Experiences with bus companies i.e. Expresobrasilia: North Caribbean Coast ( Cartagena - Barranquilla - Santa Marta - Guajira corridor) | Colombia - Lonely Planet Forum

ONLINE

Sun, 19 Nov 2017 15:05:42 +0000

Hi everyone,

I have 7 days between Cartagena (I will have already seen the city) and Barranquilla (flying home).

I would like to see beaches (quiet, no partying) and do nature hikes (not lost city this time).

Prefer to spend as little time on the bus as possible.

On my list are Palomino and one of Tayrona or Minca. Potentially both Tayrona and Minca if time permits.

I have been reading TripAdvisor and found that Minibus companies (biggest is MarSol Transportes as far as I understand) can take forever as they make a million stops along the way and sometimes change vans.

Does anyone know if companies that run big buses, such as Expresobrasilia are fast and trouble-free ways to get there with few stops?

Also, I found that Expresobrasilia has a direct route Cartagena-Palomino, but nor this company neither any other I could find has direct routes along the same path in reverse direction. Not even direct from Palomino to Barranquilla.

Of course, I did not include any of the direct airport shuttles in my search as these are quite expensive.

ONLINE

Mon, 20 Nov 2017 09:08:27 +0000

Hi!

Nope, Marsol is the fastest as it's a door to door shuttle. It's 4 hours - more or less - to get to Santa Marta from Cartagena instead of 5 hours. It's also possible to do: Cartagena - Palomino / Around 6 hours

Santa Marta - Minca is a shared jeep - 45 min

The public buses going from Santa Marta to Tayrona and Palomino are correct. It's around 1 hour to get to Tayrona and 2 hours to get to Palomino - From Santa Marta.

With 7 days, I think it gonna be complicated to travel to Cartagena / Minca / Tayrona / Palomino / Barranquilla

I wrote a detailed guide for each place - In case you would like to learn more about it. I let you the link just in case

Best destinations in Colombia: https://www.tomplanmytrip.com/colombia-2/places-in-colombia/

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ONLINE

Tue, 21 Nov 2017 15:48:14 +0000

In response to #1

Hey thomas, Can I visit those places with 15 days?

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ONLINE

Tue, 21 Nov 2017 16:17:49 +0000

If you're traveling in between Cartagena, Barranquilla, Santa Marta, and Palomino, then Marsol is without a doubt your best option. I've used both Marsol and Espresso Brasilia on the Carribean routes, and Marsol is much faster. Espresso Brasilia and its sister company, Bolivariano, are generally considered to be the two best bus services in Colombia. However, I have always found the Expresso Brasilia service to be a bit behind its Bolivariano counterpart in terms of service. The Brasilia buses stop in every little town along the highway. This means that your trip takes much longer than it should.

Marsol can do pick up/drop offs along the highway in Between Palomino and Santa Marta. This means that you can get dropped off right at the Tayrona Park entrance (in between Palomino and Santa Marta). 15 days is more than enough time to explore that area of the coast. Honestly, if I had 15 days, then I would consider visiting some other places along the coast as well.

Safe Travels!

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ONLINE

Tue, 21 Nov 2017 17:03:59 +0000

In response to #2

Hey Hernann!

Yes, you can ;)

In my opinion:

3-4 Days in Cartagena and the islands around

3-4 Days in Minca

3-4 Days in Tayrona and around

2-3 Days in Palomino

And it will be perfect ;)

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ONLINE

Tue, 21 Nov 2017 17:35:29 +0000

In response to #4

thanks thomas and it's very cool your guide, it's just what i needed.

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ONLINE

Tue, 21 Nov 2017 18:09:46 +0000

In response to #5

Thanks!!!

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Thu, 22 Nov 2018 01:00:30 +0000

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