Travelling to Colombia
Getting there
Plain answers from two people who love this country and want you to love it too.
01
Flights
Air Canada flies Montréal → Bogotá direct in about 6 h. Avianca connects from most North American cities; from Europe, Air France, Iberia and Avianca fly direct.
We are negotiating a group flight block from Montréal for early January. Send us your dates in your reply before booking anything — if the group price beats what you find, you profit; if not, you have lost nothing.
El Dorado (BOG) is a modern, easy airport, about 45 minutes from the city by Uber.
02
Getting around
Uber is the best way to move around Bogotá: it picks you up at El Dorado, you pay in the app, and you know the price before you get in. Cabify and DiDi work the same way. Drivers sometimes ask you to sit in the front seat — that is normal here.
At night, Uber or a hotel taxi, never a cab hailed on the street.
03
Papers
No visa for Canadian, American, British, Irish or EU passports — 90 days. Your passport must be valid at least 6 months after your return — check it now, not in December.
Colombia asks every traveller to fill in the free Check-MIG form online within 72 h of the flight. It takes 5 minutes; we will remind you.
04
Altitude & health
Bogotá sits at 2,640 m. Some people feel it the first day — a shorter breath, a light headache. It passes. Walk slowly, drink water, go easy on the aguardiente on night one.
Tap water in Bogotá is safe. No vaccines are required for Bogotá or the wedding region.
05
Safety, honestly
Yes, with the sense you would use in any big city. The local rule is 3 words: no dar papaya — don't flash what you don't want to lose. Uber, Cabify or hotel taxis at night.
For the wedding days you are in the countryside of Cundinamarca with the whole group.
06
Money & phone
1 CAD ≈ 3,000 COP. Cards work almost everywhere in Bogotá; carry a little cash for markets and small towns. Restaurants add 10 % service when you say yes to “¿servicio incluido?”.
Buy an eSIM (Airalo, Holafly) before flying, or a Claro SIM at the airport. WhatsApp is how all of Colombia communicates.
Buying your ticket, without the knot in the stomach
A ticket to Bogotá is the one thing on this trip that can cost you hundreds of dollars for no reason at all — bought at the wrong moment, on the wrong day of the week. So here is exactly what we would do, and the one line that matters most: if you would rather not think about any of it, we will do it for you.
Are we there yet?
Checking the calendar…
Too early
The sweet spot
Getting late
Last minute
01
Buy in October or November 2026
Two to three months before an international departure is the usual sweet spot, and it lands just before fares for the first week of January get pulled up by the holidays.
02
Shop midweek — and fly midweek
Tuesday and Wednesday are the quiet days: fares tend to sit lower, and a Tuesday or Wednesday departure is almost always cheaper than a Friday or a Sunday one.
03
Move your dates, not your budget
Search a range, never a single date. Two or three days either side of the wedding week can change the price more than any coupon ever will — and you will want the extra day anyway.
04
Set the alert before you shop
Track your route on Google Flights or Hopper the day you read this. When the alert fires below the price you had in mind, book it the same day. Good fares to Bogotá do not wait.
The routes worth watching
Every road leads to El Dorado (BOG) — a modern, easy airport, 45 minutes from the city by Uber.
Montréal (YUL)
≈ 6 h direct
Air Canada flies it non-stop. This is the one to track first; it is also the route our group block is built on.
Toronto (YYZ)
≈ 6 h direct
Air Canada and Avianca. Often a few hundred dollars under Montréal — worth the train or the short hop to check.
New York · Miami
≈ 5 h 30 direct
Avianca, Latam, Jetblue and the American carriers compete hard here. A connection through the United States can beat a direct flight from Canada.
Paris · Madrid
≈ 10–11 h direct
Air France, Iberia and Avianca fly non-stop. Madrid is the gateway for most of Europe.
Dublin · Frankfurt
≈ 13 h, one stop
One connection through Madrid, Paris or Lisbon. Iberia and Air Europa are usually the cheapest pair.
Whatever your city: open Google Flights, put in your route, and turn on price tracking today. It costs nothing and it is the only tool that actually tells you when to move.
Or let us do it
Send us your dates. We will take it from there.
We fly this route, we know what a fair price looks like, and we are negotiating a group block from Montréal for early January. Tell us when you would like to arrive and leave in your reply — we will come back with what we find, group price included. Nothing to book, nothing to pay, no obligation. If what you found on your own is better, take it and we will be glad you did.
Send us my dates10 words of survival Spanish
- Buenos días / Buenas
- Good morning / hi
- Por favor · Gracias
- Please · thank you
- ¿Cuánto cuesta?
- How much is it?
- La cuenta, por favor
- The bill, please
- ¿Dónde está el baño?
- Where is the bathroom?
- Una cerveza bien fría
- One very cold beer
- No entiendo
- I don't understand
- ¡Qué chimba!
- Awesome! (Colombian classic)
- Mucho gusto
- Nice to meet you
- ¡Salud, por los novios!
- Cheers, to the couple!