G'day Guys
Just wondering if anyone has been in colombia for new years celebrations? (more so cartagena)
the plan is to get a boat from panama to cartagena and spend new years in cartagena as we have heard its crazy there! we also intend on going to summerdance festival in the days following..
just looking for any tips from travelers who have been here for new years
accomodation ideas?
i will be with a few mates from home so we are throwing up the idea of renting a house/apartment for a week, otherwise any recommendations on hostels?
we intend on spending about a month in colombia before flying to salvador for carnival!
in that month the plan is to hit
Cartegena
Manizales
medelin
Bogota
any other places people can recommend?
cheers 😊
Reply to this Sorry, won't be able to help on this...but Cartagena is also on my wishlist, so will wait to read you on this...
Peter
Reply to this Was in Cartagena this past New Year's. There is a huge public party just inside the old walled city. You won't be disappointed. Great fireworks, too.
Recommended hostels: Casa Viena or El Marlin (like 5 minutes walking from the walled city). There are places inside the walled city, too. But they are way more expensive.
Be sure and do your homework on which boat you take from Panama.
Medellin: Now one of my favorite cities on Earth.
Also take a look at Popayan further south. If you're into ruins, ancient civ stuff, there are two really spectacular sets of recently discovered cultures there in San Agustin and Tierradentro.
Reply to this Cartagena's old city is nice but didn't really like it otherwise - an absolute must is Taganga, just east of Santa Marta. Not only is it a great beach community with plenty of restaurants and bars, there is cheap diving, it is nearby the beautiful Tayrona national Park with some of the best beaches in Colombia, and it is near to the Lost City ruins (Cuidad Perdida) which is a fantastic six-day trek.
I loved Medellin so much I plan on moving there next year. Much smaller, cheaper, less chaotic and warmer than Bogota, with some amazing nightlife. There are three main hostels where everybody stays - the Black Sheep, which is great with a lot of long-termers and is the most chilled of the three, and Pitstop, which is a big party hostel, and Casa Kiwi, which is somewhere between the other two. All are in the safe and upmarket El Poblado area.
But Bogota is great too, Crazy Croc is supposed to be the best hostel in town but Platypus is nice too if a little faded - the owner is really friendly and helpful and will probably ask you if you want a beer with him at midday!
If you haven't already booked you flight to Salvador, you should seriously consider going to the Carnival in Barranquilla (two hours east of Cartagena). I haven't been to a Brazilian carnival but I can't believe it is as much fun as the Barranquilla one. There are hardly any tourists, its way cheaper, supposedly safer (I've heard some horror stories about Salvador!) and with the friendliest people in the whole of Colombia (and believe me, thats with some stiff competition!). And, of course, they are all in loco party mode, so are even more fun.
Reply to this cheers guys for those tips, all sounds amazing!
we havnt booked a flight to salvador yet but we have booked accomodation so thats locked in, we have a condo with 11 other mates from home so will be a fun time none the less..
flights from bogota to brazil are bloody expensive though, its abit cheaper from Ecuador so may bus there and fly from there
do you think around a month is a good time to set aside to do colombia? wouldnt mind venturing in to Venezuela if its safe enough otherwise will go the other way in to ecuador
cheers again guys
Reply to this If i were you mate i'd avoid Venezuela. I haven't been but met scores of people who went over the border and didnt like it at all. Its dangerous, especially caracas, I'd spend longer in Colombia instead. You will see a lot in a month but its my favourite country in the world, and three months wasn't long enough for me!
Re flights - tell me about it. I payed about 400 euros to get from Medellin to Rio, and that was with taca, one of the cheaper airlines. I've heard Exito, the Colombian supermarket chain, do decent deals sometimes. Another option if you have time and want to see the Amazon, is to fly to Leticia from Bogota, which is on the Brazilian border, then get a boat (will take a few days) to get you to Manaus in the Brazilian Amazon. Then you can fly to Salvador from there. Will probably work out cheaper, and you'll see the jungle.
Reply to this yeah thinking may have to give Venezuela a miss as much as id love to say iv been there haha, cheapest flight iv found it quito to rio for about $500 which seems to be a bargain, from brazil we want to head back to peru so may bus from salvador up to the amazon river and get on at manaus and take in to to peru (if thats possible)
thanks for the help mate
cheers
Reply to this yeah sure you can get to Iquitos in peru from Manaus on the Amazon.
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