1

I had a bad experience on a night bus fro Bogota to San Agustin. Got drugged and woke up in a clininc in San Agusitn. That was four years ago. Maybe it has improved by now.

2

I'd say Colombia is safe enough. If you do not draw attention to people they do not bother you. Of course the usual caution applies.

I don't know where you live. You should be aware Colombia is a typical 3rd world country. The cities and streets are not as clean and orderly as the so called first world countries. I found Colombians friendly.

3

Medellin and Bogota are both relatively safe. you should check with the travel advisories and avoid the ghettos etc

4

1. arunraisharma: I strongly recommend that you verify any wrong advice given by users living in the U.S. or in general who do no live in Colombia. This is very important as they can get you in trouble with their irresponsible answers.

2. From the answers given, none of the above qualifies as "Anyone who knows in and out of Colombia"... I don't either...

3. I don't live in Bogotá.... So, I will not give any wrong and incomplete advice on safety as anyone who doesn't should...

As for Medellín:

1. What places you should avoid from a safety point of view?:
This is a very elaborate question... So, I will start by giving you a non-extensive list and hope it helps:

Unless you know Medellín extremely well, you should avoid most areas in comunas like: Popular, Manrique, Villa Hermosa, Aranjuez, 12 de Octubre, Castilla, Robledo, San Javier, etc... espcially after 10:00 pm as you may or may not be killed just by walking and minding your own business there. Certain areas are very territorial and may harbor sicarios, paracos, bandas even criminal elements of La Oficina de Envigado.

2. All places you should visit:
This is a very general question and depends on many many many factors including but not limited to your personal interests. So, I will start giving you random places to visit and hope you will like them:

Santa Elena and Parque Arví, Miradores de las Palmas, Pueblito Paisa, la 70, la 33, Avenida la Playa, Niquía, Centro Comercial El Tesoro, Oviedo, Monterrey, Unicentro, Parque LLeras, Sabaneta, Parque Envigado, La Loma del Chocho, La Estrella, Caldas, etc... Also, enjoy taking the metro and the metrocable but avoid going down in areas I mentioned above.

Enjoy Medellín... It is a great city!... I know that firsthand... Unlike many many other people who post here, I actually live here and love every day of my life here!...

5

Safety in Colombia is a pretty relative question. It largely depends on how you handle yourself as a visitor. A bit of common sense goes a long way; things like taking cabs late at night, avoiding certain areas and keeping your fancy gadgets out of sight, will lessen the probability of bad things happening. Bogota and Medellin are big cities and both have their nicer areas, areas that require a bit of extra caution and areas that you should avoid all together. The nicer area in Medellin are: El Poblado, Las Plamas, Envigado, Estadio/Laureles are and San Diego. In Bogota, most areas in the north are pretty safe and areas like Chapinero and Macarena are a pretty mixed bag. Not gonna go into which areas are bad, just use a bit of judgement and it will become pretty obvious in which areas are to be avoided.

Anyhow, enjoy your trip to Colombia! It is a beautiful place and can be as safe as you make it. Also, this forum is littered with threads that are along the same lines of the question you just asked. Check'em out!

Edited by: Cosima1

6

Hi!!!
I can recomend u to stay in medellin in poblado and in Bogota´in the north area.......i can say from the calle 60-65(from the north part of chapinero...chapinero heart around calle 40-50 is darker and anyway there sis nothing interesting) to 100....there u ll be safe and close to everything u ll need....
as any big city bogota can be very dangerous or safe ...and it´s up to the part where u decide to stay,
i usually don´t recomend to stay in the city centre...as in any latin american city (rio, buenos aires, quito etcc...)...bogota isn´t different..the centre at night is dark, empty and is close to slums area....
around colombia I have never had problems, situation is getting better and better...of course there are still bad area as valle del cauca or amazonas...but there is no reason to go...
hope u ll enjoy colombia that will be ther touristic revelation of the next years....

7

"...of course there are still bad area as valle del cauca or amazonas..."

The Amazonas department itself is relatively safe, the problem are some of the Amazonas frontiers with the Plains or the Andes (areas of Putumayo or Guaviare, for example).

8

Thank you Cosima1... I really appreciate the new mods and the new and improved LP forum.... God bless...

9

Why would you assume I dont know about Colombia? I have been living here for 4 years.

10

Thanks alot guys, your suggestions will really help me.

11

You're welcome... I am glad I couldl help... Have a great trip...