Best time to visit Colombia

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best time to visit colombia

Colombia is vast, with mountains, jungle and Pacific and Caribbean coastlines. As the climate changes hugely from region to region, you can travel all year round.

Generally, the best time to go to Colombia is December-March – the driest months in the Andes. Keep in mind that these months, especially December and January, as well as Easter, are extremely busy with domestic and international tourists; prices will rise and you’ll need to book early. There is a shorter dry season from July to early September. The wettest months along the Caribbean coast are September-October, though it remains scorching hot. The Amazon is warm and wet year-round, and the mountains will be much cooler and fresher, with warm layers needed at night, although the sun heats things up quickly during the day.

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When to visit Colombia, month by month guide

January in Colombia

Dry, sunny weather

Coffee harvest

Andes hiking

January is the heart of peak season, and one of the best months to visit Colombia for the weather. Colombia in January is reasonably dry and sunny in most areas. It’s a great month for hiking in the Andes and around the Coffee Triangle in the rural west of the country, as well as for city touring in places like Cali, Medellin and Bogota.

February in Colombia

Carnival

Coffee harvest

Tayrona National Park closed

Carnival often comes to Colombia in February; the wildest celebrations are in the Caribbean city of Barranquilla. With good weather and the harvest in full swing, it’s a good month to explore the Coffee Triangle. Note that Tayrona National Park is often closed to tourists throughout February. Indigenous people from the Ika, Wiwa, Kogi and Kankuamo communities use this month to perform sacred cleansing and recovery rituals.

March in Colombia

Cartagena

Shoulder season

Variable weather

If you want to share it with fewer people then definitely consider Colombia in March. This is a shoulder month between dry and rainy season – hot and humid on the coast, significantly cooler in the mountains, and wet in coffee country. However, the weather is changeable. For instance, with typically clear skies March can be the best month to visit Cartagena, as well as the many islands off its Caribbean coast.

April in Colombia

Easter

Rainy season

Busy roads

April is not one of the best months to travel to Colombia, as it’s the start of a rainy season that continues to late May. It’s drier on the Caribbean coast, and hiking in Tayrona National Park can be nice around now, but the Amazon and the Andes are both very wet. Many people celebrate Easter, with elaborate yet sombre street processions throughout Colombia in April. Hotels, roads and internal flights are busy with local people visiting family and friends.

May in Colombia

Caribbean coast

Wet, hot weather

Mitaca coffee harvest

Not many people choose to travel to Colombia in May – much of the country sees a lot of rain. If you’re on a budget, however, don’t rule May out, as rain showers are typically intense but short, and a sunny spell is rarely far away. There’s another coffee harvest going on around now, known as mitaca, and the Caribbean coast is nice and warm.

June in Colombia

Andes

Summer begins

Amazon dry season

Colombia in June sees another brief dry season in many parts of the country. In particular, June is a good month to visit the high-altitude capital, Bogota, and elsewhere in the Colombian Andes, though less so for Cartagena or Tayrona National Park. June is also an ideal time for exploring the Colombian Amazon, especially later in the month, with lower water levels meaning that the wildlife is more visible.

Even in the wet season you can go days without rain. Or it may only be a storm during the night, or something small during the day.

– Bruce McLean, founder of our partner BnB Colombia Tours

July in Colombia

Amazon Rainforest

Humpback whales

Surfing

Head to Colombia’s Pacific Coast from July to November, when humpback whales migrate here from Antarctica to mate and give birth. It’s possible to observe them from land. July is also a good month for surfing off the Pacific Coast. Colombia in July is a mixed bag weather-wise; it’s wet in the Andes, but this is the Amazon’s dry season – wildlife clusters around remaining water sources allowing for excellent sightings.

August in Colombia

Medellin Flower Festival

Whale watching

Short dry season

Handily for school holidays, the rain eases off in Colombia in August, most notably in the Andes and the Amazon. It stays pretty wet on the Caribbean coast though. August can be the best time to visit Medellin, which hosts the delightful Festival of Flowers, a riot of colour and fragrances. You can still see whales making their way along the Pacific coast in August, too.

September in Colombia

Low season

Sea turtles

Rain picks up

Six out of seven species of sea turtle lay their eggs on Colombia’s Caribbean and Pacific coasts, and around now you can see hatchlings making their way to the sea in Choco. This is the wettest time of year on the Caribbean coast, though hurricanes are rare. It’s low season, hot in Cartagena, cooler in Bogota and the highlands, and the rains are picking up. Colombia in September can be a good bet if you want to avoid the crowds.

October in Colombia

Rain likely

Lush vegetation

Lower prices

Along with November, October is the wettest month in Colombia, with short, sharp showers likely – the vegetation in the national parks and rainforest is wonderfully lush and green at this time of year. But don’t rule out Colombia in October. As always, prolonged dry periods are common, too, and the other advantage is that you can often find good deals in a less-popular travel month.

November in Colombia

Llanos wildlife

Day of the Dead

Wetter weather

Expect the November weather to be wet, but with the rains tailing off in the Llanos region in northern Colombia. The vast prairies and wetlands here, home to capybara, anacondas and alligators among others, are a thrilling place for wildlife watching. Colombia in November is otherwise fairly quiet – note many Colombians visit family homes around the Day of the Dead on 2 November, so roads and public transport are busy.

December in Colombia

Dry season starts

Busy beaches

Lost City Trek

The rain clouds get thinner in December, and beaches start getting busier as the dry season nears. Book early for Colombia in December because this is a popular time for travel. It’s a good month for the Lost City trek, as the trails are less muddy and river levels are usually lower. Boat tours are still the order of the day in the Amazon, however, and there’s a lot of boaty fun to be had island-hopping in the Rosario archipelago, just south of Cartagena.

Cartagena, Colombia Weather Chart

MIN °C

MAX °C

RAIN (mm)

JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

102

JUN

110

JUL

AUG

130

SEP

140

OCT

218

NOV

129

DEC

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Best times to visit Colombia for festivals & events

Hay Festival (January)

An international offshoot of the famous British literary festival, Colombia’s Hay Festival is a four-day extravaganza of novels, poetry, journalism, plays, workshops, conferences and exhibitions held in the city of Cartagena. There is a national short story competition, and a programme of events that features some of the biggest names in the South American literary sphere, as well as participants from around the world. A good place to come if you forgot to buy a book at the airport.

Barranquilla Carnival (February, March or April)

Rivalling Rio’s in spectacle, the Barranquilla Carnival takes place in the four days leading up to Lent, and is a feast of costumed dancing, elaborately decorated floats, music performances and, er, feasting. Partygoers will often adopt costumes to portray traditional characters who feature in folklore like La Marimonda, a monkey-elephant hybrid. And so to the feasting: when you’ve danced your legs off and need to refuel, settle down to bowls of meaty stews, red snapper served with fried plantain and coconut rice, and fried arepas that are dipped into hot chocolate.

Astronomy Festival (February or March)

Renowned for its clear dry skies, Villa de Leyva – 160km north of Bogota – plays host to an international astronomy festival in the first quarter of the year. Giant telescopes are arranged in the town’s huge plaza, and thousands of people, including many families, come to hear expert talks while watching the stars. The town even has plans to point all of its streetlights downwards in an effort to reduce light pollution and cement its reputation as the best place for stargazing in Colombia.

Ibero-American Theatre Festival (March or April, biannual)

Bogota’s Ibero-American Theatre Festival, which takes place in the weeks leading up to Holy Week every other year, is one of the largest performing arts festivals in the world. Founded by the beloved actress and producer Fanny Mikey, the festival is a vibrant city-wide pageant that celebrates the diversity of the stage: dance, drama, puppetry, circus and music. An international roster of artists is joined by thousands of spectators from around the world.

Medellin Flower Festival (July or August)

Medellín’s Flower Festival was founded in 1957, and showcases huge floral arrangements presented by local farmers. In a commemoration of the abolition of slavery, the farmers carry the arrangements up a hill on a large wooden contraption on their backs, in an echo of the silleteros who used to carry people on their backs in wooden chairs. This takes place over several days in July or August, and the processions are interspersed with plenty of drinking and dancing until the early hours.

Wind & Kite Festival (August)

The whitewashed town of Villa de Leyva is the setting for one of the most colourful events in the Colombian calendar, with three days of kite-flying on the plains. In fact, the entire highlands region of Boyaca is famous for kite festivals – often whole families will get involved in the design, building and flying of a kite. In August the trade winds are at their most powerful, making for some spectacular swooping and soaring. Expect to see some giant kites, and some very creative ones, across a host of competitive events that continue a beautiful and long-running Colombian tradition.

Our travellers also ask…

What is the best month to go to Colombia?

The best month to go to Colombia tends to be December, January, February or March. This is the peak season, when the weather is hot, dry and sunny – ideal for walking dancing, or Carnival in February. It’s worth remembering that Colombia is close to the equator, so it’s more the altitude you’re at than the season that affects the temperature. That makes Colombia pretty much a year-round destination, especially because even during the rainy season the sun is rarely far away.

What is the rainy season in Colombia?

Rainy season in Colombia is between April and November, and you can expect the heaviest downpours to occur at the start and end of that period. Colombia is a large country, and different regions experience the wet season in different ways. The Andes, for instance, tends to see a dry spell in July and August, while the Amazon is wettest in March. Don’t rule out the rainy season for travel, as it’s still warm, and there are some good deals to be had for those happy to cope with the odd shower.

What months are hot in Colombia?

The hottest months in Colombia are from June to September, but this is a tropical country and the temperature varies little from month to month. What does have an effect is the altitude – at higher reaches of the Andes it is notably cooler than it is at sea level, while Andean cities like Bogota tend to be pleasantly temperate year-round. Expect highs in the mid-30°Cs in desert and savannah regions during summer, while at any time of the year daytime temperatures in the highest elevations are typically around 8-9°C.

What is the driest month in Colombia?

You’ll enjoy the driest weather in Colombia between December and March, coinciding with the coffee harvest. The Coffee Triangle in the north-west Paisa region also has another, shorter dry season in July and August. In the Colombian Amazon, however, the dry season is June to November. Of course, it’s never dry in a rainforest, but during this period it’s a lot easier to explore on foot. The dry season is considered the best time to travel to Colombia, so do expect it to be considerably busier during these months.

Best time to visit Colombia

best time to visit colombia