What if I told you that you could live just outside Bogotá, up in the mountains, for about $1,500 a month… and the biggest challenge wouldn’t be money.

It would be the cold.

Hey—Matt here.

This is the kind of breakdown I wish existed when I first started living abroad: not the influencer fantasy, not the “I visited for four days and now I’m an expert,” but the real-life version. The numbers, the friction points, the stuff that sounds minor until it becomes your daily routine.

Today we’re talking about La Calera—a small mountain town just east of Bogotá that most people treat like a weekend getaway… but almost never consider as an actual place to live.

And I get it. La Calera is scenic. It’s calm. It’s food-forward. It’s the kind of place you drive up to for misty views and a long lunch, then you roll back down into the city and pretend you live a quiet life.

Living here is different. It’s not cheap Colombia. It’s not walkable Colombia. And it is absolutely not warm Colombia.

But if you want space, scenery, and mental breathing room—without losing access to Bogotá’s healthcare, airport, and services—La Calera starts to look like a very intentional, very adult lifestyle choice.

Let’s break it down the way we should: what it is, what it isn’t, what it costs, and who actually thrives here.

La Calera sits just above Bogotá—close enough that on a light-traffic day you can be in the city in 15–30 minutes, depending on where you’re coming from and what time you try to move.

It’s home to around 30,000 people, but weekends can feel like that number doubles because half of Bogotá decides they also want mountain air and a good meal.

This is important: La Calera is not a suburb in the American sense.
It’s not “Bogotá but smaller.” It’s not a mini Medellín. It’s not cafes on every corner and spontaneous city energy.

Most people know La Calera as:

Living here means trading:

Errands often mean a car. Groceries often mean Bogotá. And even though it feels rural, it’s not remote—you’re still plugged into the capital’s ecosystem, just without the noise.

If you’re picturing the Medellín lifestyle—quick Ubers, social energy, walk-out-your-door-and-everything-happens—this is not that.

But if what you want is crisp air, quiet mornings, and a place that forces you to slow down… La Calera makes sense fast.

For a single expat living comfortably in La Calera—meaning not luxury, not scraping—you’re realistically looking at:

$1,300–$1,600/month
(or roughly 4.7–5.8 million COP, depending on rent, eating out, and how much you use heat)

That range surprises people because they assume “small town” automatically means “cheap.” Not here. You’re paying a premium for:

And you’re giving up:

If that trade is worth it to you, La Calera can be extremely comfortable.

Now let’s break down where the money actually goes.

Housing in La Calera isn’t about high-rise apartment living. It’s about houses, views, privacy, and “estrato reality.”

Rent varies a lot by neighborhood and property type, but the realistic “comfortable expat” range tends to land around:

If you want a calm lifestyle without going full luxury, that 2–3 million COP range is usually the sweet spot.

Buying in La Calera isn’t “cheap Colombia” either. It’s buying a lifestyle—quiet, mountain air, and distance from the city.

The big takeaway: housing here isn’t cheap, but you get more space and a completely different environment than you’d get for the same money in many parts of Bogotá.

Utilities in La Calera are usually pretty manageable, but there’s one wildcard:

heat.

A typical monthly utilities stack (single person) lands around:

Total: ~330,000 COP/month (around $90-ish, depending on exchange rate)

Here’s the catch: if you crank the heat, take long hot showers, and work from home all day, your bills climb. If you’re conservative and dress like a mountain person (hoodie culture), they stay stable.

Utilities here aren’t expensive. They’re variable.

If you cook most meals at home, groceries typically land around:

700,000–900,000 COP/month

That covers quality basics:

Not imported specialty items. Not constant delivery app behavior.

Food quality in this region is excellent, and you’re not paying a “city center premium,” but you are living a plan-ahead lifestyle:

This isn’t “run downstairs for one thing.”
This is “I’m doing a real grocery run and I respect it.”

If you’re organized, your costs stay stable.
If you rely on last-minute runs and delivery, your budget creeps up quietly.

La Calera punches above its weight on food because it’s literally a dining destination for Bogotá.

Translation: you’re not always paying local-only prices… but you’re getting quality that actually justifies it.

You’ll find two layers:

20,000–40,000 COP per meal
Solid portions, great ratings, simple vibe. You can eat out multiple times a week like this and still stay reasonable.

This is where the town leans into its identity:

Not cheap by Colombian standards—but for quality + setting, it’s still very fair.

Coffee culture is strong too:

If you eat out regularly but not irresponsibly, a realistic monthly food-out budget is:

600,000–800,000 COP/month
(casual meals + a few nicer dinners + coffee runs)

La Calera isn’t a “cheap food” lifestyle. It’s a “good food” lifestyle.
If food is a major part of your happiness, this town makes a lot of sense.

Let’s be honest: La Calera is not walkable.
And it’s not the kind of place where public transit solves everything.

Most residents:

Yes, you can live here without a car, but you’ll feel the friction. Trips into Bogotá for errands add up—both in money and (more importantly) in time.

A realistic monthly transportation budget for a single expat:
300,000–450,000 COP/month

But the bigger cost is planning.

A drive that should be 15 minutes can become 45 minutes depending on hour and day. Living in La Calera means you stop winging it and start scheduling your life like an adult.

If you love spontaneous city life, this will feel limiting.
If you prefer calm and don’t mind planning, it works.

Healthcare in La Calera is simple: you’re not isolated. You’re just not surrounded by hospitals.

Most residents use Bogotá for:

And that’s actually a win because Bogotá has some of the strongest healthcare options in the country.

A realistic healthcare budget for a single person:
~150,000 COP/month
(EPS + occasional private visits)

The key is comfort: you need to be okay with the fact that healthcare is “down the mountain,” not next door. If you are, it’s a very workable setup.

La Calera is crisp air and misty mornings. It’s quiet nights. It’s darker skies. It’s birds instead of horns.

It’s also cold—sometimes “pleasant hoodie weather,” sometimes “why is my soul chilled.”

Life here is intentional:

Social life isn’t clubbing. It’s:

This works beautifully for:

La Calera doesn’t try to impress you. It gives you space and quiet and lets you breathe.

If that sounds boring, you’ll hate it.
If that sounds perfect, you’ll understand why people stay.

La Calera isn’t better or worse than Bogotá.
It’s a deliberate trade: warmth, convenience, spontaneity → for calm, views, space, and quiet.

And if calm feels like progress? This place makes a lot of sense.