Considering Bogota is the capital of Colombia, the majority of trips to the country begin and end in this busy city. My trip was no different and since I love the Bog, I spent quite a few days here acting like a tourist. If you haven’t check it out yet, take a look at my favourite 15 things to get up to while in Bogota. After spending four days in Bogota it was time to swap the taxis and traffic for small towns and some peace and quiet. Salento was our next stop and a welcomed change away from the cacophony of car horns and cramped buses. But it left us wondering about what was the best way to get from Bogota to Salento.
How to get from Bogota to Salento: By bus
By Bus: When travelling from Bogota to Salento there are a few options. First, there’s the option of catching a bus. If you take this route, you have to head to the Terminal de Transporte, or the Transport Terminal, in Bogota and then catch a bus to either Armenia or Pereira, at either one of these smaller cities you can catch another bus to Salento.
How long does it take: The bus from Bogota to Armenia takes around 7-9 hours, depending on traffic and how many stops your bus driver decides to make along the way. The bus from Bogota to Pereira takes approximately 6-8 hours, again, depending on traffic and your stopping times. Then it takes around 45 minutes to get to Salento from Pereira and about 60 minutes from Armenia.
Cost: A bus ticket from Bogota to Armenia with a bus company like Bolivariano (which is considered one of the most comfortable) costs around $50,000COP and closer to $60,000COP to Periera. If you’re not too fussed about which bus company you go with, there’s no real need to book before you depart. But if you’d like a comfortable bus, especially if you’re travelling overnight, then it might be worth booking beforehand. From Pereira to Salento, the ticket costs around $7,000COP and from Armenia around $4,000COP.
How to get from Bogota to Salento: By plane
By plane: Considering we had just three weeks to travel Colombia (and see as much of the country as possible!) we decided to catch a flight from Bogota to Pereira and then catch a bus from there. It’s the quickest and most direct route.
How long does it take: The flight from Bogota to Pereira takes about an hour. Once we got to Pereira we took a taxi to the transport terminal and then caught a bus to Salento from there. Our flight was at 9am in the morning and we got to Salento by around lunchtime.
How much it costs: I think it cost around $20,000COP to catch a taxi from Pereira to the bus terminal on the other side of town. I bought the flight as part of a package which included flights from Bogota – Pereira, Medellin – Cartagena and Santa Marta – Bogota. The total package was $396,810COP ($188AUD) so if you divide that by three, I guess the Pereira flight was around $63AUD. And the bus from Pereira to Salento was around $6,000COP. I think if you want to keep you costs down and you’re not limited by time, then catching a bus is definitely a great way to see the country. And I know people often opt for the night buses, but you miss out on so much beautiful scenery if you travel through the region at night. If you’ve got limited time to travel the country, then a flight from Bogota to Salento is a great idea, as long as your budget allows for it.
Do you have any tips for people wanting to travel from Bogota to Salento? Be sure to share them with us in the comment section below.
Hi Sarah,
Loving your posts as we are just starting our Colombian adventure.
We’re trying to work out the most economical flight options and saw you bought a flight package? Which airline did you use and dos you buy online??
Thanks!
Hi Apeksha! Thanks so much for getting in touch and how exciting to hear you’re heading to Colombia soon. Yes, I bought the tickets online and I ended up buying them through Avianca. All the best with your trip and be sure to get in touch if you have any other Qs. 🙂
Hi Sarepa,
I will be visiting Colombia on my own from April primarily to learn Spanish, and was hoping while I was there to visit the coffee region. I will be staying in Bogota for 2 weeks at the beginning of my trip – are there any planned excursions that I can take from there that would include Salento? I’d really like to visit, but thought it might be easier/safer for me to go as part of a group, as I am travelling alone?
Many thanks!
Katie
Hi Katie, Thanks for getting in touch. I hope you have a great time while you’re in the country. Salento and the coffee region is quite far from Bogota, about a nine hour bus journey or an hour flight. For that reason, I’m not sure whether tour companies would do excursions from Bogota. But I travelled alone through Colombia on buses, even on a couple of night buses, and if you book a bus from the transport terminal and arrive at your destination during the day, you will find it is very safe. If you’re really not keen to travel alone, you might want to chat to local hostels, or get in touch with a couple of tour operators to see if they have anything on offer, or can organise something for you. (I travelled a lot with colombia4u.com and they were very helpful) but it is cheaper and very safe if you organise your own transportation, too. I hope this information helps, if you have any other questions feel free to email me at info (at) sarepa.com 🙂
Dear Sarepa,
My husband and I are traveling to Columbia for 10 days in February. We are starting out in Bogata to visit friends and then want to travel for a couple of days to Salento before ending our trip in Cartegena. We wanted to take the non-stop flight on A Tuesday night to Pereira and then take a taxi to Salento. Would it be difficult or unsafe to try to take a taxi at that hour? We are trying to avoid a long nonstop flight the next day.
Thank you,
Ellen
Hi Ellen, as long as you book your taxi at the airport and it’s a registered cab, you shouldn’t have any trouble. A taxi from Pereira to Salento should take around two hours.
Hi Sarah,
Nice article! We’ve just arrived in Bogota and have the same plan as what you seemed to have done. We’re in Bogota for three days then on to Salento, Medellin, Cartagena, Santa Marta then home via Bogota again. I was just wondering if you might help explain the way you booked those package flights and if the agent is in Bogota or if it was online?
Thanks,
John
Hi John, how exciting! I was offered a whole lot of tours to review on the blog and a lot of them are based in Colombia. If you check out my 3-week travel itinerary you can click on the links which will take you to more information about the tours with links to their websites. http://www.sarepa.com/2015/11/16/colombia-travel-itinerary-what-to-do-for-3-weeks-in-colombia/ If there are specific packages you’re looking for or are interested in, just let me know. As for flights, I booked them online and the best flights at the time ended up being from Avianca. I hope that information helps, just let me know if you have any other Qs. Happy travels!
My husband and I are planning a trip from Bogota, to the coffee region, then on to Medellin and lastly, Cartagena…I must admit I am a bit of a nervous flyer – I have read many articles talking about how the flights to/from the coffee region can be small planes and quiet bumpy – is this true?
Hi Emily, thanks so much for getting in touch and how exciting you’ll be heading to Colombia soon. Not to worry about small rickety planes if you’re travelling to large towns and cities in Colombia like Medellin, Bogota and throughout the coffee region. I flew from Bogota to Pereira in the coffee region recently and it the plane was great – inflight drinks and all. 😉 Have fun!
Hey, how do you book/organise a flight package? I plan on flying the same routes in Colombia
Hi Sarepa
Great article! We are flying from Bogota to Pereira where we will then visit Salento. From there we want to go to Santa Marta, do you know if there is any direct flights from Pereira to Santa Marta or do you have to go via Bogota? We have limited time in Colombia so want to get to places the most direct and quickest way.
Thanks
Jen x
Hi Jen,
Good question! I ended up catching a bus from Salento to Manizales and stayed there for a couple of days before heading to the coast, but yes you can catch a flight from Pereira to Santa Marta (I just had a quick look at a couple of airline sites). So you shouldn’t need to head to Bogota before travelling on to Santa Marta. You might find my three-week Colombia itinerary helpfully if you’re looking for things to do or places to see. I hope that’s helped. In any case, have an amazing trip! 🙂 http://www.sarepa.com/2015/11/16/colombia-travel-itinerary-what-to-do-for-3-weeks-in-colombia/
Hi Sarepa,
Just wondering what flight package you booked for your flights? We are also doing 3 weeks in Colombia and looking to get a similar package.
Thanks!