Travelling by bus in Colombia: our ultimate guide

Travelling by bus in Colombia is the most popular means of transport, it’s the cheapest way to travel, and it’s also less polluting than flying (even if bus pollution is big in Colombia).

Although Colombia has ancient railroad lines running throughout the country, it has no functioning rail network, and this is unlikely to change. So, if you want to remain a responsible tourist, use the bus as much as possible to get around Colombia!

Travelling by bus in Colombia is the way to go when you want to take the time to feel the country. If there is one well-developed transport network in Colombia, it’s the bus network.

There are buses almost everywhere, from the small buseta with just a few seats to the large luxury buses, and the coverage of the country is very extensive.

Bus safety in Colombia

Travelling by bus in Colombia

Is it safe to travel by bus in Colombia? Is it safe to take a night bus in Colombia? Many of you have asked us about safety in Colombia. The answer is yes!

Bus safety

Yes, traveling by bus is safe in Colombia. It’s the most popular means of transport, but there are a few precautions to be taken:

• For long-distance buses, if you put luggage in the hold, you must be given a corresponding ticket , which will enable you to retrieve it when you get off and claim it if necessary.
• If you have hand luggage with valuable items, take it with you on the bus, but keep it in a safe place: make it inaccessible, under your legs, against the window, hide it as much as possible so as not to tempt the devil, the famous “No dar papaya” mentioned in our post on safety in Colombia..

Driving in buses

When we talk about safety, we should also mention the conduct of bus drivers in Colombia. On this point, it will be difficult to give you any advice, as you won’t have any power to change things… You just have to know: bus drivers in Colombia are rather sporty!

On mountain roads, this can sometimes be a bit scary… buses don’t hesitate to overtake trucks or other vehicles in the mountains… it can be a bit bumpy on bends, or on bad roads… you’ll see, you get used to it!

Distances and travel times by bus

Travelling by bus in Colombia

In Colombia, distances have a different flavour. Forget your habits, forget your travel time estimates as if you were at home, forget situations where reason should prevail. The fact is, Colombia has its reasons that reason doesn’t know!

Geography

Colombia is bisected almost along its entire length by the Andes – in fact, by three mountain ranges! This means that in Colombia, you often have to cross mountains to get from point A to point B, which considerably lengthens journey times.

Road conditions

If we add to this the fact that road conditions sometimes leave something to be desired, with chaotic stretches where buses have to travel at walking pace, the average speed of a bus journey in Colombia is considerably… slow. But that still leaves plenty of time to see the sights!

Count in hours and days

Distances in Colombia are counted in hours, not kilometers. Take this into account when planning your itinerary, as you’ll often need to allow 1 day’s travel to get to your destination of choice!

While you’ll usually find direct buses on the routes between major cities, to get to villages you’ll usually have to make a connection and change buses.

Find bus schedules, fares and companies

Travelling by bus in Colombia

There are several ways to find bus schedules and fares: the most convenient is to use the new online bus ticket booking platforms, but you can also find information on bus terminal websites, and the most accurate is simply to go to the bus terminal to find the information and catch the next bus!

Use online booking platforms

Here are four platforms offering online bus ticket purchase and information on timetables and fares for the main bus routes. These three platforms offer much the same services, although there will be differences in language and payment currency.

• Pinbus: Colombian company, payment in pesos
• Veliz Viaje: Colombian company, payment in pesos
• Busbud: Canadian company, payment in all currencies
• Redbus: Indian company, payment in pesos, euros, dollars

Rates

There’s no difference between the different platforms, which advertise exactly the same fares for similar journeys. It’s when you pay for your ticket that the platforms differ:

• Pinbus: 7% charge on each ticket
• Feliz Viaje: 7% charge on each ticket
• Busbud : 7% charge on each ticket
• Redbus: does not charge (how do they make money? No idea.)

Bus network coverage

The 3 platforms focus on the main roads, so you won’t find any short-haul routes. That said, there’s a strange heterogeneity in the results between the different platforms, probably due to the agreements made with the bus companies. We really advise you to compare journeys on the three platforms, because strangely enough, they don’t always display the same results. When one doesn’t offer any buses for a certain route, the other will, on the contrary, give you the right bus company!

Use timetable websites

There are now a number of sites that provide basic information on bus journeys between two destinations: timetables, fares, bus companies serving the route, etc. Not all journeys are available on these sites.

Not all routes can be found on these sites, but there are plenty of them, including the main destinations

• Horarios de buses: this Spanish-language site will give you all the information you need about your journey. The site doesn’t cover every town and village in Colombia, but it does offer 80 different destinations, timetables, fares and bus company contacts.

It remains to be seen whether these sites are regularly updated, as timetables and bus companies can change. This is where double-checking by contacting the bus terminal may be a good idea.

Use bus station / bus terminal websites

It may sound simple, but we don’t necessarily think about it, and it turns out that bus station websites in Colombia are often good sources of information, especially for short journeys.

You’ll always find

• the names of the bus companies serving your destination

From there, you can go to the bus company websites, where you’ll usually find timetables and fares for your journey. You can alsocall the terminal or the bus companies, who will quickly be able to tell you about the fares and departure times of the buses you’re looking for.

You can also find

• bus company contacts: website, telephone, e-mail
• bus departure times
• journey times
• fares

Now that’s happiness.

Use your language and your legs

Finally, once you’re in Colombia, you can of course ask around, at your hotel or hostal, in a store or on the street. But the most effective solution is to go to the bus terminal and find the information at the source!

The different types of bus in Colombia

Travelling by bus in Colombia

Autobús, buseta, colectivo, chiva, flota… not to mention Transmilenio, Transcaribe, Transmetro, Megabus, Metrolinea, Metrobus… so many different names for public road transport in Colombia!

To help you understand the differences, here are a few details on each of these means of transport.

Bus

Large-capacity buses are used for long-distance journeys. Most of the latest models offer a high level of comfort, with extendable seats, footrests, toilets (which don’t always work), air conditioning and sometimes even Wi-Fi (which doesn’t always work).

Luggage is placed in the holds. Most of the time, you pay for a real ticket with numbered seats. On long journeys, the driver often makes at least one stop at a roadside restaurant so you can go to the toilet and grab a bite to eat.

Buseta

This is a small bus with a capacity that can vary from 10 to 20 people. Sometimes oddly shaped, they can be found in towns and villages all over the country. In big cities, the Buseta may be part of the public transport service and be subject to well-defined stops, but more often than not it’s possible to take a Buseta with your arm raised at any point, and to get off, you ask the driver for a stop.

Colectivo

It’s any small means of collective transport, even if it often takes the form of a small bus with a few seats, it can also be a shared cab, a Willis jeep, a dump truck or anything that can transport several people at the same time..

Chiva

Atraditional Andeanbus with a wooden body painted in a variety of colors. You can still find them traveling between mountain villages. The Chiva’s truck-like engine is well suited to the rotten tracks and slopes of mountain roads. Luggage is carried on the roof.

Bus with reserved lane

Transmilenio in Bogota, Transcaribe in Cartagena, Transmetro in Barranquilla, Megabus in Pereira, Metrolinea in Bucaramanga, etc., etc., etc. These are public transport buses in major cities that benefit from a system of lanes reserved from the rest of the traffic. To use it, the system is identical to a metro system, with automatic ticket machines, secure entrance and boarding platforms.

Puerta a Puerta

This is usually a VAN-type vehicle offering a shareddoor-to-door service. If all goes well, the driver will pick you up at your hotel and take you to the exact address of your destination.