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5 Best Things to do in Bogota in 24 Hours

Bogota was a pleasant surprise. I was there for 24 hours on my way to Cano Cristales. As I had to fly out of Bogota at 6 am in the morning I decided to arrive in the morning the day before and check the main Bogota Colombia activities.

Not only am I glad that I did I wish I had had more time to explore the Bogota tourist attractions. Here are my best things to do in Bogota Colombia in 24 hours:

Things to do in Bogota

1. Free City Walking Guided Tour

I do love a city walking tour. And the free ones are often excellent as the guide has such an incentive to make it great.

The financial premise of these walking tours is that you tip at the end based on what you see as its value. The model tends to work really well.

bogota white church
Stunning white church

This Bogota tour meets in front of the Gold Museum and runs twice a day in English. There is also a free food tour which runs once a day. I would have done this if I had had more time as I think these are great Bogota tours.

The Bogota free walking tour guide was brilliant. She was funny, smart, and very engaging. I had been in Colombia South America for over 3 weeks when I took this tour and she provided the best explanation of Colombian politics and shall we say the underbelly of Colombia has worked over the last 60 years.

The highlight for me was the stories. Our Bogota tour guide covered a complete mix. We heard about the assassination in 1948 of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, considered by many as the turning point in Colombia’s history as the first guerrilla groups grew from the outrage over this assassination.

Outside the Bogota Palace of Justice, I was fascinated to hear that the 12 people who “escaped” the terrible attack in 1985 were never heard from again.

Palace of Justice Bogota
The Palace of Justice

Finally, I loved hearing about the ingenuity of the Bogota street vendor. Apparently, Mick Jagger once came to Bogota for a Rolling Stones concert. Whilst in town he tried an Obleas.

An Olbeas is a waffle-based street food that comes with as many toppings as you would like – most commonly araquipe (Caramel) and jam. Mick Jagger mentioned in an interview that he had greatly enjoyed his Obleas.

Today nearly every Obleas cart in Bogota has a poorly photoshopped image of Mick Jagger with an Obleas near his mouth. Each, of course, claims to be the actual cart that bewitched Mr. Jagger with its crispy sweet snack.

The walking tour gives a fantastic introduction to Bogota and the guide was full of advice on things to enjoy whilst in Bogota. We got to see some street art and we even got to try some Chicha – homemade Colombian alcohol. It actually wasn’t bad!

Check out what Bogota Trip Advisor has to say about the free city walking tour.

For me, this tour was one of the top 10 things to do in Bogota Colombia.

Bogota street art sculpture
Street art sculpture

2. Museo Botero

I fell in love with the works of Fernando Botero whilst in Colombia. I am not much an art appreciator but I loved Botero’s amazing sculptures and paintings that feature different proportions. I also really enjoyed hearing stories about the artist himself.

cat sculpture in the Botero Museum Bogota
Meow at the Museo Botero

Botero contributed all of the art in the Museo Botero collection free of charge. But there were a couple of conditions.

The first condition was that no one could ever be charged to enter the Botero museum in Bogota. The second was that the art on collection within the museum was never to leave Bogota.

The reason for this was that it would force people to travel to Bogota to see his works – and promote tourism. One of his most famous works, the Botero take on the Mona Lisa, is in this lovely museum. It is also a great place to learn about Fernando Botero.

Museo Botero also has quite a few of his amazing sculptures, a brilliant gift shop (Botero souvenirs make for great Colombian presents), and a lovely garden in the middle. This was one of my favorite Bogota Colombia things to do.

Book Your Own Great Value Private Tour of Museo Botero

garden at botero museum bogota
Garden at Museo Botero

3. Shop for Emeralds

I was delighted to discover that Bogota is the center of emerald shopping in the world. There is even a 3 story shopping mall that is full of jewelry shops devoted to emeralds.

Apparently, there are quite a few places to buy Emeralds in Bogota but this mall is supposed to be the best in terms of quality and price.

emerald trade centre bogota
In here for Emeralds

After checking out a few places in the shopping mall I found a shop where I liked the designs – and it was also run by a woman which I liked. Once inside I tried on many different earrings and necklaces.

We were very quickly joined by a family member who spoke excellent English. It turned out that this was a family and they owned 3 of the shops in the mall – each one attended by a different family member.

Emerald mall bogota
My favorite shop for Emeralds

I bought emerald earrings and an emerald necklace and they were just lovely. They provided all my certifications and were open to bargaining. Their email address is [email protected] and ask for Paola Coy.

The family has one shop on the ground floor a few stores to the left when you walk in and then a second on the first floor to the right of the top of the escalator.

The store on the first floor is called Laura’s Jewelry. Emerald shopping was one of my favorite Bogota things to do.

4. Enjoy the Cuisine

When it comes to what to do in Bogota food is high on the list.  My eating opportunities were quite limited in Bogota due to the tight timing.

I had lunch at the lovely Capital Cocina which is in La Candelaria – about a 5-minute walk from the Orchids hotel.

This lovely little Bogota café is exactly the kind of place you want to go for a delicious local lunch. The daily menu at Capital Cocina Bogota is an absolute steal at only COP$16500 for 3 courses. I started my meal with a delicious soup and then into grilled chicken and beans.

chicken at Capital Cocina
2nd of 3 courses at Capital Cocina

I walked past Café Union which is very close to Capital Cocina and looked like an excellent coffee shop. Dinner was at The Orchids in my room and then breakfast on the run.

Food is one of the key Bogota attractions so hopefully, you will be able to eat more when you visit than I was able!

things to do in bogota
Cafe Union – for a flat white

When it comes to what to do in Bogota Colombia if you had more time I definitely take the Bogota street food tour plus check out some more restaurants. If you try any restaurants and like them do let me know and I will add them to this post.

Also, one of the top things to do in Bogota should be to eat Ajiaco. Bogota is the home to this delicious chicken soup.

I had tried Ajiaco only a day earlier in Medellin so I didn’t seek it out in Bogota but don’t leave Colombia without trying this delicious soup that comes with half an avocado on the side.

bogota colombia things to do
Lunchtime!

5. Monseratte

From most points of Bogota, you can see a stunning-looking white church at the top of a mountain. This is Cerro de Monserrate.

A lovely touch is that you can find the right path to this Bogota mountain by following the water feature through the main streets of Bogota.

Visiting Monseratte is the perfect thing to do in Bogota on Sunday as the locals make their pilgrimage on this day each week.

To get to Monserrate Bogota you can walk, take a mountain railway or a cable car. There are two restaurants at the top of Monseratte.

Book a great value walking tour of Monserrate and La Candelaria here

Monseratte church overlooking bogota
Monserrate on its hill

The other one of the Bogota Colombia attractions that I regretted missing was its salt cathedral. I visited one of the only other salt cathedrals in the world several years ago.

That salt cathedral was in Krakow and it was absolutely amazing. So please go to Zipaquira in Bogota for me and let me know what it is like.

It was a short stay and my expectations were low but I was quite charmed by Bogota Colombia. I would have liked to have stayed at least another day and done some more exploring.

I was told by some to completely miss visiting this town but it turns out there are loads of interesting things to do in Bogota Colombia!

street art on building in bogota
Street art in Bogota

Best Tours in Bogota

When I have limited time somewhere I almost always book some kind of tour. I generally find it the most stress-free way to get a feel for a place in a short period of time.

This Bogota Layover Tour has been designed to suit international flyers who have a short window of time. It includes airport pick up and drop off and covers some of the key sites of Bogota.

Fernando Botero version of Mona Lisa painting
The Mona Lisa by Fernando Botero

If you have a full day then this Bogota Day tour offers 5 and 8-hour options with different itineraries covering the key sites in my post above.

Or I always love a food tour – check out this half-day food and local markets tour.

Things to do in Bogota – Getting There and Away and Around

Bogota has a fantastic airport. Definitely the most international of the 4 that I visited in my time in Colombia. It is the main international airport in Colombia.

I flew to Colombia with Iberia – read my Iberia Business Class Review. You can also read my Air France a380 Business Class Review and my American Airlines Premium Economy 777 Review – they both fly to Colombia.

I flew in from Medellin which takes about 30 minutes and there are flights pretty much every hour at least. I flew with Avianca who was excellent.

Flights Medellin to Cartagena and Medellin to Bogota

I got a taxi to and from the airport and my hotel as I was in a rush. The taxi took less than 30 minutes to get to La Candelaria (the old town) mid-morning.

If you’re heading to Cartagena check out this Cartagena Top 10 Tips Travel Guide

things to do in bogota 1
Building in La Candeleria Area

I spent all my time in Bogota walking – as I was staying in the old town. Bogota does not have any kind of train system. Instead, the city has these slightly odd buses that are kind of like trams. I believe they run quite frequently but I didn’t have time to try them out.

Where to Stay in Bogota

I found the Orchids Hotel online and when I arrived I fell a bit in love with it. This is a gorgeous Bogota boutique hotel. And it was helped by the fact it was a lovely purple color.

The Orchids Hotel is a bit of an oasis in Bogota, tucked away with only 8 rooms. This Bogota hotel’s location makes it perfect for exploring the things to do in Candelaria Bogota.

Orchids Hotel Bogota
The outside of the Orchids Hotel

Coming inside The Orchids Hotel Bogota is like staying in someone’s beautiful home. The hotel is beautifully decorated – particularly the incredibly comfortable and luxurious rooms.

My room at the Orchids Bogota was huge plus it had all the mod cons. The bathroom was large with a lovely giant shower.

bedroom at The Orchids Hotel Bogota
The fab giant bed at Hotel Orchids

What was a little different was the glass elevator. In the middle of the Orchids hotel is a glass elevator that goes up one floor. I have no idea why it is there but I found it a huge novelty – mostly due to its links to my childhood love of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The Orchids Hotel in Bogota is known for its restaurant. However, it gets booked out quite some time in advance. But if you are a guest you are able to have room service – which is what I did and my burger was delicious – as was the wine they brought to my room.

In general, the service at The Orchids Hotel was outstanding. When the hotel learned that I needed to leave at 430am to get to the airport they insisted they would have a to-go breakfast pack ready for me.

The staff of The Orchids could not do enough to help – and the breakfast pack was huge and very tasty.

Inside the Orchids Hotel
One of the many lovely areas at Hotel Orchids

This hotel in Bogota also has the most fantastic location -right in the heart of the old town Bogota La Candelaria. I walked everywhere whilst staying here – the best way to conduct Bogota sightseeing. I can’t imagine a better location – or hotel – for a stay in Bogota.

⇒ Read Reviews of The Orchids Bogota on Trip Advisor Book Now

⇒ Looking for a boutique hotel in Medellin? Read my review of Art Hotel Medellin. And don’t miss my complete post on Cartagena Boutique Hotels

Other Posts on ColombiaYou Might Enjoy Reading:

Feria de Las Flores Medellin: The Week Medellin Explodes in Flowers & Colour I have written about Colombia for several websites:

The fantastic don’t miss it Communa 13 Tour

The brilliant free walking tour as well as a fab food tour

A guide to Colombian Food

Boutique Hotels in Colombia

Top 5 Highlights of Cartagena

White building and street art reflected in water bogota
Reflection onto water way to Monserrate

READ NEXT: TWO WEEK COLOMBIA ITINERARY FOR BOUTIQUE HOTEL LOVERS

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From the best boutique hotel in Bogota to walking tours to emerald shopping – here is how to have a great day in Bogota #bogota #bogotacolombia #onedayinbogota #orchidshotelbogota #bogotawalkingtour#bogotacolombia#bogotalacandelaria #bogothotels #bogotaresaurants #bogotaturismo #bogotatravel #bogotamonserrate #bogotaphotography#bogotafotos#bogotathingstodoin#bogotafood#bogotacity#bogotaart#bogotatravel
Only got 24 hours in Bogota? Here are the best things to do in Bogota Colombia in one day for adults - top attractions, Bogota Old Town and more

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