Expert: Juan Carlos Valencia - 1/25/2010

Question
i'm visiting a friend in bogota, for 3 weels in march and april.
where is the best place to hire a car? i would like to drive around, where to go? maybe quito..cartagena, not sure. any advise would be welcome

Answer
Hey Phil,

car rental in Colombia is very, very expensive due to insecurity. Car theft and random guerrilla attacks in remote countryside areas make insurance and associated costs too steep.

Additionally, most of the big cities are located either on high mountains or in valleys surrounded by high mountains. The roads are difficult with lots of curves and you have to go up, down and up again. Distances that seem short in paper (Bogota-Medellin could be 400 Km) take 10 hours to drive. Colombia's train network is nearly non-existent now so most cargo traffic is made with big trucks that use the same roads as tourist traffic. In short, although driving could take you through amazing landscapes, it's risky and stressful.

So I'll recommend you to stick to planes. It's expensive but if you book early, you may get acceptable prices.

As for destinations, they depend on what you like. Are you a beach person ? Go to Santa Marta and the Tayrona National park or to a hotel on the Rosario Islands near Cartagena. Are you interested in exotic, rainforest areas? Go to Leticia on the Amazon river or to Nuqui in the pacific. Do you like nightlife and partying? Head to Cali and Bogota.

You do not say what do you expect of traveling so I wont venture more suggestions !

I hope that this helps...

JC