Cartagena vs Bogotá
Which would you pick?
The short answer
Bogotá is the cheaper trip, by roughly 29% a day — $50–100 against $70–140 mid-range per person. Both are at their best in Dec–Mar, so one trip can take in both.
Side by side
Mid-range, per person, in US dollars. Both guides were costed the same way — see how we work these out.
| 🇨🇴 Cartagena | 🇨🇴 Bogotá | |
|---|---|---|
| Daily budgetmid-range, per person | $70–140 | $50–100cheaper |
| Cheap meallocal staple | $6–9 | $4.50–7.50cheaper |
| Mid-range hotelper night | $120–240 | $75–135cheaper |
| Transit ridesingle trip | $1.20 | $1.10 |
| Avg. monthly salarylocal, for context | ≈ $600 | ≈ $750 |
When to go
Filled months are the ones each guide recommends; hollow ones it warns off.
What you'd actually do
A few of each guide's picks, one per category before seconds — the full lists are on the guides themselves.
🇨🇴 Cartagena
A walled Spanish port on the Caribbean, all bougainvillea balconies and fortress stone, and the most photogenic old town in South America. Also the hottest, priciest and most hustle-heavy stop in Colombia — worth it, in smaller doses than you'd think.
- The walled city$The old city
- Celele$$$Restaurants
- Café Havana$$Nightlife
- Rosario Islands$$Islands & beaches
- The city walls$The old city
🇨🇴 Bogotá
A big, grey, cold-mornings capital on a plateau 2,640 m up, with a colonial core, a gold museum and a food scene most visitors fly straight past. It asks for more street sense than Medellín and gives back more than its reputation suggests.
- Museo del Oro$Museums & old town
- Monserrate$$Views & day trips
- La Puerta Falsa$Restaurants
- Zona T & Zona Rosa$$Nightlife
- Museo Botero$Museums & old town
Practicalities
| Cartagena | Bogotá | |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Spanish, fast and Caribbean. English is common in walled-city hotels and restaurants, and in the pitch of every street vendor. | Spanish, spoken slowly and clearly by Colombian standards. English in upmarket hotels and restaurants in the north; very little elsewhere. |
| Currency | Colombian peso (COP). US$1 ≈ COP 3,300 in September 2026. Prices are written with a $ sign and a dot for thousands: $20.000 is COP 20,000, about $6. | Colombian peso (COP). US$1 ≈ COP 3,300 in September 2026. Prices use a $ sign and a dot for thousands: $20.000 is COP 20,000, about $6. |
| Climate | Around 30–32 °C (high 80s °F) by day all year, humid, and warm at night. Plan outdoor sightseeing for early morning and late afternoon. | Around 18–20 °C (mid-60s °F) by day and 7–9 °C (mid-40s °F) at night, all year. Few buildings have heating. |
| Tap water | Treated, and many locals drink it, but most visitors stick to bottled or filtered water here. Drink more of it than you think you need. | Drinkable — Bogotá's water is treated and locals drink it |
The same in both:
- Time zone
- COT (UTC−5), no daylight saving
- Power
- Type A/B plugs, 110V (US plugs fit)
- Emergency
- 123 for police, ambulance and fire