Colombia’s sprawling, high-altitude capital

Bogotá is the largest city in Colombia, a lively capital surrounded by Andean peaks with loads to offer in terms of cuisine and culture. Here’s what JJ and I got up to during the first stop on our travels through Colombia.

WHERE WE STAYED

We arrived late on a Friday evening at Bogotá Bed & Breakfast Inn. The B&B is conveniently located in Teusaquillo, which is a 20-minute drive from the airport and a 30-minute walk from La Candelaria (the historic centre). In the early 20th century, Teusaquillo was a wealthy neighbourhood so there are quite a few impressive mansions scattered around.

Teusaquillo barrio

Bogotá B&B Inn was built in 1933 as a private home and has been meticulously restored by the current owners Beatriz and Rick. The renovated building has been furnished in keeping with its period but has all the modern comforts that a traveller could possibly want.

All of the rooms in this guest house are unique in layout and decor. We stayed in room 4 for our first three nights in Colombia and spent our final night in room 7. Both rooms were more than spacious enough for two people. Room 7 was slightly larger and both had thoughtful touches like universal power adapter sockets.

Bogotá Bed & Breakfast Inn

What really made our stay at Bogotá B&B Inn exceptional was spending time chatting with Beatriz and Rick. Both hosts were lovely and they always had plenty of helpful tips for first-time visitors to Bogotá. Thanks to their delicious breakfasts I’m now addicted to tamales colombianos with hot sauce (which I haven’t had success finding in Sydney yet!). There are also some very cute and friendly animals living at the B&B – a rescue dog and three cats who hang out in the private section of the house and garden.

DAY 1 – SATURDAY

After a huge breakfast and several coffees, we headed towards La Candelaria to see landmarks like Capitolio Nacional (parliament), Palace of Justice (supreme court) and Cathedral of Bogotá in Plaza de Bolivar.

Palacio de Justicia y Catedral Primada de Bogotá

Next up was the Museo del Oro which showcased what I thought was an amazingly vast collection of pre-Colombian gold artifacts. Most of the displays had both Spanish and English information cards next to them and everything was really well laid out.

The National Museum is also worth a visit, apparently it’s Colombia’s oldest museum. The building is quite interesting as it’s a former prison and many of the galleries are former prison cells. When we visited they had a special exhibition of Fernando Botero’s early artwork. There aren’t any translations on any of the displays, so if your Spanish isn’t great you might need a guide for this one.

Museumed-out we decided to head back to the B&B via Parque de la Independencia. Once we’d had a bit of chill time in our room, we went out for dinner at nearby La Casa Della Pasta. Rick kindly walked us there and introduced us to the owner. We had delicious wood-fired pizzas and a glass of vino each, it was a perfect end to our first day.

DAY 2 – SUNDAY

Following a bit of a slow, jetlagged start to the day, JJ and I decided to get an Uber to the base of Cerro de Monserrate. Seeing massive queues for both the funicular railway and cable car we opted to hike up the mountain.

The walkway was really busy as a lot of Bogotános, as well as tourists, head up Monserrate on Sunday’s to attend mass at the church there. The peak of Cerro de Monserrate lies at 3,152 metres above sea level, so walking feels like a bit of a long slog ‘cos of the altitude. In reality, it only took us about 1 ½ hours to hike up the trail and a bit less on the way down.

Cerro de Moserrate

When we reached the base of Monserrate, we agreed to keep going and walk all the way back to our guesthouse. An hour later we arrived at the B&B and chose another local restaurant for dinner. Rick walked us over to Las Acacias which serves typical Colombian dishes. I had the catfish which was really tasty and I tried my first of many arepas con salsa.

DAY 3 – MONDAY

On the morning of day 3, we flew from Bogotá to Leticia in the Colombian Amazon. You can read my post and see photos from that adventure here

BONUS NIGHT IN BOGOTA

I mentioned earlier in this post that JJ and I spent our final evening of the holiday in Bogotá before flying back to Sydney. What did we get up to? Well, we couldn’t leave Colombia without having a night out at the super famoso steakhouse Andrés DC.

The below pics tell you everything you need to know about this place, it’s so hectic but so fun. There’s brightly coloured eye candy everywhere you look, loud music and dancing. After a couple of Margaritas, we were assaulted by poncho wearing percussionists and talked into buying an “official photo”. We didn’t mind one bit!

The cheesiest photo of all time “Visitantes Ilustres”

Pin this post for later:

Pin my packing list: