What Travelers Say About Bogotá
Bogotá sits on a cool Andean plateau at 2,640 metres, a city of nearly eight million that tends to surprise people who arrive expecting the worst. Its old reputation has faded, and these days it runs on street art, very good museums, busy food halls and a young creative streak. The cobbled colonial quarter of La Candelaria, covered in murals and hemmed in by green mountains, is the heart of it.
The altitude is the first thing you feel, so take day one slowly, drink water, and expect cool, changeable weather all year. The obvious things to do are the climb or cable car up Monserrate for the view, the Botero Museum with its round figures, La Candelaria on foot, and the Sunday ciclovía when the main roads close to cars and fill with cyclists and families. The coffee, of course, is excellent.
Bogotá is worth it but does ask for a bit of street sense. Stick to the busier, safer areas like La Candelaria by day, Chapinero and Usaquén, do not flash a phone or jewellery, and use Uber or a booked taxi rather than flagging one down. The local saying is 'no dar papaya', meaning do not give a thief an easy chance. Do that and you will find a warm, fast-moving city that has long outgrown its old image.