When I first told friends I was traveling to Bogota they were scared. Let me tell you, there is nothing to be scared of. Despite Bogota's past, it is progressing and is the new up and coming for places to travel. Like all places one would travel to, you're going to have your guard up. It's no different with Bogota. As my tour guide said, "keep your papaya (purse)close".
Transportation: From airport to city center
Taxi-30 USD download the Calculador de Tarifas app for taxi fares
Bogota is a walkable city, so once your in the city center put on your comfortable shoes.
Accommodation:
Hostal La Candelaria www.hostallacandelaria.com -It's not just a hostel and has private rooms available as well. This hostel is located right in the heart of Bogota in the La Candelaria district, famous for their vibrant street art, museums, restaurants and shops.
Things to do:
Botero Museum www.banrepcultural.com/bogota/museo-boero (duration 2-3 hours & cost is free) If you don't know who Fernando Botero is, he is known for having exagerated drawings of people and animals.
Food Tour with The True Colombian Experience www.thetruecolombianexperience.com (3-4 hours & cost 60,000 COP/20 USD)-This tour was both tasty and informational. Not to mention our guide Freddy was amazing. We had 6 stops along the way and we did not go hungry. This tour group also offers informational walking tours, coffee farm tours and a futbol stadium tour, where you get to watch a live match between the Millonarios or Santafe, who are the two local teams of Bogota.
Mount Monserrate www.cerromonserrate.cm/es/ (duration 2-3 hours and cost for funicular round trip 20,000 COP/7USD)-For great views of Bogota go to the top of Mount Monserrate. If you don't do well in high altitudes definitely take a baby aspirin before going up. It's above 10,000 ft and I was feeling a little light headed. There are snack bars at the top that offer coca tea, which does help if you are feeling lightheaded. From my accommodation it was a about a 30 minute walk to get to the funicular station and a 5-10 minute ride on the funicular to the top of the mountain. At the top there are two sit down restaurants, a church, and several souvenir shops.
Plaza de Bolivar (duration 15-20 minutes) Take a stroll through Bogota's main plaza to view the historical government buildings.
Iglesia Nuestra Senora del Carmen (duration 15-20 minutes)-Unfortunately, I missed out on this beauty but do check out this sanctuary's architecture.
Stroll the streets of La Candelaria and check out the local street art
Food:
If you only try one thing in Bogota you have to try Ajiaco, a traditional Colombian soup. I don't want to list all of the food stops because I don't want to take away from the food tour.
Ajiaco
Tamales
Fried plantains
Hot chocolate
Craft beers
Coffee
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