Bogota, the capital city of Colombia. We started our trip here and stayed three whole days. As we were going to fly back home from Bogota as well, we could spend some more days here at the end of our trip but in the end three days was just fine. We stayed in La Candelaria, which is a really nice neighborhood with many students due to the universities located here and it is full of colorful houses of which many are hostels. The atmosphere is really relaxed and though people warn you about safety at night, we have not felt unsafe at all. We wanted to stay at Zona Rosa for the last few days but ended up going to La Candelaria because we liked it so much!

Tip: if you have rather pale skin (like me, Christianne), it is wise to use sunblock even on cloudy days as Bogota is located at 2700 meters. I had to learn the hard way, walking around with a pinkish head for a couple of days.

TO DO
–    Graffiti tour
The graffiti tour is a good way to get a feel of the city. You see a lot of graffiti throughout Colombia, but especially Bogota has some of the finest works. As many pieces have a political message, the tour also gives you a lot of information about the city and country’s history. The tour is ‘free’, but a tip (20.000-30.000 COP) is expected.
–    Mount Monserrate
Mount Monserrate is one of the must-do’s in Bogota and offers you a beautiful view of the city. We wanted to walk up but unfortunately the path going up was closed and so we took the cable car. Entrance: 10.000 COP (Discount?)
–    Salt Cathedral
The Salt Cathedral is a cathedral outside of Bogota, it takes about 2 hours to get there. There are Spanish and English tours, but some way we ended up in a Spanish tour and as we don’t speak Spanish we skipped it and walked around ourselves. The big cross is beautiful but a little bit (?) as well, and as we did not have any background information we were not that impressed. Entrance: 50.000 COP
Tip: go there by yourself! Tours are offered everywhere but you will pay 5 times as much while it is very easy to get there: take the bus from Portal Norte to Zipaquira (4.000 COP). When you arrive in Zipaquira just ask people and they will point you the way (if they haven’t already done that). From Candelaria the bus to Portal Norte will only cost you 2.000 COP. All in all it will take you 2 hours.
–    Andres Carne de Res
When you want to experience Colombian nightlife in Bogota, this is the place to go. You can go here for dinner, and around 10/11 pm they will turn up the music and it slowly becomes one big party. A tip is to go by partybus (we booked one through Hostel Sue Candelaria). You will go there with a group of people by bus, on which you get free drinks and party and the bus will also take you back at around 2am. For 80.000 COP you get transportation, drinks on the bus and entrance. What is nice is that you go with a group, it is not (much) more expensive, and we noticed that when the party ended people had a lot of difficulty with finding a (affordable) cab.
–    El Gato Gris
A place right in the middle of la Candelaria where you can have dinner and drinks while enjoying live music from Thursday to Saturday starting at 8pm.
–    Museum: Museo del Oro
–    Church: Iglesia de Santa Clara

TO EAT
–    Hostel Casu
Delicious burgers for only 6.000 COP!
–    Mama Lupe
Traditional Colombian food: hot chocolate with cheese, ajiacon and many more!
–    Capital Cocina & Café
European style food, one of the best steak and chicken we had in Colombia and nice staff (25.000 COP).
–    De Una Travel bar
Good food and one of the few (if not the only) restaurants that are open on a Sunday evening in La Candelaria
–    T-bone
The best steak restaurant in Bogota and probably Colombia. My god, this was so good! (30.000 COP)
–     San Just
Cute French restaurant in La Candelaria which serves the best lamb! (20.000 COP)

TO SLEEP
–    Hostel Mr. Warrot
The first few nights in Bogota we stayed at hostel Mr. Warrot. We would not go there again, mainly because we’re sure that you can find better hostels for the same price in La Candelaria, though there was nothing wrong with it. (65.000 COP)
–    Hotel Casa Deco
The last night of our trip we wanted to have some luxury after all those hostels, so we decided to stay in a hotel. Hotel Casa Deco was a really good choice, the rooms are big and clean and the breakfast amazing. (170.000 COP)

TRANSPORTATION
–    Foot
The main highlights of Bogota are located in La Candelaria so if you are staying there you can do pretty much everything by foot!
–    Taxi
We mainly used Uber when we were in Bogota as it is cheaper than regular taxis. A taxi from the airport to La Candelaria will cost you around 25.000 COP.
–    Bus
The public transport system in Bogota is really easy and cheap! Buses go frequently and you can ask the cashiers for help.

How did you like Bogota? What are your favorite restaurants and things to do in Bogota? Share it with us in the comment section below!