Top 3 best cities to do remote work in Colombia

Colombia has become one of the favorite bases for remote work in Latin America, and not only because of the weather. It sits at UTC-5 with no clock changes, has decent internet in its main cities, and a cost of living that still leaves room to breathe. The question is no longer whether to come, but which city.

What this list is based on

No city is better in the abstract. One of them fits the way you work. These are the five criteria that matter most once someone stays longer than a month.

1. A stable connection, with fibre in the flat and not only at the café on the corner.
2. Real cost of living, counting a furnished rental and not just lunch.
3. Coworking spaces and cafés where you can work without bothering anyone.
4. Climate and altitude, which matter more than expected when you sit for eight hours.
5. How much Spanish you will actually speak day to day.

1. Medellín

Medellín tops almost every list for a simple reason: it takes the least effort to settle into. The weather stays mild all year at around 1,500 metres, the metro works well, and there is already a full infrastructure built for people arriving for a few months, from furnished apartments to coworking spaces with weekly contracts.

Its weak point is its own popularity. In El Poblado and Provenza, English has become the service language, so you can spend an entire quarter without ever needing Spanish. If you also came to learn the language, the fix is to move a few kilometres west.

Laureles solves that. It is flat, green, walkable and still a neighborhood of neighbors, with bakeries, fruit stands and set lunch menus where nobody will switch to English out of politeness. Our Medellín campus is there, on carrera 76, for exactly that reason.

2. Bogotá