Updated: · by Frank Spitzer
Plan your Colombia trip
Colombia Itinerary Planner
30+ ready-made itineraries from 1 day to 30 days, across 6 destinations. Built by tourism professionals (RNT 51402) who design your trip end-to-end — flights, hotels, drivers, guides, all in one quote.
Three ways to find your itinerary
Colombia is a country built for itineraries — long, short, single-city, country-crossing. Most travelers don’t realize that “Colombia” can mean a 3-day Cartagena weekend, a 14-day coffee-and-coast loop, or a 30-day deep dive across all six regions. The right itinerary depends on three things: how many days you have, which destinations you want, and what trip style fits your travel personality.
Below we’ve organized our planning library three ways: by trip length (1–30 days), by city (the six destinations we run most often), and by style (golf, multi-destination, or single deep-dive). Pick the path that matches how you already think about your trip — they all lead to a Pelecanus-built itinerary.
Every itinerary you’ll see is real: written by our planners, used by past clients, costed by our operations team. None of them are scraped templates. If you don’t see exactly what you want, the WhatsApp button below sends you straight to our planning team — no chatbot, no form maze, no commission referral. We answer in under 24 hours with a custom plan and a firm price.
By trip length — from a long weekend to a full month
The most useful filter for travelers is total trip days, including the day you arrive and the day you leave. We build itineraries for every duration from 1 to 30 days because Colombia genuinely rewards both ends of the spectrum: a 2-day weekend in Cartagena’s Walled City is a complete experience, and so is a 30-day cross-country loop through every region.
Below are the most-booked durations. Each one is a complete day-by-day itinerary with hotel suggestions, recommended order of destinations, and pacing notes (how many transfer days vs. activity days, when to add buffer for jet lag, when to fly vs. drive).
3 Days — Long weekend →
Single city. Cartagena or Bogotá work best. No transfer days, all experiences.
5 Days — Short city break →
One destination plus one day trip. Time for slow mornings and a Rosario Islands or coffee finca.
7 Days — One destination, deep →
The minimum for a real Colombia trip. Pick one region, do it properly. Most clients’ first trip.
10 Days — Two destinations →
Cartagena + Coffee Triangle, or Bogotá + Medellín. Two contrasting regions, one short flight between them.
14 Days — The classic Colombia trip →
Three destinations across two climates. The most-booked itinerary length we operate.
21 Days — Three regions →
Caribbean + Andes + Coffee, or Caribbean + Andes + Amazon. The trip that lets Colombia breathe.
Other durations available for every day count from 1 to 30. See the 30-day grand tour →
By destination — six cities that run on different rhythms
Colombia is not a single climate, a single culture, or a single trip pace. Cartagena moves on a Caribbean clock; Bogotá runs on coffee and altitude; Medellín lives by perpetual spring. The six cities below are the ones we operate in most — meaning we have local guides on the ground, vetted hotel partners, and routing logistics already mapped. If you want a single-city deep dive, these are the six itineraries with our best operations support.
Click any city for full 1–7 day itineraries (because how long you spend in Cartagena is genuinely different from how long you spend in Bogotá). Each itinerary card opens to a day-by-day plan with hotel options at three price tiers, signature experiences, and the practical logistics — fly into which airport, drive vs. domestic flight, what to skip if you’re short on time.
Cartagena
The walled city, Rosario Islands, the heat, the music. Best for: beach + history. Fly into: CTG. Best season: Dec–Mar.
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→ Cartagena travel guide
Bogotá
High-altitude, museum-rich, food scene that punches way above its weight. Best for: culture + day trips. Fly into: BOG. Best season: Year-round; pack for cool.
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→ Bogotá travel guide
Medellín
Eternal spring, post-war reinvention, the most photogenic urban transformation in Latin America. Best for: city + countryside combo. Fly into: MDE. Best season: Year-round.
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→ Medellín travel guide
Cali
Salsa capital. Hot, intense, dance-floor-by-night. Best for: music travelers. Fly into: CLO. Best season: Dec–Mar.
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Coffee Triangle
Three states, green hills, finca stays, working coffee farms. Best for: nature + culture. Fly into: PEI or AXM. Best season: Year-round.
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→ Coffee Triangle travel guide
Santa Marta
Caribbean coast meets Sierra Nevada. Tayrona, Lost City trek, indigenous communities. Best for: nature, hiking, off-grid. Fly into: SMR. Best season: Dec–Mar.
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→ Santa Marta travel guide
By style — three distinct trip personalities
How you travel shapes the itinerary as much as how long. A 14-day golf trip, a 14-day multi-destination cultural tour, and a 14-day deep dive into one region are three different products built from a different starter template. We split our planning into three trip styles, each with its own dedicated hub:
- Golf trips → Colombia Golf Trip Planner — IAGTO-member operator, full course access in Bogotá, Medellín, Cartagena. 1-day to 30-day options. Single-destination or multi-destination loops.
- Multi-destination trips → the duration grid above. Most clients pick 7–21 days, spanning 2–3 regions. The classic “see Colombia” trip.
- Single-destination deep dives → the city section above. Durations 1–7 days. Fewer transfer days, more local immersion.
If your trip doesn’t fit one of these, send us a WhatsApp — we build custom itineraries every week that no template captures.
Why plan with Pelecanus
Colombia is full of “agencies” that are really white-label resellers running on commissions from booking.com or hotel chains. Pelecanus is not that. We are a registered Colombian tourism operator (RNT 51402) — the same legal status required of any company that sells tourism in Colombia, audited annually. We’re also IAGTO members for golf-specific itineraries.
What that means for you:
- We design, we don’t resell. When you book with us, you’re paying for an itinerary built by humans who have walked it, not pulled from a partner database. We choose hotels because we know them, drivers because we trust them, guides because they’ve delivered for past clients.
- One quote, all-in. Hotels, transfers, guides, domestic flights, activities — one number, one currency, one invoice. No surprise add-ons mid-trip.
- Direct line during travel. Every Pelecanus traveler has a 24/7 WhatsApp line to our operations team. Flight delayed? Driver late? Hotel issue? You text, we fix.
- 8 years operating. Pelecanus was founded in 2017 by Frank Spitzer (Swiss-Colombian, MBA Universidad de los Andes, 20+ years in finance and tourism). We’ve run trips for hundreds of clients — solo travelers, couples, families, corporate groups, golf teams.
- Independent reviews on Google and TripAdvisor. No paid placements, no fake bots — every review is from a real client we operated for.
Most importantly: we say no when an itinerary won’t work. If you want 7 cities in 5 days, we’ll tell you that’s not an itinerary, it’s a list of airports. We protect you from common mistakes — wrong season for Tayrona, transfer days that eat your trip, hotels that look great online and disappoint in person.
How we build your itinerary — our process
Once you contact us (WhatsApp or email — see CTAs below), here’s exactly what happens:
- Day 0 — Discovery (15 minutes). We ask you 5 questions: total days, must-see destinations, budget tier, traveler profile, departure city. No forms, no funnel — usually a WhatsApp exchange.
- Day 1 — Draft itinerary (24 hours). Our planning team builds a day-by-day proposal: exact hotels, drivers, guides, domestic flights, activities. Each option named, costed, with photos. You see real prices, not “from $XXX.”
- Day 2-3 — Iterate. We expect changes. You’ll want to swap a hotel, extend a city, add a cooking class. We rebuild as many times as needed until the itinerary is yours.
- Day 4-5 — Confirm and pay. Standard deposit is 30%. Balance is due 30 days before arrival. Payment by international wire or card.
- Throughout your trip. Single WhatsApp number for issues. Drivers expect you. Hotels know you’re coming. Guides know your interests. We solve problems silently.
- After your trip. Honest review on Google or TripAdvisor (we ask, we don’t bribe). Stay in touch — many clients return for a second region or send friends.
Common questions about Colombia itineraries
What’s the minimum useful trip to Colombia?
7 days for a single-city deep dive (Cartagena or Medellín work best for short trips). Below 7, you’re spending half your time in airports. Below 5, consider a long weekend in Cartagena and nothing else.
Is it safe to travel in Colombia?
Yes — the destinations and routes we operate are safe and have been for years. The “is it safe?” question stems from 1990s headlines. Modern Colombia is a mainstream tourism destination with millions of annual visitors. We don’t operate in regions with security concerns; if you want to go somewhere we won’t take you, we’ll tell you why.
Do I need a visa?
Most Western passports (US, EU, UK, Canada, Australia, NZ) get 90 days visa-free on arrival. Check your passport’s specific rules; we’ll flag visa needs in the discovery call.
Best time to visit Colombia?
Depends on region. Caribbean coast (Cartagena, Santa Marta) is best Dec–Mar (dry season). Bogotá and Medellín work year-round. Coffee region rain is brief and predictable. We’ll match your dates to the right destinations.
How early should I book?
For peak season (Dec–Feb, Holy Week, summer holidays), 3–4 months ahead is ideal because top hotels sell out. Off-peak, 4–6 weeks is enough.
Can you do a private trip vs. group?
We only do private. No group joins, no shared transfers, no fixed departure dates. Every itinerary is built for your party only.
What’s not included?
International flights to/from Colombia (we can quote them, but most clients book those separately), some meals depending on the itinerary, optional add-on experiences. Everything included is itemized in your proposal.
Ready to plan your Colombia trip?
Send us your dates and we’ll have a draft itinerary in your inbox tomorrow. WhatsApp is fastest — we usually reply within an hour during Bogotá business hours (9–18 COT).