This review is 4 stars rather than five due to the overall rating of Colombia rather than the tour. This was an invitation tour run by Betty Levin. As usual, having Betty as the overall tour director was excellent. Her ability to work with groups, keep us informed, and provide insights throughout the trip was superb. The tour director, Alejandro Garcia, was truly great. Local guides were also very good, especially in Medellin. Hotels, overall, were very good and well-located in areas that were comfortable, close to stores and restaurants (The one exception was in the Coffee Triangle where the resort was some distance from anything and all dinners were had there). Note that hotels were not in the historical centers of cities as those areas are not yet developed for handling foreign tourists and are not as comfortable for meandering around on your own. That said, Colombia is unfortunately ready for prime time traveling. Bogota was disappointing in many ways. The visit to Zipaquira and the underground salt cathedral was time consuming and not very special. A visit to the city's botanical gardens would have been more worthwhile. Equally disappointing was the trip to the top of Guadalupe, where the views were partially blocked by electrical wires and the church (the only other thing there) was closed. The Paloquenao market was fun to visit, and the Botero Museum was great. The rest of La Candelaria area was somewhat interesting, but much of the area has been stripped of its Spanish architecture. The Coffee Triangle was superb, a full-day of coffee-related activities. The drive from the Triangle to Medellin was UNBEARABLE. 11 hours on a bus over bad roads. UNACCEPTABLE. Commercial rates for a flight between the 2 places was $100 per person the day before the drive (I checked online) and entailed about 3+ hours. A much better way to get to Medellin when this drive was a full 10% of the entire tour. Medellin's Comuna 13, the Metro Cable, and Metro were are outstanding. Downtown Medellin had little Spanish influence left, leaving only the city's Botero collections were of interest. We left the tour after Medellin but did go to Cartagena on our own: the highlight of Colombia! Great city, great people, great food, great sights.