Colombia honeymoon

Hi all,

We're planning a 3-week cycle tour of Colombia, arriving in Bogota on December 20th and departing from Cartagena on January 10th.

We'd love to hear from cyclists who've traveled recently through Colombia about the best routes, bike type, safety and accommodations. In particular we have these questions:

1) We can take mountain bikes or road bikes, either is fine for us. But the more important matter is that we want to avoid traffic as much as possible without going so far into the jungle that we are unsafe. So, any thoughts on routes, starting from Bogota? We know we won't have time to cycle the whole distance, and in fact we'd be fine with taking a round-about "dirt road" route anywhere in Colombia and just getting a bus/train/flight to Cartagena at the end. Mostly, we want to be on beautiful, safe, quiet roads.

2) Tents or hotels? We would prefer to travel light and enjoy Colombian hospitality, but if we venture off on back roads will we need to camp? Is camping safe?

Thanks in advance for your ideas! We're excited and eager to pull our honeymoon cycle-tour plan together!

Cara and Gary

Edited by: downtowngb

I took a bus north out of Bogota to Tunja, then rode my bike over to Villa de Leyva. That's a nice area. Then I rode the dirt backroads up to San Gil, picking the interesting routes along the way. I generally followed the routes of the highways but took the dirt roads crisscrossig instead, which are beautiful. The highways are narrow and busy so you want to avoid them. There is a road guide that has all the little roads on it that's good. But be warned, there are no flat roads in this area, what looks like a short ride could turn into a major slog.

Also the Zona Cafetera around Medellin is nice too, I rode that. Salento is interesting.

I did that 5 years ago and Boyaca and Cundinamarca were safe, I don't know what the conditions are today. Go to the Platypus Hostel in Bogota and they are the best source of info for where is safe or not.

Camping was tricky because it seems every square inch is behind barbed fences for cattle grazing, it's not easy to find quiet places out of the way on flat ground. I like camping so I'd bring my gear. A Tarptent Moment should sleep 2 if needed (it will be tight) and isn't very big on the bike. Plus I always like to sleep in my tent in hotels anyways just to keep the bedbugs away.

Edited by: stromaroma

I have a friend who has frequently made cycle tours in Colombia, especially in recent seasons. He also lived there for a while a few decades back. He never takes a tent, though this occasionally results in some long days. In the past I have put posters on this forum in touch with him to discuss proposed tours, and he has been very happy to chat. If you want to do that, send me an email. You can find my email address on this page, where I am described as the Treasurer of this cycling club. http://www.rsf.org.uk/contact-us.html

Hi Stromaroma, thanks for the tips! Do you happen to remember the name of the road guide that had the little roads in it? We have an ITMB map of Colombia but the scale is quite big. Can you get good maps or guides once in the country?

Thanks!

The Guia de Rutas

Hello Downtown GB
How is it going? Can you let me know what you found and how you went, I am planning the same trip for the spring.
Thanks!