Lily Cowlishaw Most webweb page traffic to Colombia avoid its capital town, Bogota, having heard rumors of the manner dangerous and stupid it’s far. Yes, Bogota is massive, chaotic and gritty, and some additives of Bogota are dangerous. But it’s far a shame to move away Bogota out of your Colombia itinerary as it’s far had been given hundreds of statistics, international class museums, and an thrilling food scene.
To understand Colombia’s statistics and culture, you need to spend a few days in Bogota and offer it a strain to win you over. Here are some of the fantastic sports in Bogota, Colombia, similarly to an entire Bogota adventure guide.
Bogota Travel Guide
Is it Safe to Travel Colombia?
Colombia has been plagued through manner of manner of medication wars and people days, the streets of critical cities are constantly flooded with antigovernment contrary.
How to Get to Bogota
El Dorado International Airport is the maximum vital in Colombia and it serves many critical cities throughout the international. You can with out troubles find out direct flights from New York to Bogota for as cheap as 80 each way. If you’re already in South America, there are cheap flights from cities like Lima to Bogota for sincerely 70 each way. From Europe, the cheapest flights are from Madrid to Bogota, with fee from 3 hundred each way.
The airport is almost 15 kilometers from the town center, but it can take a few factor amongst 30 minutes to an hour to get to the center. There’s a Transmilenio bus to La Candelaria (a rate rate tag costs handiest 2000 COP of 0.60), but that takes an lousy lot longer than the taxi. The fantastic way is to take an Uber — drivers usually prevent at carpark C outside Arrivals.
Things to Do in Bogota
1. Explore La Candelaria
Cobblestoned roads, historic colonial houses, and countless churches — La Candelaria is the casco antiguo (antique metropolis) of Bogota. It’s my favored part of the town and one of the reasons why I choose Bogota to Medellin. Some bloggers endorse toward that due to safety, but I felt extra stable proper right here than in each different additives of the town.
Some of the vital streets and points of interest in La Candelaria embody Primada Cathedral, San Francisco Church, San Augustin Church, and Carrera Septima street. I spent days wandering throughout the antique metropolis and loved the statistics withinside the area.
2. Join a Free Walking Tour
The fantastic way to get to understand La Candelaria, especially in case you are journeying solo like me, is to enroll in a free strolling tour. I signed up with Beyond Colombia and my guide Mauricio turn out to be remarkable fun.
The historic facts can be a piece hard to follow, but his tour turn out to be spontaneous and included visits to mystery terraces, specific cafes or maybe locals’ home.
three. See the Iconic Plaza Bolivar
If you select to find out for your own, I recommend first heading to the number one square, Plaza Bolivar, to get your bearings. The square is covered with houses of immoderate historic and architectural significance. The most prominent is the Cathedral of Bogota, then there can be the National Capitol withinside the South, the City Hall withinside the West, and Palace of Justice withinside the North.
Plaza de Bolivar is the vital element of Bogota (and some say Colombia). It has witnessed many critical events, which consist of the M19 siege of the Justice Palace. During my adventure to Colombia, country wide contrary have been taking place anywhere withinside the america and the most important ones occurred right at Plaza de Bolivar.
4. Try Ajiaco at La Puerta Falsa
Right through manner of manner of Plaza Bolivar is one of the most famous eatery in Bogota: La Puerta Falsa. It’s a smooth and tiny antique-school eatery it is usually crowded with humans — lots simply so many ingesting locations have opened sincerely next door with similar names!
At Puerta Falsa, you want to try the Ajiaco, a neighborhood dish from Bogota it is incredibly popular. Ajiaco is essentially a hearty soup made from chicken, three kinds of potatoes, corn and an herb referred to as guascas. Because of the cooler weather, this warm, rich soup has grow to be a staple withinside the region.
5. Visit the Museo de Botero
This is through manner of manner of a protracted manner the quirkiest element to do in Bogota. Botero Museum is a museum presenting a collection of Fernando Botero, Colombia’s most well-known artist. He is renowned for his paintings and sculptures of overly-sized cartoonish humans and animals. And proper right here in Bogota you get to study more about this specific artist.
