Argentina Versus Colombia to Retire

Most people would say the food is way, way better in Argentina. Personally, I liked the Colombian food. But the criticism is that it lacks variety and elaboration - the recipes are simple.

Access to banking services and ease of financial transactions, Colombia is superior. Then again, for financial services, is anywhere worse than Argentina?
 
As CC says, Colombia is a country of many (very different) cities.

About Bogota, I lived there for 2 years, and found it to be fairly unpleasant - terrible weather (cold, wet, windy), too high for comfort, and even being situated on an altiplano where logically all the rainwater must flow away, they manage to have knee-high flooding in the streets. Traffic is awful (no metro system), and there's relatively little to see. Colombians from other cities simply refer to Bogota as "the fridge" or "la nevera" - cold damp and dark.

At least living there motivated me to see other parts of Colombia, it was almost a mental-health necessity to get out of there:

I've been to Medellin many times, I was impressed with it at first, but as time went on and Colombia became more affluent, it started to have major air contamination and traffic problems. Nice enough weather, too far from any beaches, I didn't like the expat vibe, centered on El Poblado and Parque Lleras, all gringos chasing paisas. It is a major business centre, though, and has a decent municipal railway.

Cali is nice for a weekend, but there's nothing much to keep you there.

I much preferred the coast, especially Cartagena, the walled city, and the island archipelagos off the coast. It's extremely touristed, both internal and international. It's also got a very hard-sell vibe on the beaches, but that's avoided by going to more remote beaches or the islands. There are lots of property investment opportunities there, now mostly outside Bocagrande, which is full, and tourism is year-round. Some of the smaller cities are also quite nice, like Santa Marta, but much quieter. Barranquilla is just too hot and humid to consider living in.
Regarding Bogata, I would actually rather be in a place that is cold versus one that is hot to be honest. If you're cold then you can always put on warm clothes. Having said that, I want to be in a place that has things to do, so it might not be a good fit for me if there isn't much to see there. By 'things to see' do you mean there are not many cultural/restaurants type stuff or other things?
 
Most people would say the food is way, way better in Argentina. Personally, I liked the Colombian food. But the criticism is that it lacks variety and elaboration - the recipes are simple.

Access to banking services and ease of financial transactions, Colombia is superior. Then again, for financial services, is anywhere worse than Argentina?
I've heard this about the food as well. I'm not a huge foodie, so not make or break for me. I do like to go out to restaurants though.
 
As a city I like Buenos Aires better than Bogota. Better weather, more things to do, easier to get around, safer, etc.

I'm not a fan of the bigger cities in Colombia. Bogota is ok, but too cold, overcast, bad traffic for long term. Medellin is overrun with gringos and Cali is ok, but nothing note worthy. Cartagena is way too touristy with people constantly trying to hustle you. There are beautiful smaller cities and towns though.

If you're from the US, one of advantage of Colombia is that the flights are cheaper, more frequent and shorter to the US.
 
Large city with cultural things to do. I think you answered your question. Nothing in Colombia (which I like) compares to BA in terms of culture richness. Only so many times you can watch Palenque girls shake it in Cartagena.
 
Large city with cultural things to do. I think you answered your question. Nothing in Colombia (which I like) compares to BA in terms of culture richness. Only so many times you can watch Palenque girls shake it in Cartagena.
Yea, I guess that is the biggest trade off from my perspective.. I was hoping Bogata would be good in this regard as I've never been there, but it sounds like that's not the case.
 
Regarding Bogata, I would actually rather be in a place that is cold versus one that is hot to be honest. If you're cold then you can always put on warm clothes. Having said that, I want to be in a place that has things to do, so it might not be a good fit for me if there isn't much to see there. By 'things to see' do you mean there are not many cultural/restaurants type stuff or other things?
OK, warm vs. cold is a personal preference. One good thing about being cold and high like Bogota is that there are very few bugs. You can leave food out without worrying about it, and mosquito-borne things like Chikungunya and Zika didn't make much impression in Bogota.

There are a few attractions in and around Bogota, but only a few: the Gold Museum (hugely impessive), Monserrat, the flea market in Usaquen, the salt cathedral, and that's more or less it. There's plenty of nightlife, restaurants (and wacky ones like Andres Carne de Res), and bars around the Centro Andino and Parque 93. Personally, I found Bogota to be a vaguely depressing place, and had to escape every second weekend to at least Melgar, and if I could to one of the other warmer and brighter cities.
 
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