Bogotá Travelers Recommend

The vibrant capital of the Andean nation of Colombia is at once steeped in history and sophisticatedly modern. If you’re short on time in Bogotá, you can still explore the cobbled historic center, sample some local flavors, and get a taste of the buzzing nightlife. Here’s how to spend 24 hours in Bogotá.

Morning: City Sightseeing

There’s a lot to see in Bogotá, so get an early start for a sightseeing tour around the city’s cultural epicenter, La Candelaria. Depending on whether you choose a walking, biking, or bus tour, you might also see quirky sculptures by Colombian artist Francisco Botero at the Botero Museum, browse the world’s largest collection of pre-Columbian gold at the Gold Museum (Museo del Oro), take a cable car ride up Monserrate for photo-worthy views over the city, or visit historic Bolívar Square (Plaza de Bolívar), home of the Primatial Cathedral of Bogotá (La Catedral Primada de Bogotá) and the National Capitol. 

Afternoon: Flavors of Bogotá

Now that you’ve worked up an appetite, treat your tastebuds to the flavors of Colombia during an afternoon tour of the city’s local markets, bakeries, and street-food stalls. Sample exotic tropical fruits, empanadas, typical Colombian cheese bread, and hot chocolate as you explore with a local. Alternatively, spend your afternoon shopping the city’s artisan markets, where you’ll find wooden ornaments, colorful knitted bags, leather goods, and traditional indigenous jewelry, all handmade by local craftspeople. You’ll pick up some quality souvenirs, as well as some haggling skills from your guide.

Night: Salsa Dancing

Polish off your day in the Colombian capital with a popular evening pastime: salsa dancing. Guided salsa tours offer insight into the history and culture of Colombia’s favorite dance. Head out on a club hop to some of the city’s best local hot spots for dancing, people watching, and sipping local rum or aguardiente, the anise-flavored liquor that’s Colombia’s national drink. Those with two left feet can kick off the night with a private salsa lesson from a professional dancer, followed by an opportunity to try out those new moves on the dance floor of a lively salsa club.

Two days in the Colombian capital gives you plenty of time to see the essential sights, visit one of the city’s excellent museums, enjoy the local nightlife, and still have time left over to soak up the sights of the surrounding countryside for a more comprehensive Colombian experience. Read on for tips about how to spend your 48 hours in Bogotá.

Day 1: Around Town

Morning: Get up early to beat the crowds at Monserrate, the hill overlooking Bogotá; ride the cable car to the top for some early morning views, then head back into the city for a walking tour of La Candelaria, the cobbled cultural hub of the city. Visit landmarks such as Bolívar Square (Plaza de Bolívar) and the Gabriel García Márquez Cultural Center, or, to cover more ground, opt for a bike tour instead.

Afternoon: Take the afternoon to visit one of the city’s top museums. Art lovers won’t want to miss the Museo Botero, where some 100 works by the Colombian sculptor and painter are on display, while history buffs might want to explore the pre-Columbian treasures at the Gold Museum (Museo del Oro).

Night: The neighborhood of La Macarena ranks among Bogotá’s top foodie hot spots. Treat yourself to a gourmet food tour of the bohemian area, stopping at multiple eateries to sample traditional Colombian fare accompanied by a cold beer or cocktail.

Day 2: Natural Wonders

Morning: This morning, venture just outside the capital city to experience one of Colombia’s most unique attractions: a subterranean cathedral carved from a salt mine. Guided visits to the Zipaquirá Salt Cathedral take you inside the mine to hear more about the history of this architectural wonder.

Afternoon: Many day trips to the Salt Cathedral include an afternoon visit to picturesque Laguna de Guatavita, a mountain lake that’s both an important indigenous religious site and the supposed location of the treasures of El Dorado. Snap some photos of the legendary lake, or stroll through the whitewashed town of Guatavita.

Night: Finish off your trip with a night out on the town in Bogotá. Depending on your interests, you might opt for a salsa lesson and dancing at some local hot spots or a nightclub crawl through Zona Rosa and Parque 93. Alternatively, head out of town to experience popular—and enormous—Andrés Carne de Res, an almost 3-square-mile (7-square-kilometer) venue that offers dinner, dancing, drinks … and a climbing wall.

This enormous city of more than eight million people is a world-class cultural destination, with excellent museums, gorgeous Spanish colonial architecture, and dozens of pretty parks and plazas to explore. With three days in Bogotá, you can see the highlights and get out to explore the Colombian countryside. Here’s how.

Day 1: Culture in La Candelaria

Start your day with an orientation of La Candelaria, Bogotá’s cobbled historic district, during a walking tour of its top attractions, including Bolívar Square (Plaza de Bolívar), Chorro de Quevedo plaza, Teatro Colón, and Casa de Nariño (the Colombian presidential palace). Spend the afternoon digging deeper into Colombian culture at one of La Candelaria’s top museums, either the Botero Museum, which showcases the art of Colombian artist Francisco Botero, or the popular Gold Museum (Museo del Oro), with the world’s largest collection of pre-Columbian gold artifacts. Finish your day by taking the cable car to the top of Monserrate to watch the sunset over the Colombian capital.

Day 2: Colombian Countryside

Devote your second day to rural Colombia. Popular day trips take in the small town of Zipaquirá, with a fine downtown dating from the 1700s and the famous Salt Cathedral, or the whitewashed Spanish colonial town of Guatavita. Many trips combine the two into a single full-day excursion. Alternatively, spend a day in the beautifully preserved colonial Villa de Leyva, known for its picturesque adobes—freshly painted and bathed in bougainvillea—which house boutique hotels, restaurants, and the best collection of craft shops in the country. If you have energy to spare, stop off at Andrés Carne de Res on your way back to Bogotá. This enormous, popular venue offers dinner, drinking, and dancing.

Day 3: Outdoor Adventure

It would be a shame to leave Bogotá without experiencing the natural beauty of Colombia, a playground for thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies. Choose your level of adventure today, whether it be horseback riding through the East Hills, hiking through lush forests to the country’s tallest waterfall, bird watching in Chicaque Natural Reserve, soaking up the splendor of Chingaza National Park, or riding tandem while paragliding or hang gliding high above the city. This last night is the perfect time to enjoy Bogotá’s legendary nightlife; take a salsa lesson from a professional dancer before hitting the floor at some of the city’s dancing hot spots, or join a local for a nightclub crawl through Zona Rosa and Parque 93.

Colombia is one of the world’s biggest producers of coffee, both Arabian and Colombian. While much of the nation’s production takes place within the high-altitude Coffee Triangle, you don’t have to stray far from Bogotá to visit a plantation, learn about how the beverage is produced, and sample some top-notch joe. 

Highlights

• Become a coffee master as you learn to prepare the perfect cup and discern between quality and mass-produced coffee.

• Fine tune your palate to pick out diverse flavors with a coffee tasting at a Bogotá cafe.

• Embark on a coffee shop hop through Bogotá’s neighborhoods to sample brews at several specialty cafes.

• Trace coffee from bean to cup at a local coffee plantation just outside the city.

• Explore the UNESCO World Heritage-listed coffee region of Colombia on a multi-day tour from Bogotá.

Top Bogotá Coffee Plantations

While much of Colombia’s coffee production takes place in an area known as the Coffee Triangle near Medellin, there are a few plantations within day trip-distance of Bogotá for travelers based in the Colombian capital. Many of these are in and around the town of Fusagasugá. Perhaps the most well known and visitor-friendly plantation is Hacienda Coloma. During a tour of the colonial-era hacienda, visitors learn to hand pick, dry, thresh, and roast the beans. 

Colombian Coffee History

While coffee has become part of the Colombian national identity, the beans didn’t originate in South America. Jesuit priests introduced them as early as the 1700s, and in 1835, Colombia exported its first shipment of beans—some 2,500 pounds (1,134 kilograms)—to the US. TV ads featuring the fictional coffee farmer Juan Valdez popularized Colombian coffee during the 1960s, though much of the nation’s coffee continues to grow on small family farms.