Is it safe for westerners to travel around Colombia these days???

Question

We're 3 guys from the UK going to travel around south america next yr.. i'd like to go to Cali, Medelin, and Bogota, but how safe or unsafe is it....???

Answer 1

Cali is the least safe of the three. Still a lot of cartel activity there. Bogota is wonderfully safe if you are smart and dont flash cash and over dress. Choco, for example (one of the departments) is not safe. The port city of Buenaventura is not safe at all. Guijira is not safe. Huila is not safe. The eje cafetero is safe, for the most part. Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta are safe. Los Katios is pretty safe. Ciudad perdida is safe IF you go in in a helicopter. Be sure to dance at Andres Carne De Res in the N. of Bogota and eat some ceviche at Jaramillos for me will you?  

Answer 2

yes, (i´m colombian so my english may not be good enough)...i recently made a trip around Colombia traveling through many cities. In general you can say that Colombia is safe right now, the only part where i tell you to be careful is at the south, if you are traveling in car through ecuador´s and colombia´s frontier travel during the day....but in other parts like for example the cities of Bogotá and Medellin it is the same as been in any other latin american city, you can enjoy a lot the zona cafetera, (through the cities of Armenia, Pereia and Manizales)