My favorite big city in Colombia (its biggest), with many areas to explore.
While many travelers claim Medellin as their favorite city in Colombia, I personally found Bogota to be better in every way. Medellin is small and hip, with a convenient pretty and foreigner-friendly party area in El Poblado, and many beautiful people all congregated into this area. But IMO, it’s boring if you’re looking to do anything other than partying and going to restaurants, bars, cafes.
Bogota actually has lots more to do. A charmy colorful old town area, big squares and corners where people hang out, museums, much bigger and fancier party districts, much more shopping options, and multiple foreigner-friendly neighborhoods. I personally think Medellin is attractive for being small, cute, and cheap…and perhaps with a certain lifestyle vibe. But comparing every metric, Bogota feels superior in every way.
4 days is enough to cover the old town Candeleria area and Monserrate mountain, key museums, and also party/explore in the Zona Rosa area. Stay couple days longer if you want to enjoy the life, and perhaps visit the Zipaquira salt mine.
Where to stay:
- Candeleria – this seems like the most logical choice for 1st-time backpackers and tourists. It’s a fun colorful old town area with many tourist things to do within walking distance. Bolivar Square, Chorro de Quevedo, historical buildings (walking tours), museums, shops, restaurants, bars, street graffiti, walking distance to Monserrate mountain.
- Zona Rosa/Chapinero – a more modern part of the city. Nice restaurants and also the real nightlife is here, also big shopping malls and anything you need. Kind of feels like any major city and maybe lacking character. But I’d agree this is probably the best place to stay in the end. More options of everything and also centrally located to other areas of the city.
I heard a really good explanation that the best parts of Bogota is in between the tourist areas/activities. And therefore, the most central area to stay is in Chapinero.
Hostels:
- LimaLimon – loved this place, cheap price whether in dorm or private room. Cute decor, friendly staff, great communal atmosphere to meet people, awesome location in historic colorful old town Candeleria neighborhood, comfy enough room setup. My only complaint is the horrible internet, super slow and often doesn’t work.
- Karuss Hostel – I almost booked this but didn’t. It’s also highly rated like LimaLimon, and feels like you live in a family house run by 2 lovely owner-hosts. Everything super nice. The private rooms are also cheap and super spacious. A bit quieter and less social vibe than at LimaLimon.
Neighborhoods & Walking areas:
- La Candeleria – fun colorful old town area with many tourist things to do within walking distance. Bolivar Square, Chorro de Quevedo, historical buildings (walking tours), museums, shops, restaurants, bars, street graffiti, walking distance to Monserrate mountain. Except for right by the Chorro de Quevedo area, everything seems to close down early (like around 8-9pm).
- Chapinero – a nice modern real-world city, unlike old town Candeleria. Big streets with many shops, restaurants, bars, clubs, and nice! Go here if you want to party, shop, or live a proper city life.
Activities to do:
- Buildings & architecture – most interesting that I saw was mostly in Candeleria neighborhood with the old colonial buildings/houses and the museums, government buildings, and churches.
- Parks, gardens, green spaces – I didn’t go to any, but I would recommend the ones in the Chapinero neighborhood. Read the Google reviews to know which ones are safest.
- Arts & museums – Botero museum (I loved his unique art of “fat” people and objects). National Museum (was my walking tour guide’s favorite, the exhibits and also the building itself is interesting). The Centro Cultural Gabriel Garcia Marquez building might also be of interest to you, textile museum exhibit inside underground, then go on the terrace to hang out.
- Monserrate mountain – mountain with a church, shops and restaurants at the top, and panoramic view of Bogota down below. Walk uphill to its base from Candeleria neighborhood (following the windy cascading waterfall-drain path). Then from the base, you can walk up the pedestrian stair route for free or take the cable car or tram up the mountain. Vehicle route costs money, buy tickets online in advance to avoid waiting. I recommend taking vehicle route up, and then walking down by foot (to experience both views). Weekends are annoyingly crowded and make experience less worthwhile IMO. I waited 1 hr to buy tickets (make sure you get in the right line for tram vs cable car), and then another 1.5 hours to get into vehicle. Although many people love the view, it’s not as spectacular compared to city views seen in other countries. Even within Colombia itself, this view is not as interesting/picturesque as Medellin’s Comuna 13 (favela-ish neighborhood views) or Guatape’s beautiful water & greenery landscape. The panoramic view of Bogota is just a big flat city, with no water points, the mountains in the distance are also usually covered by clouds.
- Sunset views –
- Shopping – highend clothing brands or designer boutiques, I recommend Centro Comercial Andino mall and the surrounding neighborhood, also old street in Chapinero. For Colombian mens clothing brands, I really liked…Anthony Morato, Monastery Couture, and St Dom (store).
- For even more highend…go to the area where Julieta Suarez shop is. (I forgot the area name).
- Zipaquira salt mine –
Restaurants & Cafes:
- Andres Carnes de Res (Zona Rosa) – super cool 5-floor restaurant that becomes a bar and club at night. Super awesome decor, and fun vibe for all ages (young 20’s to old people). It’s such a great experience and especially recommended for all tourists. Also a great spot to have a big birthday dinner party. You can go at 7-9pm range for dinner and then stay after for the party vibe. Or you can go at 12-3am range for the bar and party hours. Guaranteed you’ll have a nice time and take tons of fun photos. There’s a mix of DJ and live music playing different types of latin music. This is a MUST-GO in Bogota for me if you’ve never been.
- Sitio Candeleria
- Santa Juana – upscale pretty restaurant. Things look fancy and Instagrammable.
Bars & Clubs:
- Andres Carnes de Res – go here 9pm and after it’s like a bar. Go from 12am and after it’s like a club. There’s many floors of latin music. And you can decide whether to hang in the bar-parts or the club-parts of the place.
- Zona Rosa – you could just go here at night and wander around, follow the noise and sea of people wandering around. I remember most clubs on Friday night closing at 3am.
- Huerta bar – nice place, nice drinks, good food, classy vibe.
Many nice clubs require reservation. You’ll have to look them up beforehand and reserve online, you can’t just show up. But we did find the bouncers were nice enough to at least recommend some other options nearby.
Miscellaneous tips:
- General travel tips for Colombia.
- anthony morato shopping
Nearby towns:
- Salento* –
- Guatape** – an easy enough day trip from Bogota or Medellin, that you definitely should visit it. Has a cute colorful town on the water with beautiful green lands reaching across the water. Then you can climb the famous big rock Piedra del Penon and see the beautiful landscapes below. If you’re staying in a fancy/vibey AirBnb or hotel, I think it’s worth a 1-2 day stay to relax.
- Medellin** – yes, because it’s Medellin! Smaller than Bogota, cool and hip. Nice expat/foreigner-friendly tourist area with many bars, restaurants, cafes, shops. It’s a convenient place to have all your fun within walking distance. Many people love Medellin.
Unfiltered notes: