When to go to Colombia
Short answer
Colombia has no single best month, because it has no single climate — it sits on the equator, so temperature barely moves anywhere and rain is the only variable, arriving at different times in each region. December to February is the one window that is dry almost everywhere, which is why it is also the busiest and dearest; July and August are the second. City by city: Cartagena is dry December–April and hot always; Medellín sits at 22–28 °C year-round and is driest December–February and July–August; Bogotá is 7–19 °C year-round, driest in the same two windows. For one trip covering all three, late January is the best single answer.
On this page — 5 sections
The short version
Almost every page that answers “when should I go to Colombia?” gives one answer for the whole country. That answer is necessarily wrong for two thirds of the trip, because the three cities most people visit are at sea level, 1,495 m and 2,640 m and do not share a calendar.
The genuinely useful version is short: December to February is dry nearly everywhere. July and August are the second window. Everything else is a trade-off between one region and another, and this page is about which trade you are making.
Colombia has no single season, and that is the whole answer
Colombia sits on the equator. That has one consequence that shapes everything: temperature is a function of altitude, not of the month. Cartagena is 30–32 °C in January and in July. Bogotá is 7–19 °C in January and in July. Neither city has a summer.
So the only thing a season can mean here is rain — and the Andean cities have two wet periods a year while the Caribbean coast has one long dry one. They overlap only partially, which is why a single national answer cannot exist.
City by city, month by month
| Month | Cartagena sea level | Medellín 1,495 m | Bogotá 2,640 m |
|---|---|---|---|
| December | Dry · peak prices | Dry · the best month | Dry |
| January | Dry · peak until mid-month | Dry | Dry |
| February | Dry | Dry | Dry |
| March | Dry | Turning wet | Turning wet |
| April | End of the dry season | Wet | Wet |
| May | Showers · good value | Wet | Wet |
| June | Showers | Drying | Drying |
| July | Showers | Dry | Dry |
| August | Showers | Dry · flower fair, busy | Dry |
| September | Wettest · quietest | Turning wet | Turning wet |
| October | Wettest · quietest | Wet | Wettest |
| November | Improving · good value | Wet | Wet |
Rain in the Andean cities generally means a heavy afternoon rather than a lost day. On the Caribbean it means short intense bursts. Neither is a monsoon, and neither should cancel a trip.
The two windows that work for a whole trip
Late January. If you want one recommendation, take this one. Dry in all three cities, the mid-December to mid-January peak has passed, and prices in Cartagena have come back down from their highest point. It is the best combination of weather and value in the year.
July. Dry in Bogotá and Medellín, showery but workable in Cartagena. Worth knowing: early August is the Medellín flower fair, which is a genuinely good reason to be there and a genuinely bad time to need a hotel room at short notice.
And the value pick that most people overlook: November on the coast. Cartagena is coming out of its wettest stretch, the cruise ships have not arrived, and you are paying shoulder prices for something close to dry-season weather.
Packing for 2,640 m and sea level in the same suitcase
This is the practical consequence of everything above, and it is where almost every first-time visitor is caught out. A trip covering Cartagena and Bogotá moves through a 20-degree range in ninety minutes of flying.
Pack for the coast — light, breathable, something with sleeves for the sun — and then add one warm layer and a light waterproof for Bogotá. It is not cold by European standards, but 7 °C at night after a week at 31 °C feels like it. The single most common complaint we hear from clients on a Colombia trip is not about safety or food. It is that nobody told them to bring a jacket.
Questions people also ask
What is the best time to visit Colombia?
December to February works for the whole country at once, which is why it is also the most expensive and the busiest. July and August are the second window, dry in Bogotá and Medellín and acceptable on the coast. If you want one recommendation for a first trip covering Cartagena, Medellín and Bogotá, take late January: everything is dry, the Christmas peak has passed, and prices have come back down.
Does Colombia have a rainy season?
It has several, and they do not line up. Because the country sits on the equator, temperature barely changes anywhere across the year — what changes is rain, and it changes differently in each region. Broadly there are two wetter periods in the Andean cities, around April–May and October–November, while the Caribbean coast has a single long dry season from December to April. A month that is wet in Bogotá can be perfect in Cartagena.
When is the best time to visit Cartagena?
December to April is the dry season on the Caribbean coast and the reason those months cost more. The temperature is 30–32 °C in every month, so you are not choosing warmth, you are choosing rain and crowds. September and October are the wettest and quietest, with rain usually arriving in short heavy bursts. May and November are the value months: shoulder prices, few cruise ships, and rain that rarely costs a whole day.
When is the best time to visit Medellín?
Medellín holds 22–28 °C all year, which is why it is called the city of eternal spring and why no month is ruled out. The driest windows are December to February and July to August; April–May and September–November are wetter, usually as an afternoon event rather than an all-day one. Late December and early January are the best of it, and priced accordingly.
When is the best time to visit Bogotá?
December to February and July to August are the driest. April–May and October–November are the wettest. Temperature is not the variable — Bogotá sits between 7 and 19 °C every month of the year — so the thing to plan for is rain and, more than anything, the cold. It is the one Colombian city where you need a jacket, and almost nobody packs one.
What is the cheapest time to visit Colombia?
The shoulder months: May, and September to early November. Prices in Cartagena in particular swing hard between high and low season, and May and November give you close to dry-season conditions at low-season prices. The genuinely expensive periods are mid-December to mid-January, Easter week, and the Medellín flower fair in early August.
Is it worth visiting Colombia in the rainy season?
Yes, with one caveat about where. Rain in the Andean cities is usually an afternoon event you plan around rather than a washout — and the cities are full of indoor things worth doing. The caveat is Tayrona and the Caribbean beaches, where a wet week genuinely costs you the thing you came for. If your trip is city-led, the wet months are good value. If it is beach-led, they are not.
Sources
Every figure on this page comes from one of these. If one of them changes and we have not caught up, tell us and we will fix it the same day.
- UK FCDO — Colombia travel advice — Seasonal risks including the rainy-season warnings, and the department-level advisories. Updated 3 September 2026.
- UK FCDO — Colombia entry requirements — Entry rules that apply whichever month you choose.
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