Some days in Bogotá

Bogotá is not my favourite city in South America but if you are travelling around Colombia it will be difficult to skip it. That said there are some interesting sights that can keep travelers busy for a while.

As usual, I was staying in la Candelaria, the tourist neighborhood where all the hostels and restaurants are concentrated. It is a cool and 100% safe place, not far from all the main tourist sights and with a good vibe.

On the first day in the city the weather was very cold and rainy (that’s winter time in Bogotá!) so I spent the day visiting some museums. El Banco Central has different museums on the same street and Museo Botero is quite interesting. If you don’t want to go to Medellin, this is our opportunity to see some of his works plus other paintings from artists like Picasso and Chagall.

On Saturday it was “Champions League” time and I went to watch the final at the Bogotá Beer Company (BBC). This is a cool place which proposes interesting craft beers made using recipes from different European countries. Good beer, good company . . .and a great match won by Barcelona, what else? Fortunately most of the locals supported the Barcelona, it was a tough game!

On Sunday I started the day at Museo del Oro. This is a first world class museum that shows the history of the different peoples in Colombia through its amazing golden artifacts. If you come to Bogotá, this is a definitely a place not to miss.

In the afternoon I took the funicular up to Monserrate for some views of the city. This mountain-shrine dominating the centre of the city is very popular with families and pilgrims, especially on weekends. Despite the crowds it was cool to hung around for a couple of hours and see Bogotá from another point of view.

I will come back to Bogotá in the end of my Colombian trip to take the flight to Leticia.

My Tips :

• There is no need to book a hostel in advance. Ask the taxi driver to drop you in La Candelaria. This area is so full of hostels that you will be able to check the rooms by yourself and, in low season, negotiate the price;
• I loved Explora Hostels: excellent location, nice common spaces, cool staff and a pretty decent breakfast for few pesos;
• El Museo del Oro is free on Sundays;

• Monapizza (Carrera 4, calle 12) has excellent pizzas for a good price;

• Mi Rincón Francés (Calle 12, between Carrera 2 and 3) was a little bit expensive but it was impossible to resist its croissants and pains of chocolat;

• Irish Pub (Carrera 3) had cool indoors and outdoors spaces with good beer and some dishes;

• Bogotá Beer Company (Calle 12D 4-02) has craft beers inspired in classical European Stiles. My favourite was BBC Monserrate Roja based in an English recipe.