The executive who spends a week in Bogotá has, if the schedule allows, a window of time on the weekend that can be used in two ways: recover in the city or get out and see something of Colombia that is not a meeting room.
The two options have value. This guide is for those who choose the second, with a criterion of time, logistics, and level of experience.
In summary
Colombia has destinations weekend from Bogota to work well for the executive with limited time and to defined standards. Cartagena by plane for those who want to coast and temperature. Villa de Leyva in vehicle for colonial architecture and silence. Medellín by plane to city with different energy. The Coffee Axis for landscape, origin coffee and an experience that has very little equivalent in the region. All are less than two hours from Bogotá by plane or two or three hours in a vehicle. Neither requires planning excessive if you know the criteria to be correct.
Cartagena: the coast, the temperature and contrast total
Cartagena is the most different that you can do from Bogota in a weekend. The contrast is total: 14 degrees and rain at 32 degrees, and the sea in less than two hours of flight.
For the executive who has spent the week in meetings in the cold north of Bogota, this contrast has the effect of reset to other destinations do not produce the same. The sea, the temperature, the architecture of the historic centre and the rhythm of the city, are sufficiently different as for the brain to change mode.
Good to know: Cartagena in high season, especially weekends holidays can be chaotic. The best hotels fill up and prices rise. For a weekend executive with no surprises, book at least two weeks in advance and choose the barrio proper, Bocagrande beach comfortable, Gethsemane, or the Historic Center for urban experience, makes all the difference.
The flight from Bogota takes between 45 minutes and an hour. There are multiple frequencies each day.
Villa de Leyva: architecture, silence and pause real
Villa de Leyva is two and a half hours by car from the north of Bogotá. It is a colonial town with a plaza mayor which is among the largest and best preserved in Latin America, cobbled streets, architecture of the SIXTEENTH century and a level of silence that cities can’t offer.
For the executive who needs real disconnect, not different stimuli, Villa de Leyva works the other way Cartagena or Medellin. There’s not much to do in the conventional sense. There is architecture that view, local food to try, landscape of the altiplano to go and the kind of stillness that exists only in places where time seems to move at a different speed.
The accommodation in Villa de Leyva has options level: colonial houses, the restored rooms with garden, historic haciendas in the area and some of the boutique hotels that they understand that the luxury here is the silence, not the amenities.
It should be out of Bogotá early on a Saturday to avoid the traffic out of the city, especially on weekends bridge.
Medellín-the city that surprises anyone who arrives with prejudice
Medellín is 45 minutes by plane from Bogotá. It is a city completely different in character: warmer in temperature and in tone, more informal, with an urban energy that is surprising to anyone who arrives with old references.
In recent years, Medellin has developed an infrastructure of hospitality, gastronomy and culture that puts it in the conversation of Latin american cities that are worth visiting with discretion. The Village has a concentration of restaurants and hotels of this level. Laurel has a profile more local and less touristy. And the system of urban transport, with metro and metrocable, allows you to move with an efficiency that Bogotá has not.
For the executive who wants to town but different, Medellin is the most direct from Bogotá.
The Coffee Axis: the experience which has no equivalent
The Coffee Axis, which includes the departments of Caldas, Risaralda and Quindío, is three hours by car from Bogotá or 45 minutes by plane to Armenia or Pereira.
What you offer has no equivalent easy in the region: the coffee plantations historical where the coffee is produced on the farm, mountain landscape with the visual texture of the crops of coffee, perfect temperature throughout the year between 20 and 24 degrees, and a pace of life that does not exist in any of the main cities of Colombia.
For the executive who wants an experience genuinely colombian high level, the Coffee Axis is to the right destination. The properties that offer quality accommodation have service standards that will rival any boutique hotel in Latin america, with the advantage of being surrounded by crops, silence and the surrounding landscape.
The weekend in the Coffee Axis is difficult to replicate anywhere else in the region.
How to plan a getaway executive from Bogotá without friction
- For destinations in the plane: book a flight with at least a week in advance for good times and reasonable prices. The El Dorado airport has multiple frequencies daily to Cartagena, Medellin, Armenia and Pereira.
- For destinations in the vehicle: leaving before seven in the morning to avoid the traffic out of Bogotá, especially on Saturdays.
- Accommodation: book ahead on weekends in high season or holidays. The best hotels and haciendas in quality destinations are filled.
- Back to Bogotá to provide arrival before eight in the evening of Sunday to avoid traffic of the return, and come with reasonable time before the agenda for Monday.
If you stay in Bogota is in a residence VEZRA, the concierge can advise on logistics getaways, including recommendations for accommodation in destinations and coordination of transportation from the north of the city. The concierge service is available to guests throughout their stay.
Colombia has more of what the agenda allows you to see in a week
The executive who travels to Bogotá often has access to one of the most diverse countries in geography, culture, and experiences of Latin America. The weekend getaways are not tourism fill. Are the way of understanding the context of the country with which you are working, and that has value in a business relationship in long term.
To coordinate logistics getaway or check availability in residences VEZRA in Bogotá to stay with weekends included, the computer responds directly.
What the executive question about getaways from Bogota
What is the best weekend getaway from Bogotá to the executive?
Depends on the type of break you are looking for. Cartagena to playa and contrast. Villa de Leyva to silence and colonial architecture. Medellin city with different energy. The Coffee Axis to experience coffee maker single and mountain landscape. The four are less than three hours from Bogotá.
How much time do you need to make a getaway from Bogota?
A weekend of Saturday and Sunday is enough to Cartagena, Medellin and Villa de Leyva. For the Coffee Axis, a long weekend or out on the Friday in the afternoon allows you to take better advantage of the destination. Flights to the main destinations take you less than an hour.
How to avoid the traffic at the exit of Bogota on a weekend?
Leaving before seven in the morning. Outgoing traffic from Bogotá Saturdays may be significant from the eight. For destinations in the plane, the airport has good connectivity from the north of the city in early schedule.
Is there haciendas of luxury in the Coffee Axis close to Bogotá?
Yes. The Coffee has several historic haciendas hotel-level operating as boutique hotels within coffee farms active. The majority of it is in the departments of Caldas and Quindío, 45 minutes by plane from Bogotá.
What the concierge of VEZRA can help you to organize a day trip from Bogota?
Yes. The concierge team can give you guidance on accommodation options in destinations, transportation logistics from the north of the city and specific recommendations according to the type of experience you are looking for.
Is it safe to travel by road from Bogotá to Villa de Leyva or the Coffee?
Yes. The main roads from Bogotá to Villa de Leyva and the ‘eje Cafetero’ are in common use and are in reasonable condition. It’s convenient to travel by day, with vehicle in good condition and with GPS active for secondary routes.
