Any advice for a "newbie" traveler to Medellin and Bogota?

[Magic Man]

I am going to visit Colombia in August. I am interested in Medellin and Bogota, and possibly a side trip out into the countryside. I am limited in my Spanish skills...but I am trying to learn.

 

[C0lOMBiiAN-BABee]

Medellin-- Go to "El pueblito Paisa", visit the several shopping centers like El tesoro, San Fernando Plaza, Oviedo, Premium Plaza, etc. Visit El Parque Botero. Take a ride in the Metro and the Metro Cable. Eat a Bandeja Paisa. Visit El Parque De Las Luces and the library next to it. Go to El Parque Lleras, a zone full of high class restaurants and bars.

Bogota-- Visit el Cerro de Monserrate, visit the Zipaquira Cathedral, visit the Museo del Oro (Gold Musueum), El Parque de La 93 (same as Medellins Parque Lleras), malls like El Salitre, Atlantis Plaza Mall, and Mall Santafe.

Visit Santa Fe de Antioquia (near Medellin, and Villa de Leiva near Bogota)

 

[Kerstin Von dielmissen]

first of all, BIENVENIDO! colombia, tierra querida, llena de paz y alegria!
bogota and medellin are pretty nice, bogota is a colder (a lot) its around 15 degres in day, 10 or less in night and like 0 ir -1 at dawn!!! so if you are planning on go to clubs and the thing and wanna go to sleep at 8 am (just as i do) and stay outside until like that hour too, you have to bring a jacket, though weather can really change in bogota, it coulb be cold in the morning, hot ( 23 degrees) i the afternoon and then at night be cold, rainy, and cloudy! so.. you HAVE to go to, ANDRES CARNE DE RES DC, wich is like the best club in the city, its amazing!! HUGE, HAS LIKE 5 FLOORS and its very very cool.. you also have to go to monserrate, barrio candelaria, catedral de sal de zipaquira, museo del oro!

medellin, is really nice, so are its women jajaja (and men too) its ok to buy things on the steet but that depends if the place looks good, the weather is not as cold as in bogota but is not as hot as in any other city in the country, is average.. the day can be a little warm but the night gets colder, you have to go to parque lleras, and eat in one of those restaurants, those are all good, you can walk alone at night ( i have done it, and drunk) and nothing has happened to me, but not in places that ovbiously look bad, for ex, dont go to las comunas..
and for both bogota and medellin, are pretty safe, just dont mess with wrong people and thats it! i thnk you aer smart enough to know who is dangerous (maybe a narco, though in bogota there are no narcos, not many) and whos not! colombia is such a great experience, so enjoy every second as long as you stay there, and be aware! YOU MIGHT WANT TO STAY! i went and now i do, im actually trying to move hahaa i dare any person on this planet to go to colombia, and hate it..its impossible and dont the bullshit that many people say, colombia i pretty safe, just as i said before dont mess with the wrong people!! colombians are all really kind a nice btw