A Guide to Bus Travel in Colombia

In this blog post you can find everything you’ll need to know about bus travel in Colombia. This post is aimed at backpackers staying in the country for longer periods of time, for those who don’t want to rent a car and for those looking for affordable and more sustainable travel alternatives to flying. We’ll mainly focus on long-haul buses, but will also detail some of the shorter bus rides we took throughout this post.

For reference, we spent six weeks in Colombia and primarily used buses to travel between places. We only flew once during our stay, from Bogota to Santa Marta. We travelled on daytime and overnight buses, and waited at many different bus stations. Whilst this doesn’t make us experts, our experience allows us to provide you with some insider advice and tips. 

Before Colombia, we travelled through Peru by bus in South America. We also used buses in Mexico as our main mode of transport. Over the years we’ve also travelled across the USA and backpacked around Europe, using plenty of buses as our main method of transport. Therefore, we have lots of experience when it comes to taking long-distance bus rides. So, hopefully, we’ll be able to provide you with some good comparisons to other countries as well. 

Why Travel by Bus in Colombia

The two main ways tourists travel around Colombia are either to fly or take a bus. Some visitors might also decide to rent a car, which could be a great option for shorter trips, but we personally wouldn’t choose to travel across the country in a hire car.

We’re not here to deny that flying to certain destinations in Colombia is definitely much faster than taking the bus. So you may ask, why would you take a bus? Well, unless you only have a very short amount of time in the country, flying will be much more expensive overall. Plus, flying is also less environmentally friendly.

Buses are definitely the most common method of transport in Colombia. You can get to pretty much anywhere in the country with either a luxurious, long-haul bus or smaller, colectivo-style buses. (Colectivos are shared vans or small buses.) For this reason, buses are also the most affordable way to travel. (Yes, even when booking the most luxurious buses!)

In addition, there are many popular places, such as Salento or the Tatacoa Desert, where you would need to fly to the closest city first and then get onto a local bus to get there anyway.

Things to Consider Before You Travel by Bus in Colombia

Before you start planning your journey across Colombia by bus, ask yourself the following questions to make sure that bus travel is the best mode of transportation for YOU:

Do I get motion sick easily? – We wouldn’t recommend taking long-haul buses across the country if you suffer from serious motion sickness. Some journeys are quite long (especially factoring in the fairly common delays), and the roads can be pretty bumpy and windy in certain areas. If this is the case, flying is probably a better option for you.

How much time do I have? – If you need to be somewhere on a certain day or time, then make sure to take an earlier bus, travel the day before or pick another mode of transport altogether. You never really know what’s going to happen on the roads and delays aren’t uncommon. Not to mention that Colombia seems to run on its own timescale; what is sometimes referred to as ‘Colombian time’. This means that if a bus timetable says it will take 7 hours, we would probably add another one or two on for good measure. You don’t want to risk missing an important flight for example.

Do I know some Spanish? – Whilst you’ll be able to communicate in English at airports, this isn’t always the case at bus stations. We found English-speaking staff limited, even at massive stations like Bogota. Therefore, we recommend learning the basics prior to your trip such as how to ask for bus tickets, dates, times and numbers. There is also the life-saving Google Translate App, which will be your best friend when traveling.

Is Bus Travel in Colombia Safe?

There’s another important factor you’ll want to consider before committing to a long-distance bus ride: is it safe? Ideally, you’d want a straight yes or no answer to this question. In reality, we can only tell you what we read online and how we actually felt travelling by bus.

We personally felt safe on every long-haul bus we took, both during the day and at night. There are normally two conductors on each bus, and they take turns driving which gave us peace of mind. Just note that the driving style may be a bit more aggressive in Colombia than what you’re used to in your home country. We also didn’t have any issues taking colectivo buses that mainly operate between smaller towns or cities. Our research on the internet also suggested that bus travel in Colombia is considered pretty safe.

However, petty crime can happen anywhere in the world, and Colombia is no exception. During your search, you will come across stories about robberies at bus stations or even during the journey, when bags are taken out the hold during stops. Whilst there are certain events you can’t avoid, we’ll list a few safety tips below to reduce your chances of losing your valuables.

Bus Stations in Colombia

Most of the cities and towns you’ll be travelling to will have a main bus station, normally called Terminal. There are two main things worth noting about them. One is that bus terminals are usually located outside of the city centre. Two is that, in big cities like Bogota and Medellin, there are more than one bus terminal. Therefore, always double check the location where your bus departs from prior to your journey.

You can normally reach these terminals with public transport, taxis or Uber. If you have a lot of luggage, or are travelling either during rush-hour or at unfriendly hours, then we recommend getting an official taxi or Uber. Note that Uber is actually not legal in Colombia, but is still well-used in big cities.

Depending on the size of the station, there will usually be a dedicated ticket booth area where all the different bus companies sell their tickets. There are usually places where you can buy food, snacks or drinks for your ride. However, we always recommend arriving prepared with enough food and snacks for your journey. Especially if you’re in a smaller town. There are also toilet facilities at the large stations. You’ll probably want to have some small change on you for using them, and have some tissue paper on hand just in case.

Some bus companies may have dedicated seating areas, so it’s worth checking that out. Your ticket should state the gate the bus will leave from, or at least have a bus number on it that you can match up. Delays are pretty normal, but we suggest arriving at the station with time to spare.

Are Buses Comfortable in Colombia?

Long-haul Buses. After using many well-known bus companies across the USA and Europe such as Greyhound, Flixbus and National Express, we can safely say that Colombia’s long-haul buses were far more comfortable. They felt more like the buses we used in Mexico and Peru. We had big, reclining seats that you could lay back in without disturbing anyone thanks to the generous leg room. Almost all services had a toilet and A/C. Just make sure to wear something warm on the ride because it gets cold on the bus. In addition, some services provided on board entertainment that helped to kill the time.

However, short-distance buses are more like the average buses you might be used to travelling on in Europe. They won’t be as comfortable or have toilets on board either. There are also colectivo minivans that you might have to use to travel to small towns such as Villavieja, to visit the Tatacoa Desert. These are normally pretty busy and your luggage will most likely be stored on top of the vehicle (if you’re lucky), or on your lap (not as fun!). It’s also worth noting that food vendors usually hop on and off the buses to sell fruit, snacks or drinks. We would bring enough food for the journey, but have enough small change on you in case you want to purchase something from them.

Where to Find Information About Bus Routes and Companies

The main online sources that helped us to find bus routes and companies operating to and from our next destinations were Busbud, RedBus, and Pinbus. Once you see which bus companies are operating to your next destination, don’t forget to crosscheck the information with that company’s website.

Top Tip. We noticed that when you translate the website into English, the destinations from the drop-down selection menu also get translated. It’s sometimes better to have the page on Spanish when selecting your route, so as to avoid confusion.

Don’t forget that you can also get up to date information at bus terminals. You’ll probably want to know a few Spanish words or have Google Translate on your phone if you’re gathering information this way. It’s also worth noting that some bigger cities, such as Bogota, have multiple bus terminals, so make sure to travel to the right one.

You can always buy your ticket online or buy it at the ticket office at the bus station. Make sure to always keep hold of your ticket and the luggage tag the bus driver normally gives you when you store your bags.

Final Thoughts on Bus Travel in Colombia

We had a great time travelling by bus across Colombia. Luckily, other than a few delays, nothing else happened to us, which of course made our overall experience better.

Although some of the journeys were long, we felt like time passed very quickly and we even managed to have a decent night’s sleep on the overnight buses. Travelling by bus didn’t just reduce our carbon footprint but also saved us a lot of money on air fares. Day time bus travel also allowed us to experience the beautiful scenery in Colombia and made us feel like we saw a lot more of the country.

Have you ever travelled around Colombia by bus before? If so, let us know about your experience in the comments section below. If not, would you want to try out any of the bus companies we’ve mentioned?