Touring Colombia by bike: places to stay

Part 5 of Biking through Colombia

Colombia is such a fantastic place to tour by bicycle. The ecosystems transform from jungle to farmland to barren mountain, all in the span of a few days. Nearer to the Caribbean coast, you’ll find mango trees dotting the roadside which offer a refreshing respite from the hot sun.

There are many rural villages in Colombia, and they are spaced pretty evenly every 30-50 kilometres along the main roads. This makes it ideal for touring by bicycle. At our leisurely pace, we covered about 40 kilometres per day on average. Each town, no matter how small, will have a restaurant and a hotel. Hotels attached to gas stations are quite common too, and these are often cleaner and more comfortable than hotels in town.

We found that hotel prices range from 12,000 – 100,000 Colombian Pesos per night, for a private room for two people. In a small town, you shouldn’t have to pay more than 50,000. These prices reflect our experience in Spring 2016.

Here’s a quick rundown of every place we stayed during our tour of Colombia. We started cycling in Necoclí (Day 2), and left our bikes in Cali (Day 32). After Cali, we rode buses for the remainder of our trip. So no, we didn’t cycle 700 kilometres from Cali to Bogotá in four days!

Day	City	Hotel	Price per night for double occupancy (COP)	Rating /5	Pros	Cons
1	Capurganá	Marlin Hostal	35000	2	Lots of mangoes for the taking	Water only available 2hrs/day
2	Necoclí	Costa del Mar	30000	3	Free coffee, public balcony	Shabby rooms
3	Mulatos	Green Hotel	12000	2	Excellent fruit juice	No lock, pig slaughter
4	Arboletes	Zona Camping	40000	3.5	Nice beachfront lounging area	Run-down rooms
5	Montería	Casa Linda V	70000	3.5	Clean, AC, good staff
6	Montería	Miami Central	35000	2	Cheaper than Casa Linda	Dingy, loud street, cockroach
7	Planeta Rica	Casas Blancas	40000	4	Clean, courtyard window	Unfriendly staff
8	La Apartada	El Cairo	30000	2.5	AC	AC is noisy, dated décor, also a liquor store
9	El Jardin	El Lago (Gas Station)	25000	4	AC, window, horses in paddock, swimming pool available at extra cost
10	El Doce	El 15 (Gas Station)	25000	3	AC	Terrible location (isolated), frog in bathroom
11	Valdivia	Diocelina	25000	4	Great jungle mountain view, cute room, good water
12	Yarumal	Centro Residencial	40000	2	Hot water	Unprofessional and confusing staff, noisy
13	Yarumal	Real Plaza	40000	3	Clean, laundry service, public balcony
14	Carolina	Los Balcones	30000	4	Charming, friendly, great service	No window
15	Barbosa	Central Park	55000	3	Hot water, windows	Terrible staff
16	Medellín	Arcadia Hostel	68000	3	Patio	Dirty, loud, shared bathroom down hall
17-18	Caldas	Manantial del Sur	35000	2		Mold, hot water, angry yelling
19	La Pintada	Hotel Dimar	40000	3	Big room with windows	No hot water, lazy staff
20	La Felisa	Hotel Nancy	12000	3	River view, cheap	No gate control, no hot water
21	Chinchiná	Chinchiná Plaza	40000	4	Fancy lounges, good bed, hot water, good staff, window
22	Termales Santa Rosa	El P…?	70000	2	Nice first-floor hangout, backyard river	Tourist trap
23-26	Filandia	Colina de Lluvia	50000	3	Nice kitchen, nice courtyard	Overbearing host, annoying kitten
27	La Tebaida	Hotel California Tropical	35000	3	Window	Couldn’t exit easily, small room, flooding washroom
28	Tuluá	Los Cristales	35000	4	Great service, clean big room, warm water	Awkward window
29	Restrepo	Los Balcones	50000	4	Charming, warm water, balcony, big bathroom
30	San Cipriano	Hotel David	30000	2	Tourist meeting place	Locked gate, no private bath, gross toilets
31	Dagua	Beside railway tracks	18000	2.5	Excellent restaurant, friendly staff	No private bath, dingy barebones room
32-39	Cali	Diego’s house
40	Silvia	La Parilla	40000	4	Cute, hot showers, private courtyard	Cold rooms
41	Popayán	Hotel Toledo	50000	3.5	Large rooms w/ windows, large bath	No hot water
42	Neiva	Hospedaje D’Cache	40000	1		Stained sheets, huge mirror, no bathroom door
43	Tatacoa	Estadero Villa Marquez	30000	1	Swimming pool	Hot small tent, scorpion
44-46	Bogotá	B&B Chorro de Quevdo	100000	4.5	Stunning, charming, breakfast, hot water	Had to wait for the door

Sam Nabi