Bogota tourist tips?
January 7, 2020 12:22 PM Subscribe
I'm heading to Bogota with a friend the first week of February. We're staying in the Chapinero neighborhood. Have you been to Bogota? What did you most enjoy doing/eating/seeing?
I looked at older posts, but they were either very old or mostly concerned where to stay rather than what to do. I've received great travel advice from MeFi in the past and was hoping to hear what all of you enjoyed in the city! We generally like walking and eating and drinking -- as well as fun experiences. Less interested in shopping.
We are also considering day trips to Chicaque National Park and the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá so any experiences/thoughts on those would be interesting!
I looked at older posts, but they were either very old or mostly concerned where to stay rather than what to do. I've received great travel advice from MeFi in the past and was hoping to hear what all of you enjoyed in the city! We generally like walking and eating and drinking -- as well as fun experiences. Less interested in shopping.
We are also considering day trips to Chicaque National Park and the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá so any experiences/thoughts on those would be interesting!
I spent about a week there in 2018, catching up with a Bogotana friend. It was great. Looking back at what we did, this is what I remember:
- National Museum plus nice restaurants around La Macarena, my friend recommended eating at Tabula.
-Museum of Gold plus worth checking out the church across. From there you can also walk to Plaza de Bolivar, the Palace of Justice, Congress, the Catedral Primada and the Mayor's Office.
- Botero Museum.
- A hike or cable car up Monserrate.
Other places to eat:
http://www.salvopatria.com/
https://m.facebook.com/pages/Mini-Mal/212882818736098
We also spent a few days in Anapoima, which was a couple of hours’ drive away and was just lovely and serene.
Hope you have a great time!
posted by mkdirusername at 7:09 PM on January 7, 2020
- National Museum plus nice restaurants around La Macarena, my friend recommended eating at Tabula.
-Museum of Gold plus worth checking out the church across. From there you can also walk to Plaza de Bolivar, the Palace of Justice, Congress, the Catedral Primada and the Mayor's Office.
- Botero Museum.
- A hike or cable car up Monserrate.
Other places to eat:
http://www.salvopatria.com/
https://m.facebook.com/pages/Mini-Mal/212882818736098
We also spent a few days in Anapoima, which was a couple of hours’ drive away and was just lovely and serene.
Hope you have a great time!
posted by mkdirusername at 7:09 PM on January 7, 2020
I've been to Bogotá many times... primarily for work, but, I have found time each trip to do some recreational thing or another. You didn't mention much about transport, so I'm going to assume you don't have a car. Uber is both plentiful, safe, and inexpensive in Bogotá itself, and it's always how I get around when I can't walk. (Traffic is quite bad everywhere, so, be prepared to sit for a while, no matter what mode you're on.)
Chapinero is pretty large. I always stay in the far northern neighborhoods (Rosales/El Nogal), so, those are the ones I know the best, but a lot of the frequently recommended tourist attractions in other areas are recommended for a reason. Monserrate is worth a trip just for the view, it's beautiful. The old colonial center (Candelaria) is also worth a visit (and is close by; you could do both in the same day. My colleagues and I walked to the Monserrate funicular/ticket booth from there.) The Gold Museum is in the same area — you can pack a lot of stuff in there in a day or two. The typical advice is to not walk around the historic center after dark, but it should be fine during the day.
Zipaquirá is worth doing if you can get out there. I went last year and loved it... the mine is striking. There are both English- and Spanish-language tours, along with self-guided options with audio recordings. Transportation can be a bit tricky... there's a "tourist train" that goes there on weekends (as well as other towns in the area), but it doesn't leave you with a ton of time to explore the site. My colleagues and I took an Uber out there, but there aren't a ton of Uber drivers active in the town, so, finding one to get you back to Bogotá is doable but can take a while. It might be better to make arrangements with a local transport company for specific pickup/dropoff times... you can usually set something up where a driver will take you and wait for you for a predetermined amount of time. You might be able to find a tour with transportation included on something like Airbnb Experiences.
Andrés Carne de Res is one of the most highly recommended food experiences in the Bogotá area. If you're a meat eater, it's extremely high quality, and the restaurant itself is quite the spectacle (with dancing, etc.) The original location is in Chía, north of Bogotá (so, again, transportation is an issue), but there's also a location in one of the major Chapinero shopping districts. My Colombian colleagues tend to think more highly of the Chía location, but I haven't been to the one in Bogotá so I can't comment on it personally.
For other food options, I'd recommend exploring restaurants in Zona G in Chapinero (G = Gourmet).
And if you like coffee, Azahar Coffeehouse, just off of the Parque de la 93 (extreme north end of Chapinero) has an excellent product. I always bring some back for my coffee-obsessed friends to rave reviews.
posted by Kosh at 5:29 AM on January 8, 2020
Chapinero is pretty large. I always stay in the far northern neighborhoods (Rosales/El Nogal), so, those are the ones I know the best, but a lot of the frequently recommended tourist attractions in other areas are recommended for a reason. Monserrate is worth a trip just for the view, it's beautiful. The old colonial center (Candelaria) is also worth a visit (and is close by; you could do both in the same day. My colleagues and I walked to the Monserrate funicular/ticket booth from there.) The Gold Museum is in the same area — you can pack a lot of stuff in there in a day or two. The typical advice is to not walk around the historic center after dark, but it should be fine during the day.
Zipaquirá is worth doing if you can get out there. I went last year and loved it... the mine is striking. There are both English- and Spanish-language tours, along with self-guided options with audio recordings. Transportation can be a bit tricky... there's a "tourist train" that goes there on weekends (as well as other towns in the area), but it doesn't leave you with a ton of time to explore the site. My colleagues and I took an Uber out there, but there aren't a ton of Uber drivers active in the town, so, finding one to get you back to Bogotá is doable but can take a while. It might be better to make arrangements with a local transport company for specific pickup/dropoff times... you can usually set something up where a driver will take you and wait for you for a predetermined amount of time. You might be able to find a tour with transportation included on something like Airbnb Experiences.
Andrés Carne de Res is one of the most highly recommended food experiences in the Bogotá area. If you're a meat eater, it's extremely high quality, and the restaurant itself is quite the spectacle (with dancing, etc.) The original location is in Chía, north of Bogotá (so, again, transportation is an issue), but there's also a location in one of the major Chapinero shopping districts. My Colombian colleagues tend to think more highly of the Chía location, but I haven't been to the one in Bogotá so I can't comment on it personally.
For other food options, I'd recommend exploring restaurants in Zona G in Chapinero (G = Gourmet).
And if you like coffee, Azahar Coffeehouse, just off of the Parque de la 93 (extreme north end of Chapinero) has an excellent product. I always bring some back for my coffee-obsessed friends to rave reviews.
posted by Kosh at 5:29 AM on January 8, 2020
Kosh pretty much covered what I would recommend. On my last trip to Bogotá, my favorite excursions were to the Catedral de Sal and Andrés Carne de Res in Chía. Both incredibly impressive in totally different ways.
posted by maddieD at 6:33 AM on January 8, 2020
posted by maddieD at 6:33 AM on January 8, 2020
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posted by sillysally at 4:59 PM on January 7, 2020