I don’t think Medellin is that much safer than Bogota to be honest. Pickpocketing, robberies, and scopolamine attacks all happen frequently in Medellin too (http://latinamericacurrentevents.com/medellin-colombia-two-tourists-drugged-with-scopolamine-one-dead/39810/)
Personally speaking from my experience with Bogota, if you stick to the areas around Zona T and Parque 93 for the majority of your stay, you will be just fine. This area of Bogota is quite modern and has pretty much everything you could ask for (apartments, co-working, gyms, supermarkets, cafes (Colombian coffee is so good and cheap), good restaurants, cool bars, and all kinds of shops). I really liked Bogota a lot and didn’t experience any trouble during my 2 month stay. All the things above combined with the low cost of living, I thought the city was a bit of a hidden gem. Just my two cents.
Same best practices and tips apply in Bogota as they do in every Latin American city.
- Keep a low profile and don’t flash a ton of wealth.
- Don’t stay out too late at night and don’t get too drunk if you go out and party. (Most incidents with Gringos that I’ve seen in Colombia involve either late nights out and/or partying, so if you avoid these two things then you’ll be keeping yourself much safer than you otherwise would be)
- Don’t regularly use taxis off the street (especially at night) - use Uber or a professional private taxi company.
- Speak conversational Spanish (Very doable for native English speakers).
- Be more suspicious of people than you normally are.
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