Bogotá to Salento: A Complete Guide

Do you want to know how to get from Bogotá to Salento? Look no further. I struggled with this itinerary myself when I was planning my trip to Colombia, so I decided to write a complete guide for you. I explain all the different routes, including the travel time and costs. And I tell you what NOT to do to avoid getting pulled over by the police, like I was.

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Best routes from Bogotá to Salento

I explain all the different routes from Bogotá to Salento in more detail below. To summarize, the following options are the the cheapest or fastest:

From Bogotá to Armenia bus station by bus, from Armenia bus station to Salento by minibus: 9.5 hours, US$16 (cheapest).
From Bogotá to Armenia by plane, from Armenia airport to Salento by taxi: 3.5 hours, US$75 (fastest).
From Bogotá to Pereira by plane, from Pereira airport to Salento by taxi: 3.5 hours, US$70 (fastest).

If you want to go for the cheapest option available, your best bet is to take the bus from Bogotá to Armenia and then the minibus to Salento. If you want to go fast, you should take a plane to Armenia or Pereira and then go by taxi to Salento. Pereira is often the cheapest choice , because the flight tickets from Bogotá to Pereira are mostly cheaper than the flight tickets to Armenia.

Please note that I included 1.5 hours waiting time per flight and approximately 0.5 hours per transfer. The total travel time of your journey may be longer than above mentioned travel times, due to unreliable bus schedules, longer waiting times or delays. It is just an estimation. Also, the costs for the taxi can often be split as you’ll find many travelers going in the same direction. That means that the total costs for the routes that include a taxi (both ‘fastest’ routes) may be significantly cheaper if you share the ride.

From Bogotá to Salento, via Armenia

In order to get from Bogotá to Salento, you have to go to Armenia or Pereira first. It’s possible to go by bus or by plane to both these cities. First, I explain the itinerary via Armenia:

From Bogotá to Armenia by bus (8 hours, US$15): Take a bus to Armenia from the Terminal de Transporte in Bogotá. The ride takes about eight hours. Bus schedules are somewhat unreliable, however, so it might take longer. It mostly depends on the amount of traffic you encounter and on the stops you make. A proper bus company is Bolivarianio and the ride costs COP$50.000 (US$15).
From Bogotá to Armenia by plane (1 hour, US$50): Flying to Armenia is much quicker than by bus and not very expensive either. Check flight tickets on Avianca, for example. The flight only takes one hour and costs around US$50, depending on the season. However, if you are flying it is cheaper to fly from Bogotá to Pereira. This is because one of the major budget carriers, Viva Air, flies this route.
From Armenia to Salento (1 hour, US$1): Minibuses from Armenia to Salento run every 20 minutes and cost COP$4500 (US$1). The minibus takes you there in approximately one hour. If you arrive by bus, you can transfer buses at the bus station. But if you arrive by plane, you have to get a taxi to the bus station first. Expect a 20 minute ride and a price of COP$28.000 (US$7) for the taxi from the airport to the bus station. Another possibility is to take a taxi directly from Armenia airport to Salento. This only takes 30 minutes and costs around COP$85.000 (US$25). If you share the ride with fellow travelers, it won’t be that expensive. In my experience, you meet plenty of people on the plane who are also going to Salento and are keen on sharing a taxi with you.

From Bogotá to Salento, via Pereira

Another option is to travel from Bogotá to Salento via Pereira:

From Bogotá to Pereira by bus (10 hours, US$22): The drive from Bogotá to Pereira is a long one over a winding mountain pass that reaches more than 3 kilometers in height. So think twice before you take this bus. It’s a nauseating 10-hour drive and the roads are in bad shape. That being said, if you still want to take the bus go with the bus company Bolivarianio. The ride costs COP$75.000 (US$22) from the Terminal de Transporte in Bogotá. However, bus schedules are somewhat unreliable, so it might take longer. It mostly depends on the amount of traffic you encounter and on the stops you make.
From Bogotá to Pereira by plane (1 hour, US$35): Flying to Pereira is much quicker than by bus and not very expensive either. It’s by far the most enjoyable option. It’s also cheaper than flying to Armenia, because the major budget carrier Viva Air flies this route. Check their website for flight tickets. Prices range from COP$80.000 to COP$150.000, so expect to pay COP$120.000 (US$35) on average.
From Pereira to Salento (1.5 hour, US$2): A direct bus goes from the bus terminal in Pereira to Salento, which takes roughly 1.5 hours and costs COP$6500 (US$2). It doesn’t go very often, however. The bus leaves Pereira at 06:50 AM, 01:30 PM and 04:30 PM during the week, and at 06:50 AM, 07:30 AM and then hourly until 05:30 PM during the weekend. If you arrive by plane in Pereira, you have to travel from the airport to the bus terminal by taxi first. This ride takes 15 minutes and costs approximately COP$15.000 (US$4). It is much easier, although a bit more expensive, to take a taxi directly from the airport to Salento if you arrive by plane. There are plenty of official yellow taxis waiting to meet incoming flights, and it is very likely that there are other people with who you can share the ride. Expect to pay COP$120.000 (US$35) for the 40-minute drive to Salento. I know, it’s expensive. But DO NOT use Uber for this ride which is only a little bit cheaper. I tried to do it and got pulled over by the police.

Do NOT use Uber in the Salento region, it’s illegal

In Bogotá and Medellín I used Uber all the time without getting into trouble whatsoever. I didn’t even know it was illegal. Until I got into an Uber from Pereira to Salento. That was a very bad idea.

Even though people warned us at the airport in Pereira that Uber was illegal, I did it anyway. With eight people we shared two Ubers from Pereira airport to Salento. The people at the airport started kicking the vehicle while the other Uber drove away. That was very intimidating. Therefore, we decided not to get into our car at the main entrance, but at a parking area a bit further away.

Approximately halfway to Salento the police blocked the road. Our driver decided he could avoid the police, and sped past the roadblock trying to make a U-turn. After a short chase he got pulled over by the police. His master excuse was: “do you know the road to Salento, I am confused?”. Obviously the police didn’t buy it and brought us to the police station at the side of the road.

One of us got questioned by the police in the police station. The rest of us had to remain in the car. Meanwhile, the Uber driver was panicking. Asking us to not tell the police that he was driving Uber. It was a bit hard, though, as none of us spoke Spanish and the driver and the police didn’t speak English.

A police officer said I had to come to the police station as well, “because I spoke Spanish”. I was surprised, because the only words I can manage in Spanish are “Hola” and “Supermercado”, basically. However, I did try to speak Spanish to a woman on the airport who warned us that Uber was illegal. So it was obvious they had been in contact.

While we tried to make ourselves understood in our Dutch-English-Spanish-Sign language, another car got pulled over by the police. It was the other Uber car from the airport. Luckily, one of them spoke fluent Spanish. After A LONG time of being stuck at the police station they decide to let us go and fine the drivers. They even arranged (legal!) taxis for us to Salento! It was a stressful experience, because we had no idea what was going to happen. Thankfully it all ended well for us.

To conclude, even though you won’t run into any problems in the big cities using Uber, do not use Uber in the Salento region. It will be checked and it’s illegal. We were lucky, but you might not be. The official yellow taxis from the airport are only slightly more expensive. I think that’s well worth it to avoid such a tense situation. Instead of Uber, try using EasyTaxi in Colombia. It works the same, and it’s legal.

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Was this guide useful for you? Or do you still have questions? Let me know in the comments!

Want to know how to visit the Valle de Cocora from Salento? Read my guide on the Valle de Cocora hike. Or wondering where to go after Salento? Check out this 3-week itinerary for Colombia.

Note: the information and prices in this article were last revised in 2020.