Is It Safe To Drive In Colombia? (Why I Don't Recommend It)

Making Transportation Plans For Your Trip To Colombia And Thinking About Doing A Road Trip, But Wondering If It Is Safe To Drive Yourself Here?

After living in the Coffee Region of Colombia, I rode on just about every kind of transportation option available (planes, cars, busses, trucks, metro, taxi’s, Ubers, motorcycles, horses, etc.) and rode to work everyday with a coworker in his small sedan-type car, however driving yourself in Colombia is something I’d highly recommend not doing for a number of reasons (all listed out in detail below).

⚠️ Why It Isn’t Very Safe To Drive In Colombia

While it’s typically more convenient to drive yourself when you really want to get out and explore a destination like Colombia (which I think is definitely worth extra exploration), driving yourself isn’t a super safe option here for a few reasons:

Driving Style

People don't always follow typical traffic laws here.

I taught English at a school in a smaller town of the Coffee Region (Santa Rosa de Cabal) that sat up in the mountains, but I chose to live in the bigger city down the mountain (Pereira), so I had a bit of a trek to make everyday for work.

One of the teachers from my school lived nearby, so he would drive me almost everyday, and although he was a pretty safe driver, I quickly saw that many in Colombia do not drive in a very organized or safe manner.

Traffic rules that we might be more used to in the US, are not followed quite as closely in Colombia, so like me, you may encounter lots of seemingly unsafe driving here.

Road Conditions

Road contains make it not very safe to drive yourself in Colombia.

When I went out to explore all the beautiful destinations in Colombia, most of the time I took the bus in between cities, and although I never drove myself, I wouldn’t have wanted to because of the road conditions.

So many of the roads in between cities are very narrow, windy, curvy, and steep, plus there are lots of motorcycles to watch out for on top of a decent amount of traffic.

Most roads themselves are in pretty bad shape too, so damage to a rental car could be easy to get driving here.

Weather Conditions

Colombia gets a lot of rain, especially in the Coffee Region area.

Outside of a few dry valley areas (like Cali), most of Colombia gets a decent amount of rain, which does not make it very safe to drive. Especially in between cities, many roads curve through mountainous regions, plus they’re pretty narrow, so adding wet and muddy conditions doesn’t help at all.

Car Conditions

The condition of cars in Colombia can make the drive less safe, especially if the road causes any damage to a rental car.

Whether in Ubers or taxi’s, I rode in lots of different cars while living in Colombia, and most of them were not in very good shape. Rental cars might be less than perfect too, plus they’re typically pretty strict on damage which can be easy to get on these roads.

Most cars in Colombia are also manual, so if you’re used to automatic, it might be extra hard, stressful, and less safe to try and drive around the country with a stick shift.

Distance In Between Locations

The distance in between cities is too long for most people that are just visiting.

While there typically aren’t issues with personal safety in terms of driving in between cities in Colombia (like how it’s not safe to drive in between cities in Mexico), driving yourself isn’t all that convenient because drive times can be very long.

For example, flying from Medellin to Bogota takes less than 1 hour so the distance isn’t actually that far, but driving yourself takes around 9 to 10 hours because of the not so direct route in between.

🚗 How To Be Safe If You Do Decide To Drive In Colombia

If you do still decide to rent a car while in Colombia, here are a few tips or things to know to help you stay extra safe:

you don’t need any special license to drive in Colombia, a US license is fine

rent a car for driving in between cities, don’t rent one to get around in cities because it’s more of a hassle + parking can be difficult

spend extra and rent a automatic car if you’re not used to or familiar with manuals

visit outside of rainy season (December, January, July, + August) to try and avoid some poor driving weather conditions

drive slow and cautious around the curves, don’t worry about anyone else, they’ll go around if they want to

take it easy and don’t be in a rush

don’t let bad drivers irritate you

*️⃣ Tip: I also recommend avoiding Airbnb’s in Colombia, and instead sticking with hotels to be extra safe

👉 Alternative Transportation Options (That I Think Are Better)

I think tours, ubers, private transportation, or public transportation are the best ways to get around this country.

I don’t think that it’s a very safe idea to drive yourself in Colombia, so I would suggest going with other transportation options like:

Uber: taxi’s aren’t always as safe here or cheap, so I suggest Uber in most scenarios

Private Transport: when Uber isn’t available (typically at airports), I suggest private transportation

Public Transportation: busses, the metro, and public transportation are all typically safe (I used them all the time as a solo female traveler), but they can get crowded so keep an eye on your things

Tours: the best and most convenient way to get around or go on day trips is with tours

🔁 Sum Up: Is It Safe To Drive In Colombia?

Although it is more convenient to drive yourself when you really want to get out and explore a destination, it’s not really recommended in Colombia because it’s not always safe with the weather, the road conditions, the car conditions, and the driving style the way it is here, plus the distances in between cities makes driving yourself not super convenient anyway.