5-8 week Itinerary in central Colombia, the San Blas Islands and Panama
The Author Rachael near Jardin (pron. 'Hardin')
Actual Itinerary and itinerary with extras (image)
Bogota (2-3 nights)
Filandia (2 nights)
Apia (3 nights)
Jardin (4 nights)
Guatape (2 nights)
Giron (Bucaramanga) (6 nights)
Santa Marta (Taganga & Tayrona area) (2 nights)
Cartagena (2 nights)
San Blas Islands (4 nights)
Veracruz, Panama (3 nights)
Isla Grande, Panama (5 nights)
Veracruz to prep for the flight home (1 night)
Getting There
We flew into Bogota and out of Panama city (with KLM from Berlin). KLM are the best airline for Cartagena or Bogota from Europe in my experience. The stop is either in Paris or Amsterdam. For best prices and lowest flight times / least stops, book at least 6 months in advance. NEVER fly Iberia.... their customer service is non-existent when a problem happens and they'll steal your money.
*I spent 2 months remote working in the Tayrona area during November and December and then flew from Santa Marta to Bogota with Latam to meet my partner who flew Berlin - Paris - Bogota. They lost my bag, but had it driven to my hostel the next day.
I'm very lucky to be a UX Designer (or Product Designer) so I can work from anywhere! I now teach others how to do the same via my site Artfuly.com
1. Bogota, Colombia
Bogota is a transport hub for most people and not a place for a vacation, but La Candelaria is a *pleasant place to wait for your lost airport baggage :-)
We stayed at Hostal Botanico for 2 nights which has a wonderful lounge with a real fire, but tepid, uncomfortable showers. I loved the vibe and view there though. We spend the last night in R10 in a private room with small ensuite and balcony view of Montserrat hill which had great hot showers. Both were clean.
On the morning of our 2nd day we walked up the hill to the Montserrat monument or church - which is quite a 1 hr uphill challenge, and took the cable car down for I think 14k each.
We then found an amazing restaurant called Quinua Y Amaranto, who do delicious 3-course lunches with a hot drink for 24k per person. Absolutely delicious and I floated out feeling fantastic due to the food.
Pangogh is worth a mention for its filling fruit salad plus Shakshuka style baked eggs breakfast, and it's right next to where the La Candelaria walking tours start around 10am and 2pm.
We also visited the gold museum which is amazing at 2k each.
Mesetas - Cañon del Güejar - An option but we didn't go....
I wanted to arrange rafting in the canyon, however the tour and accommodation websites for this area are really bad and lack most needed information - like the location of the start of the tour so that you can book your hotel. After spending eight hours on WhatsApp trying to organise this I gave up.
There seems to be a lack of accommodation in this area especially in the January high season. One tour operator wanted me to put down a deposit and then he would tell me the name of a hotel who has rooms, and I said no way was I going to pay for a tour without locking in a hotel. They also seem to demand that you pay in advance to their Colombian bank account which is not possible for Europeans or at least not easily. They don't seem to have PayPal or Airbnb or other options for credit card holders. If you really want to go there, book in advance and don't get scammed.
Throughout the rest of our trip I found highly rated hotels on google maps and contacted them directly on whatsapp to reserve a room. I send copies of both our passports and a photo of us together and promised that if we were delayed we would let them know straight away. This worked well when booking a day or 2 before our arrival. I always avoid using the booking dot com site because I have often turned up to be given a room which is not what I booked and paid for. I sometimes use airbnb, but prefer to deal directly with the hotels.
2. Filandia
Contrary to all the information I found on the Internet, this is not an undiscovered quaint mountain town!
It is stuffed completely full of tourists gift shops and overpriced restaurants - in January at least. We stayed at the hostel Bremen but I would not recommend it because they could not even supply a fitted sheet for the bottom of the bed. We tried a walk in the surrounding area to a waterfall but it was a rocky, waterfilled path that we think was an animal track because it had steep muddy sides. Any walking tracks in the area weren't obvious or easy to find - the one on maps.me app was terrible.
We did however have a mind blowing experience in one of the restaurants. Which is called ARO IRIS Cocina Creativa - Really amazing food and drinks at great value too.
3. Apia
This is more the undiscovered mountain town we thought Filandia would be, with a few hostels in the steep streets. It's popular with paragliders, bird-watchers and it's possible to hike a little to the Reserva Natural AguaLinda which has a bird-watching tower.
The central plaza has cute bird houses, however the food was a lot less sophisticated than the Filandia options - I call it 'brown food' because it's the more common Colombian fried meat and not so many vegetables. We cooked at home in the Hostal La Abuela which I thoroughly recommend with the lovely hosts who gave us an extremely warm welcome, shaking our hands and bringing us inside to help us with all our questions. It was also the best value place we stayed at 60k per night for a double bed room with a lovely view and plenty of shared bathrooms.
Travel from Apia to Jardin (the long exhausting way)
We started in Apia and left at 8.30am taking a 40 minutes Jeep to Viterbo. We waited around 20 mins in a cafe and then took a 30 minutes Jeep to Anserma. After a fast bathroom break we got on the 11am to Riosuccio (60 minutes by 36 seater bus), and after a 2+ hour wait in Riosuccio, a 4 hours bus over treacherous backroads to Jardin, which broke down twice on the way. We arrived around 8.30pm I think... There is another way via the larger roads which is probably faster and way less stressful.
4. Jardin
Jardin was our favourite mountain town because it hit the sweet spot with quality accommodation at good prices, and it had lots of attractions to hike to. The central square was very picturesque and a great place to hang out with lots of restaurant options. We went to the vegan restaurant Lulo's Restaurante next to a lily pond and a waterfall at the entrance, and can recommend it.
Cuevo Del Esplandor
We took a Tuk-Tuk to the gate up in the mountains, walked a further 5km, paid $20k entry and a guide took us down to the 'Cave of Splendor'. We attempted to walk all the way back to Jardin, but it was too much for me and we grabbed a lift with a Jeep for the last 5km back.
I was transfixed by the local horse displays on Friday and Saturday night
5. Guatape
This famous rock looks better in the professional online photos than in my photos or in person, but the view from the top is worth the walk up and the entry fee is worth it (think it was 20k pp). We stayed in the town at a hostel which was OK, clean, a bit old with an en-suite bathroom.
Panorama from the approach
Panorama from the top of the tower at the top of the landing
The rock is an ok walk, nice area for boating, amazing vegan restaurant called 'Cactus'
6. Giron (Bucaramanga)
At this point our trip got really messed up by the San Blas boat trip we booked over 8 months ago. Our sailing trip was supposed to be 1st - 6th Feb, but we were put on a different boat from 27th Jan to 1st Feb - and lost out on our private cabin due to this. This meant that we had 5 days less in the Bucaramanga and the San Gil area than expected. Due to being tired of bus stations and backpacking around, we decided to hang out in Giron for 6 nights. In hindsight this was a mistake because the food in Girons' top restaurant and everywhere else was really awful. We lived on fried chicken wings and chips for a few days plus salad wraps from the supermarket.
Cactus Hostel however was a lovely place run by Elena and Cesar. They had a great breakfast included served in their cute back garden, and the room was cool and dark with a comfortable bed and en-suite bathroom.
7. Santa Marta (Taganga & Tayrona area)
I have stayed east of the Tayrona area for 4 european winters in a row now, so I know all my favourite places. We visited a not-very-well-known waterfall which we call the 'Disney waterfall' because it's so perfect. I also like Mendihuaca beach, although it's getting too built up lately and losing it's charm. Bohemia Beach Hostel a little further along is good for 2-3 nights and has nice food. There's plenty of OK food options along this stretch, and Mendihuaca has surf hire and the best waves you'll get along the stretch from Tayrona to Palomino, with the exception of Los Naranjos, which sometimes has great waves but which are only for experienced surfers because they drive into a rocky point.
Masaya Hostel Santa Marta with pool and co-working space
Posa Encantada 'The enchanted pool' behind Mandihuaca Beach
The stretch of beach along Mendihuaca and Costeno and a beach hut at Bohemia Hostel
Taganga beach at dawn on the track to Playa Grande
Paschamama on the beach, Divanga Diving Hostel, a nativity scene, the local church and an airbnb pool
8. Cartagena
It was around my 8th time in Cartagena and I love this town - it really knows how to throw a party - every night!!! The vibrant streets are amazing and my favourite area is around Trinidad square. We stayed in an airbnb really close to the Marina where we'd be departing on our boat, which was still only a 15 minute walk from the action of Trinidad square. Down one of the backstreets we found our usual 'Mohito man' - 2 mohitos for 18k in either classic and Maracuya (my preferred flavour).
9. The San Blas Islands
This was the highlight of our honeymoon trip, and so when our original boat with private cabin was cancelled due to engine problems we were pretty disappointed. We were rebooked on to the Yamoto in a 3-berth cabin which we shared with a lovely Irish girl. Our departure from Cartagena was delayed from the night of the 27th Jan to the morning of the 28th and we spent a whole day and night motoring, some of that with the smaller sail up. Due to high winds they said they couldn't put the main sail up as the boat would end up almost sideways and we'd all be seasick. In the end 2 or 4 people got seasick including the Captain!
We reached the first San Blas island around 4pm on the 29th
Most my own images and 2 courtesy of Daningva
10. Veracruz, Panama
Veracruz is a village 20 minutes east of Panama city, however getting over the bridge which crosses the Panama canal is slow due to traffic jams so it generally takes 10-20 minutes longer. The bus que in the old town was so long that we took a cab for $20. We later found out that we could have started from Albrook Mall which may have been easier. We stayed in Veracruz at 'Meanwhile in Veracruz' hosted by Nataly - Whatsapp +50768920271 which is an eclectic hideaway with a pool. The beach on this Pacific side of Panama was pretty ugly and shadeless though. We decided to head up to the north caribbean coast
The river photo is the bridge over the Panama Canal
11. Isla Grande, Panama
Isla Grande is a small island off the carribean coast of northern Panama, roughly N of Panama city. It is about 2km long by less than 1km wide. It has a handful of hotels, restaurants and holiday homes on the southern side, a lovely beach on the western side and surfable waves on the eastern side. There's also an old metal lighthouse on the north-eastern side which you can climb to the top of for great views of the island and mainland.
We decided to head for the north coast of Panama to spend a few days before our flight home because the south coast Pacific sea isn't very beautiful and also seems a lot more unbearably hot.
We stayed in a lovely cabin on Isla Grande at a hostal called Macondo - this was the most expensive place we stayed on our trip (except for the boat trip), but it had all the extras like a comfortable mattress, working bedside lamps and access to a shared bathroom and kitchen. We booked directly via whatsapp with Justina on +507 6513-6082 to get a better price and she has more availability that what shows online.
We thought everything would be super expensive on the island, and dinner for 2 generally comes to $30-$45 depending on how many drinks you have, but what groceries there are are only about 20% more than prices in the large supermarkets. You can get water, beer, soft drinks easily, but the little Tiendas have very limited fruit and salad, so bring that from the supermarket at Sabanitas or Portobelo on your way. Macondo has a kitchen, fridge, kettle and even some wifi which isn't advertised because it's not enough for more than checking email or downloading a podcast.
Isla Grande beach
12. Back to Veracruz (Panama City) & Berlin
After Isla Grande we spend one more night in Veracruz to prepare for our flight home from Panama city with KLM who are in my opinion the best airline to travel with from Europe to South America.
If you'd like to learn how to be a designer who can work from anywhere, check out my website Artfuly.com and my course
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