Colombia

Capital: Bogotá

Language: Spanish (the sole practical official language)

Currency: Colombian peso (COP)

Time zone: UTC-05:00

Visa required — 90 days

Status genuinely differs across the Gulf per Colombia's official Foreign Ministry exemption list: UAE, Qatari and Omani nationals are visa-exempt for up to 90 days (extendable to 180 days per calendar year). Saudi, Kuwaiti and Bahraini nationals need an e-visa (Visitor/V visa), obtainable only in advance via visas.cancilleria.gov.co before travel — Colombia issues no visa on arrival for any nationality. E-visa processing typically takes 3-10 business days, with 90 days usually granted. A passport valid 6 months beyond departure and a confirmed onward/return ticket are required for all six nationalities.

Official source ↗

⚠️ Guidance only — always verify with the official source before traveling.

🕓 Last officially verified: 14/07/2026

December–March and July–August are the relatively drier windows in the Andean highlands (Bogotá, Medellín) and on the Caribbean coast (Cartagena, Santa Marta). The highland cities (Bogotá, Medellín, Salento) stay mild almost year-round ('eternal spring'), while the Caribbean coast is hot and humid constantly and the Amazon stays wet all year.

Halal food: Rare overall. Bogotá has the small Istanbul Mosque and Islamic Center, plus one restaurant reported to serve halal near the Alhambra shopping center. Cali has the Abou Bakr Alsiddiq Mosque, one of Latin America's oldest, amid a small but established Muslim community (including Colombian converts). Outside these two cities, declared halal options are nearly nonexistent — fish, seafood and vegetarian arepas are the practical, pork-free fallback.

Prayer places: The Istanbul Mosque and Islamic Center in Bogotá, and the Abou Bakr Alsiddiq Mosque in Cali (one of the continent's oldest). Outside these two cities, prayer spaces are very rare — carry a travel mat and a qibla app; the hotel room is the usual fallback.

Friday is an official holiday: No

The Muslim community is very small (clearly under 1% of the population) and concentrated mainly in Maicao (La Guajira, of Lebanese and Syrian descent), Bogotá and Cali. Public life is entirely unaffected by Ramadan, and communal iftars are limited to the vicinity of the small mosques in these cities.

Social warmth runs high — a cheek kiss is a common greeting even among new acquaintances, though a smiling handshake is fine for a foreign visitor. Time is flexible ('Colombian time', a 15-20 minute delay is normal). Avoid reducing Colombia to 'Pablo Escobar' or drug-trade talk — many locals find it insulting to a country that moved past that era at great cost. Spanish is near-exclusive; English is limited even in mid-range hotels.

Cards are accepted in major cities, hotels and tourist restaurants, and local mobile wallets (Nequi, Daviplata) are very widespread domestically but impractical for a foreign visitor (they require a local account). Cash is necessary at street markets, small towns (Villa de Leyva, Salento) and rural areas. ATMs are abundant in major cities.

Uber and inDrive for rides, Rappi for food delivery, Google Maps generally reliable in cities, and the Tappsi app for registered taxis as a safer alternative to hailing from the street.

Right-hand-side driving. An International Driving Permit (IDP) is recommended alongside the original license. Mountain roads are winding, and driving in major cities (Bogotá especially) is congested and demanding — renting is useful for the coffee region and Villa de Leyva but not advised inside Bogotá or Medellín for the unaccustomed.

A 10% service charge ('propina voluntaria') is sometimes added as an optional line on the bill — it can be declined, and nothing more is expected.

Claro, Movistar and Tigo — tourist SIMs available at the airport (passport required for registration), and eSIM works well in major cities but coverage weakens in the Amazon and remote rural areas.

No train links the major cities, and mountain roads are long and slow — domestic flights (Avianca, LATAM, Wingo) are the practical way between Bogotá, Cartagena, Medellín and San Andrés. Within cities, Uber and inDrive operate in a legal gray zone but are common and safer than hailing a random street taxi, especially at night.

Generally cheaper than the Gulf: street food or a 'menú del día' $3-6, a good restaurant $12-25 pp, a budget hotel $25-50/night, mid-to-upscale $70-180/night. The Colombian peso is volatile (~4,000-4,300 COP/USD around early 2026) — check the rate before travel. Heavily touristy zones (walled-city Cartagena, Bogotá's Zona T) run relatively pricier.

ℹ️ Prices are approximate and subject to change

The well-established tourist circuit (Bogotá, Medellín, Cartagena, Santa Marta, San Andrés, the coffee region) is visitable with ordinary, effective caution, but petty theft (pickpocketing, phone snatching) is common in tourist zones, and drink-spiking incidents ('burundanga'/scopolamine) are reported, especially in Medellín and Cartagena nightlife — never accept a drink or cigarette from a stranger, however friendly. Certain regions (Arauca, Cauca outside Popayán, Norte de Santander, the Pacific/Chocó coast, and a 10km strip along the Venezuela border) are officially no-travel zones due to armed-group activity (FARC-dissident factions and the ELN) and do not appear as cities in this guide at all.

• The walled colonial city of Cartagena (UNESCO)
• The Lost City (Ciudad Perdida) near Santa Marta
• Cocora Valley and its giant wax palms
• The Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá
• Medellín's Comuna 13