Bogotá has a COP 3,550 bus to the airport that needs a card you have to buy first, and a taxi with an COP 8,000 airport surcharge on top of the meter. Medellín is the real shock: the airport is a 35 km mountain drive from the city.
- Bogotá's airport bus is COP 3,550 and cannot be paid in cash - you need a Tullave card, sold and loaded at the station. Turning up with notes is the single most common mistake here.
- Take the authorised taxi rank inside the terminal: the meter plus a COP 8,000 airport surcharge, with a further COP 3,800 between 20:00 and 05:00 and on Sundays.
- Medellín's airport is not in Medellín. It is at Rionegro, about 35 km up in the mountains, and an official taxi is COP 132,000.
- Medellín's shared airport bus is COP 20,000, a sixth of the taxi price, running to the San Diego area near the centre - the obvious choice if you are not carrying much.
- Cartagena is the easiest arrival in the country, barely 3 km from the walled city at COP 12,800 to the Centro Histórico. El Dorado sits at 2,640 m, so take the first hours slowly.
Bogotá El Dorado (BOG)
El Dorado sits 2,640 m above sea level, and whatever you do first will feel harder than it should. Take the arrival slowly.
| Option | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| TransMilenio K86 or M86 | COP 3,550 | Stops signed "bus satélite aeroportuario" outside entrances 1 and 8, via Portal El Dorado |
| Authorised taxi | Meter plus COP 8,000 airport surcharge | Minimum fare COP 8,000; a further COP 3,800 between 20:00 and 05:00 and on Sundays |
| Ride-hailing app | App price | Legal grey area, see the getting-around section |
- The bus fare cannot be paid in cash. You need a Tullave card, sold and loaded at the station. Turning up with notes gets you nowhere, which is the single most common airport mistake here.
- M86 runs roughly 04:30 to 23:00 Monday to Saturday and stops earlier on Sundays. Outside those hours it is a taxi.
- Take the authorised taxi rank inside the terminal, not an offer in the hall. The 2026 tariff decree fixed the surcharges above; a driver quoting a flat "tourist price" is not using them.
Medellín José María Córdova (MDE)
The airport is not in Medellín. It is at Rionegro, up in the mountains, and the descent into the city is a genuine journey rather than a transfer.
- Roughly 35 km via Las Palmas, or about 24 km through the Túnel de Oriente, which is the faster road.
- Official taxi COP 132,000 for a standard car in 2026, rising to about COP 143,100 for the luxury category.
- The shared airport bus costs COP 20,000 since 1 January 2026 and runs to the San Diego and Nutibara area near the centre. It is a sixth of the taxi price and the obvious choice if you are not carrying much.
- Olaya Herrera (EOH) is the small airport inside the city itself, used for regional flights, and is ten minutes from El Poblado.
The coastal airports
- Cartagena (CTG) is barely 3 km from the walled city. The official 2026 fares are COP 12,800 to the Centro Histórico and COP 21,800 to Bocagrande, with a COP 1,100 surcharge after 19:00. This is the easiest airport arrival in the country.
- Santa Marta (SMR) works on the meter: COP 6,260 to start and COP 121 per 100 metres, with a COP 8,600 minimum, under the January 2026 decree.
- Cali (CLO) is about 20 km out at Palmaseca, with a shuttle bus to the city terminal and taxis at the rank.
Everywhere, agree that the meter is running or that the fare is the published one before the car moves.
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