BnB Colombia Tours — Local services in Perimetro Urbano Pereira

When I decided to plan a trip to Colombia, I found BnB Colombia Tours on Google and I used their 23 day ultimate Colombia tour as a reference. In the end my sister and I did a 34 day trip in Colombia of which 16 days were with BnB Colombia Tours. This company is just amazing. They are professional and spot on. When I first asked them for a quote, Helene Colmart responded and requested a Teams meeting where we discussed our plans and expectations and she gave me some useful tips. She quoted promptly, answered all my questions and didn't mind me changing my plans several times. She kept in contact by e-mail over a period of months. When we arrived in Colombia, she created a whatsapp group to communicate with us on a daily basis. We were immediately informed of the arrangements for our first trip with them, including details of the driver and vehicle, the pick-up time and our guide's information. Shortly after I received a whatsapp from Valentina introducing herself as our logistics manager. Natalia was also part of the BnB team and handled logistics and admin issues. BnB Colombia has excellent professional guides which all speak English. These guides are all amazing people and at the end of the trip, they felt like friends. Thanks a lot to Juan Carlos, Nicolas, Erika and Jorge who all went out of their way to give us an unforgettable trip. The drivers were all excellent, very friendly and they were always on time. Our thanks to Giovanni, Jorge Carvajal, Hernan Agudelo, Wilmer Salazar, Javier Chenge, Hugo Lopez, Rene and Rene's father. The guides always informed us the night before of pick up time and essential information about the coming trip. They took beautiful photos of us on every trip and afterwards posted them on the whatsapp group. The guides were all very knowledgeable and helpful in all ways. Juan Carlos Lagorio was our guide for Zipaquira, Raquira and Villa de Leyva and surroundings. What a fun guy with a beautiful sense of humor. Nicolas was our guide for Barichara and Chicamocha canyon. He was a fountain of knowledge and very passionate about Barichara. Erika was our guide and driver in Medellin. Besides being an excellent guide who knew the history of Colombia very well, she was also an excellent driver who easily managed in the chaotic traffic. We had lots of fun and she helped us with stuff that had nothing to do with the day trips. Jorge Lopez was our guide for San Agustin and Popayan. He was a considerate, easy to be with guy and he is also an accomplished bird watcher and photographer. Seeing that we were also interested in birds, he spotted lots of birds for us on our trips and shared a lot of information about the birds of Colombia. Even after our trips with BnB Colombia ended, I was able to contact Helene and asked for extra airport transfers and even a driver to the National Aviary in Caratagena. She arranged it in no time. Anyone considering a vacation in Colombia, should contact BnB Colombia. You will not be...

BnB and Bruce are phenomenal. In every way, they helped us at every stage of our family trip to Colombia, making it safe and seamless, fixing inevitable little hiccoughs, and when we needed emergency medical, they were there.

BnB offers a custom trip planning service in Colombia. We had never visited before, we don’t speak Spanish well, and we were always concerned about safety given the history of the country (but also knowing things have changed). We have travelled to many different parts of the world, but never to a place that has such a violent history in the modern era. Having a tour provider customizing the trip just for you, keeping in mind all factors that might be important (likes, dislikes, special needs, standards, pace, price, etc.) and keeping you safe, was worth every dollar.

BnB and Bruce took time to understand what we wanted. Attentive and listened well, and gave us what was best for us. We had pre-trip discussions on areas and activities in which we thought we would be interested, and standard of travel. He made suggestions, many of which we had not heard of before, and some we took and some we didn’t. That’s good. It’s the client’s choice, informed by the planner.

BnB executed the entire trip well. What BnB does is plan the trip, internal flights within Colombia, and makes all bookings and pays for nearly everything, including guides, entrance fees, and ground transport. As client, you pay for most of your meals, and tips. In Colombia, meals etc are cheap by North American and European standards.

BnB has a stable of guides and drivers they work with, all tested and reliable. Other reviews speak of the guides, etc., and they are all great.

As other reviewers have said, once you arrive, Bruce will put you in a WhatsApp group with all your service providers, guides, etc., so you are always in touch and they are always ready to assist. On our very last night of our two week trip, we were celebrating with the best meal of the trip in Bogota. And then someone in our family had a serious food allergic reaction. A quick call to our guide (who had already left us as agreed, then connecting to Bruce and BnB, and our driver), we were taken to the Emergency ward at the local hospital. Bruce was in constant touch, and our driver waited (for hours, before, through and past midnight until dawn) and took great care and compassion – even though our driver spoke no English and our Spanish is poor. Thank goodness for Google Translate!

Bottom line – you will not be disappointed with BnB and Bruce. BnB makes the most of your travel time and money, and keeps you safe. Can’t...

To set some context for this review, Colombia was my 50-something country to travel to, so this was not my first rodeo. I have to say that this 15 day trip was one of the best I've ever had! Certainly it was the best experience using a travel agency. I checked out a few agencies (their offerings, customer service/response and pricing) before I selected BnB Colombia. I made the right choice! Helene was extremely responsive and thorough, as well as patient when I kept changing my itinerary requests. She was professional but also very personal, giving her frank opinion and advice. As the trip neared, she set up a group chat so multiple people could support my husband and I during our travels. Then each day the next day's driver or tour guide would join in the chat as well. All drivers and guides were prompt, friendly and knowledgeable; they had good English so easy to converse with them. I found it interesting that BnB requires the guides to take photos throughout the day, so they can make sure all is going well. Helene would also touch base with me daily to check in. It was clear BnB truly wants to make sure their client is having a good experience throughout their travels (whereas many companies provide the services but leave you on your own after you've paid). We felt so well supported. I have to call out Erika who was our guide in Medellin and for a day trip to Guatape. She's the best guide we've ever had. She was so well prepared for any situation (she had rain ponchos, umbrellas, sunscreen, extra room in her backpack to carry our purchases....) You could tell she enjoys what she does, as she was so fun and funny, and she didn’t seem to mind that our city tour went way long because I added an area I wanted to see. She wanted to make sure we saw and experienced everything. We wished she could've come with us for the rest of our Colombia trip! I highly recommend BnB. Contact them and they'll work with you for whatever level of support you want in your travels in Colombia. And, you definitely should visit Colombia. It is a wonderful country with so much to see, friendly people, and attractive cost structure! Many people may be worried about safety, but we felt safe the entire time, especially with the support of...