Bogota

Colombia·South America

Currency

COP

Language

Spanish

Timezone

Bogota

Continent

South America

Our guide

Discover Bogota

Bogotá stands at 2,640 metres on an Andean plateau with a mountain at its back. The Gold Museum holds more than thirty thousand pieces of pre-Columbian goldwork and remains the country's most important museum — the Muisca raft, source of the El Dorado legend, is there. The Botero Museum shows the painter's volumes in a colonial house, free of charge. The Plaza de Bolívar closes La Candelaria, whose low painted houses climb towards the Cerro de Monserrate, reached by funicular.

When to go

December to March and July to August, the driest seasons. The rest of the year alternates short showers and clear spells. Altitude fixes the temperature all year at about fourteen degrees by day and seven at night: there are no thermal seasons here, only wet ones. Bring layers, never summer clothes alone.

Getting around

TransMilenio, the busway network, is the city's spine: efficient, very crowded and hard for a visitor to read. Ride-hailing is widely used and preferable to taxis flagged in the street. La Candelaria is walked. On Sundays the ciclovía closes a hundred and twenty kilometres of avenues to cars and the city comes out on bikes.

Where to eat

Ajiaco, a soup of chicken, three kinds of potato and guascas, is Bogotá's dish. Arepa accompanies everything. Bandeja paisa comes from elsewhere but is found everywhere. Colombian coffee is drunk far better here than it once exported, the quality production now being kept at home. No halal address is listed.

Good to know

Altitude is felt: breathlessness for the first days and alcohol stronger. The Colombian peso is the currency and cash still helps. Safety asks the precautions of a large Latin American city — little on show, ride-hailing rather than street taxis, and local advice by district before going out at night. Altitude sun burns despite the cool air.

Smart Planning