Colombia: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive Colombia feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 283 written places.
Effusive courtesy and dance in the bloodstream; regions differ like countries.
✓ Considered polite
- Greet warmly - a handshake and eye contact minimum, cheek kiss socially
- Dance when invited - refusing entirely is harder work than trying
- Drink the coffee - then learn the best beans historically left the country, and find the new wave
- Take the free walking tours - cities tell their own stories best
✗ Better avoided
- Bring up the past by name - let locals frame their own history
- No dar papaya - do not give opportunity: keep phones and cash discreet
- Expect one climate - Bogota is cold, Cartagena is a sauna, Medellin is spring
- Drink tap water outside the big cities
Worth knowing
- Tipping: a voluntary 10% servicio is asked at the bill - saying yes is normal
- Cards spread fast; cash still rules markets
- Domestic flights are cheap and often beat mountain buses
- Menu del dia lunches are filling and cost pennies
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
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Keep planning
Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.