💰 My Colombia Trip Cost: Budget Breakdown (2025)

💰 Trip Cost	Very Affordable
💵 Typical Budget	$40-$120/day
🍀 My Budget	$91/day
✈️ Trip Total	$1,547
🗓️ Trip Length	17 days

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Is Colombia Affordable To Travel To?

Colombia is a very affordable destination globally and is considered one of South America’s most budget-friendly destinations.

• Many popular attractions are free, low-cost, or tip-based.
• Accommodations are also incredibly affordable, even ones with modern amenities.
• The country offers cheap modes of transportation to get around.
• Local food is very affordable, with $3-$5 menú del día commonly offered.

About My Trip

To give context to the expenses below, here’s what you need to know about my trip:

• I spent 6 weeks in Colombia, but I only include costs for the 17 days I traveled like a tourist (and not a nomad) for this cost breakdown. I visited Cartagena, Santa Marta, Bogotá, Medellín, Salento, Cocora Valley, and the Amazon Rainforest.
• My trip was in January, during the high season, when things are more expensive.
• I traveled with other people, which allowed us to split costs like housing.
• I’m a mid-range budget traveler. I don’t aim to travel on a budget, but I’m intentional about my spending.
• I finance my trips and don’t receive sponsorship.
• All expenses are per person and in US dollars, converted from Colombia’s currency.

🇨🇴 Planning a Trip to Colombia: 12 Practical Things To Know

Total Cost

• $1,665
• $1,547
• $91

A mid-range budget traveler can expect to spend $70–$120 per day in Colombia.

Budget Breakdown

Here’s a breakdown of my expenses by travel category:

Category	Cost	% of Total	Daily Budget
✈️ Flights	$118	7%	–
🏠 Accommodation	$195	12%	$11
🍛 Food	$266	16%	$16
🚌 Transportation	$376	23%	$22
⭐ Entertainment	$710	43%	$42
Total	$1,665	100%	$91

Flight Cost

• $118 (from the east coast of the US to Cartagena’s international airport)
• I flew to Argentina afterward, but a flight back to the US would have been about another $200

A round-trip flight between the US and Colombia costing under $250 is considered cheap, as international flights typically cost between $200 and $500.

Accommodation Cost

• $195
• $11

The accommodations I stayed at:

Accommodation	Total Cost	Cost/Night
Cartagena Airbnb	$54	$27
Santa Marta apartment	$52	$13
Bogotá apartment	$34	$17
Medellín	$28	$14
Salento	$26	$8

My accommodation budgeting tips:

• Stay outside central locations – I always stayed 10 to 30 minutes from central locations. I found it helps reduce my accommodation costs significantly. For example:
  • Cartagena – Instead of staying in the popular Getsemani or Walled City where it costs at least $30-$40 a night, my housing was in the neighboring Bocagrande where the cheapest options start at $20.
  • Santa Marta – Santa Marta’s center is lively, loud, and generally more expensive, so I stayed a 10-minute walk south of it.
  • Medellín – Instead of staying inside the trendy center of Laureles, I stayed in El Velodromo, a 15-minute walk north.
• Forgo hot showers – Depending on location, 10%-25% of rentals in Colombia do not have hot showers. For hot cities like Santa Marta, consider booking a place without hot water to save $5-$15 a night.
• Book private rooms at hostels – I don’t typically need a living room or kitchen when I’m on vacation since I’m mostly outside of my accommodation, so I look for private rooms at hostels, which are sometimes more affordable (and nicer) than budget hotels. My Salento housing was very cheap for that reason.

I share the pros and cons of each place I stayed in my Colombia trip planner.

Food Cost

• $266
• $16

My most affordable meals:

Meal	Location	Cost
Menú del día (sausage, rice, juice, salad, soup)	El rincon de lucy campestre (Salento)	$3
Catch of the day (rice, fish, lemonade, soup)	Plaza de Mercado (Leticia)	$5
Vegetarian menú del día	Angel Veggie Bistró (Salento)	$5

My most expensive meals:

Meal	Location	Cost
Beef hearts & dessert	Guasimo (Santa Marta)	$22
Chicken tikka masala	King Curry (Cartagena)	$13
Seafood & rice	Creole Mar Y Cafe (Cartagena)	$13

My food budgeting tips:

• Always look for menú del día – These are pre-fixed lunches that typically include a juice, soup, and rice platter with protein (sometimes, dessert is included). Not only did I find these meals delicious (sometimes even better than nicer dinner options), but they were also very cheap ($4-$7 per meal).
• Eat empanadas and arepas – Many street food stalls will sell empanadas and arepas for as cheap as $1-$2. I even found a place that bakes their empanada in Salento for when I didn’t want to eat fried food.

I review all 35+ places I ate at and share how much I spent at each one in my Colombia trip planner.

Transportation Cost

• $376
• $22

The transportation I used:

Transportation	Total Cost	Cost/Ride
Plane	$286	$143
Bus	$48	$6
Uber	$37	$2
Boat	$3	$3
Tuk-tuk	$1	$1

My transportation budgeting tips:

• Don’t be afraid to take the bus – The buses in Colombia are generally fairly organized and official (which is not true for some places in Central and South America), and very affordable. For example, instead of taking a flight between Cartagena and Santa Marta, I took the bus because it was significantly cheaper and didn’t add much travel time.
• Uber is very affordable – Uber is not technically legal in Colombia, but everyone still uses it. For distances between 5 to 45 minutes, Uber is sometimes even cheaper than taking a bus, especially if you can split it with others.

Entertainment Cost 

• $710
• $42

The activities/attractions I did:

Experience	Location	Cost
🌴 Cocora Valley	Salento	$12
🪨 Guatapé & Piedra del Peñol	Medellín	$43
🏝️ Tayrona National Park	Santa Marta	$21
🐒 Amazon Rainforest (4 Days) 🎟️	Leticia	$598
🎨 Salento	Salento	Free
💧 Minca Day Trip 🎟️	Santa Marta	$4
☕️ Salento Coffee Farms 🎟️	Salento	$7
🚡 Monserrate 🎟️	Bogotá	$7
🏰 Walled City & Getsemani 🎟️	Cartagena	Free
🎶 Comuna 13 🎟️	Medellín	$19
🤿 Grande Beach, Taganga 🎟️	Santa Marta	Free

My entertainment budgeting tips:

• Take advantage of parks and events – Colombia has a lot of free parks and festivals. For example, every Sunday, Bogotá hosts Ciclovía, a weekly event that closes down over 80 miles of highways and streets for people to run, walk, and bike. I rented a bike for $3/hour and spent three hours touring Bogotá this way.

• Skip the tours and do it yourself – Almost every attraction in Colombia offers guided tours, but if you can figure out transportation on your own, you won’t have to pay for a tour. For example, instead of paying for one $20-$40 coffee tour, I just walked to a handful of coffee farms in Salento and did my own coffee tasting, which I really enjoyed.
• Take tip-based walking tours – Colombia offers several tip-based walking tours, so you can decide how much to pay after the tour is done.

🏆 My Ratings for Colombia’s Attractions

Cost Breakdown by Destination

Below are my trip expense breakdowns for the places I visited during my trip.

Cartagena

• 2 days
• $98
• $49

Cartagena is one of the most touristy destinations in Colombia, so it’s also one of the most expensive. This is especially true if you dine and stay within the Walled City, the city’s main attraction.

Santa Marta

• 4 days
• $219
• $55

Santa Marta is known as the beach destination of Colombia. While you can enjoy many of its 10+ public beaches for free, the beaches with the best water and sand tend to require a boat ride or are located inside the famous Tayrona National Park, which has an entrance fee.

Bogotá

• 2 days
• $71
• $35

Bogotá is the largest city in Colombia, and like any large city, the costliness highly depends on which neighborhood you stay and dine in. For example, Santa Rosa (Zona T) has a lot of high-end restaurants, and eating there isn’t reflective of how cheap food can be in Colombia.

Medellín

• 2 days
• $139
• $69

Although (modern) accommodation and food can be cheap in Medellín, the city is famous for two attractions that are best done with guided tours: Comuna 13 and Guatapé. Be prepared to pay at least $15 and $30 for each tour.

Salento

• 3 days
• $124
• $49

Salento is famous for its coffee farms and the stunning, unique Cocora Valley. Neither is particularly expensive if you are willing to do it on your own without a guide or tour. I was also impressed by how good yet affordable food was in this area.

Amazon Rainforest

• 4 days
• $896 ($598 for tours + $298 flights to get there)
• $224

The Amazon Rainforest will easily be your biggest expense if you choose to venture south of Colombia for it. It’s difficult to do the rainforest on your own, and many attractions have an entrance fee.

Do You Need Cash?

• Colombia’s economy heavily relies on cash transactions, so make sure to bring cash.

My tips on using cash:

• Colombian pesos is the primary currency that’s used in Colombia. The Colombian peso is the country’s official currency. USD is rarely accepted and the bills must be in good condition (e.g., no rips).
• Carry $30-$50 worth of cash per day. I spent $645 ($38 per day) in cash during my 17-day trip. Of the 101 payments I made, 39% were done using cash because I needed to tip in cash, places were either cash-only or had a 5% upcharge for using a card.
• Tipping is customary in Colombia. Tour guides will often remind tourists that tips are voluntary. 10% is typical at restaurants, and it’s usually automatically added to the bill (you will have to decline or ask for the “propina” to be removed if you don’t want to pay it).

I used over six different bank ATMs in Colombia and they all charged fees.

🌴 2 Weeks in Colombia: A Unique & Active Itinerary