Bogota is the capital city of Colombia and there are few cities as charming as Bogota in South America. Personally, I found Bogota to be fast paced and it carried a certain energy more than any other South American cities. While other cities are laid back, Bogota is filled with charm and enthusiasm. Walking in Bogota is like walking with a long lost lover.
Besides a vibrant street culture, coffee shops and street art – there’s a lot to do here. To begin with, you can explore the museum of oro (gold) and explore a lot of prehistoric gold pieces from the Inka civilisation. The inkas made masks of gold besides ornaments and pipes to drink coca from, all with stunning engravings tucked safely inside the museum of oro. You can also walk to the museum of emeralds dedicated to Colombian emeralds. Here you can see the history of mining emeralds in Colombia and understand how they’re unique from other emeralds in the world. A stunning museum indeed. If you’d like, walk to the central plaza and soak in local dances and Latin performances. You will find many local souvenir stores and street artists drawing the vibrant scenes of Bogota.
Beyond, there’s more to do. Dine and try some of the local coffee shops. The fruits of bogota are truly unique – some of these fruits can’t be found anywhere else in the world – lulo, granadilla, guanabana, chontaduro, zapote and others. Enjoy the unique fruit juices and smoothies sold at local shops in the central plaza. Wafer thin waffles with cream fillings in the center – obleas and Arequipe (dulce de leche cake) are quite popular as well. There are numerous coffee shops like Azhar Coffee Parque 9, Juan Valdez, Bogota coffee roasters among others. You might want to walk around and see which coffee shop vibe you enjoy best.
There’s also a stunning bar called Tejo ancestral in Bogota where you can play the national Colombian game Tejo and explore other games like pinball. It’s a free flowing atmosphere where you can also meet new people. In case you’re craving Indian food, there’s a local Indian couple home cooking meals for local Indians and travellers – Ladoo Gopal is pure vegetarian and serves a kickass serving of aloo poori and kachori sabzi. You just can’t miss it.
Eventually, you will want to make your way to the Botero museum where artist Fernando Botero’s artworks are placed alongside artworks of Picasso, Salvador Dali and Frida Kahlo among others. While you may want to explore more of museums, you can walk around the street of Botero museum and you will find many more.
There’s also a candy cane cathedral at a stone’s throwaway distance from the main boulevard. And not too far from Bogota is the Zipaquira Salt Cathedral, a UNESCO heritage site and stunning underground salt mine converted to a cathedral. Zipaquira town itself has a lot more to do, like the central plaza where you can explore a large number of coffee shops and try coffee tastings. Chocolate museums are also common and you can try locally made chocolates in the stores.
Monserrate is a beautiful mountain which you can reach using cable cars and there’s a statue like Christ the redeemer placed on the mountain. There are several massive Biblical statues on the mountain and a garden where you can walk around. Monserrate opens up to expansive views of all of Bogota and happens to be one of the most stunning views you can catch in the city. Right opposite Monserrate is the entrance to the beautiful home of Fernando Botero which has now been converted to a museum. As one of the most respected artists of Colombia, Botero’s house is preserved by the government and you can walk around the gardens and his home.
Teatro Colon Bogota is a great spot to catch some plays and music performances – though a disclaimer – most of the performances are in Spanish. Just walking around the streets of Bogota also gives you access to some fantastic and fun performances which are free of cost.
A pro tip to explore Bogota or any other city in South America is to learn a few words in Spanish to make basic communication easier. While there’s a lot to do, communication can be time consuming if you don’t speak the language.
