia. Technically closer to Nicaragua than the Colombian mainland, these islands serve up that "sea of seven colours" everyone bangs on about, and it is not marketing fluff, the water genuinely shifts from pale turquoise to deep sapphire as you look out from the shore. Providencia in particular feels like the Caribbean of fifty years ago, sleepy, friendly and blissfully free of high-rise resorts. Expect simple posadas run by local families, fresh lobster for lunch and snorkelling straight off the beach.

The Lifestyle: Music, Food and Sobremesa

What really makes a Colombian holiday though is the lifestyle. This is a country that runs on music, salsa, cumbia, vallenato and reggaeton pour out of every doorway, and nobody thinks twice about dancing in the street. Cali claims the salsa crown, but honestly you will find people dancing everywhere. Food is hearty and unpretentious, think crispy empanadas, sancocho stew, fresh fish with coconut rice on the coast and fruit you have never heard of, lulo, guanábana, granadilla, sold by smiling vendors for pennies. Coffee culture is taken seriously, obviously, and mealtimes come with sobremesa, the lovely habit of lingering at the table chatting long after the plates are cleared. Nobody rushes here. After a few days, neither will you.

Where to Stay and What to Expect

Across the country, accommodation standards have shot up in recent years. Big cities offer international chain hotels with gyms, pools, spa facilities and business centres, while the real character lies in the boutique hotels, converted haciendas and eco-lodges. Even mid-range places usually include generous breakfasts, strong WiFi (digital nomads have cottoned on to Colombia in a big way) and staff who will bend over backwards to help. Hot water can be hit and miss in the hottest coastal towns, where a lukewarm shower is considered a blessing rather than a flaw, and power cuts happen occasionally in remote spots, so pack a power bank and a bit of patience. Tipping around ten percent in restaurants is customary, and a few words of Spanish goes a long, long way, English is not widely spoken outside the tourist hubs.

Final Thoughts

Colombia gets under your skin. It is the sheer variety that does it, one week you are hiking through cloud forest to a hidden beach, the next you are sipping single-origin coffee on a finca balcony or dancing salsa badly at 2am with new friends who refuse to let you leave. The country has been through the wars, literally, and there is something deeply moving about seeing it bloom again. Go now, while it still feels like a discovery, and do not be surprised if you start pricing up one-way tickets on the flight home.

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