Books on Colombia

Introduction

There are only a few guidebooks on Colombia and most of them are not very good. We use 5 separate guidebooks, using these the tourist board and the Internet allows us to do most things that we want to do.

As Colombia becomes a bigger tourist destination the guidebooks will hopefully improve.

There are no specific guidebooks for walking or hiking in English or Spanish. Most walking in Colombia is done with large clubs and a guide. Independent walking or hiking here requires a lot of determination.

Guidebooks

Lonely Planet Guide to Colombia The Lonely Planet is one of the worst of the guide books to Colombia. It is included here because lots of people prefer to use this series. The book includes the main towns on the gringo trail but little else. A lot of information is included on the towns that are in the guidebook, however the accuracy isn't always very good.

Bradt Guide to Colombia A better guide to Colombia than the Lonely Planet but still not great. It includes the Llanos (which Lonely Planet does not) but the information provided on this area is next to useless. The book again includes the main towns on the gringo trail, the information is as good as the information in the Lonely Planet guide. The information is slightly more accurate. The book has a good section on the national parks, but for some reason this is not included in the main area of the guide and information on how to get to parks is often poor.

Footprint Guide to Colombia This is the 2008 edition and is currently only available in hardback. We don't have this guidebook but I have read large sections using Google Books. The guide covers the same areas as the Bradt Guide and the Lonely Planet Guide, however it has many more towns and villages in each area. The information is more useful for someone interested in travelling in Colombia rather than just following the gringo trail. If you're planning on buying just one guidebook this would appear to be the best bet.

Footprint Guide to Colombia This is the 2001 edition and is available in paperback. See description provided for the 2008 edition.

Nah Dran Guide to Kolumbien (Colombia). This is the best guidebook we have, however it is in German. This book covers all areas of Colombia, it includes a huge number of different towns and villages along with pratical information on how to get to them. It includes a number of suggestions for each town or village on things to do. The guide includes a lot of the national parks. The guide is excellent for information on getting to parks. It usually gives a variety of methods of arrival for even the most out of the way places (including tips such as milk carts and the water company bus). The guide has good judgement on what is tacky tourism and what is actually worth seeing.

General Guide for Touring Colombia This is the guidebook produced by the Colombian Tourist Board. You can buy it in either Spanish or English. This guidebook covers a lot of the country and is a useful addition to a European Guidebook. It has a lot of ideas and suggestions that are not in the other guidebooks. However, it lacks any useful information on how to get to places. It also lacks an index for some unknown reason and the ordering is just plan strange, these two items make the guide very difficult to use.

Guia de Rutas por Colombia This is the guidebook produced by the Colombian Tourist Board. It is only available in Spanish. The guidebook is designed for touring by cars. The same comments for the previous tourism board guidebook apply for this book. It is a useful addition to a European guidebook for getting additional ideas.

Wildlife Guides

A Guide to the Birds of Colombia An excellent book for recognising the birdlife of Colombia. 20% of the world's bird species are present in Colombia.

Maps

Reise Know-How Kolumbien/Colombia An excellent 1:1,400,000 map. Not available on Amazon. ISDN: 978-3-8317-7201-8

Colombia and Ecuador Nelles Map A 1:2,500,000 map covering Colombia and Ecuador.