Plaza de Bolívar
La Candelaria · 45 min
The cathedral, the Capitolio and the rebuilt Palace of Justice stand around one square. Start here, because the first day at altitude is for walking downhill.
Bogotá · Colombia · 3 days
3 days in Bogotá
Three days at 2,640 meters: La Candelaria and its museums on foot with Monserrate at sunset, the markets and restaurants of the north with a big night at Andrés, and the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá or a Sunday on the Séptima. Use TransMilenio or an Uber between areas and walk the rest.
Open in Waystop
Got Waystop on this phone? The button drops the whole plan straight into the app. On a laptop, copy it now and paste it into Import later.
Checked October 10, 2026. That’s the day we last confirmed the hours, prices and closed days.
- 3 days
- 20 stops
- 4 with a ticket
- from CO$150,000 a day
When to go
The driest weeks run from mid-December to early March, with July and August a second, cooler dry spell. April to May and October to November are the wettest months; it rains most afternoons, hard and briefly. Days sit at 63 to 66°F (17 to 19°C) all year and nights drop to 46°F (8°C), so pack for both at once.
Where to base yourself
Chapinero Alto or Quinta Camacho for tree-lined streets, the best restaurants and a quick taxi south; La Candelaria for the museums and the colonial streets at your door, quieter and warier after dark; Usaquén or Parque 93 for hotel comfort in the north, 40 minutes from the old town in traffic.
Getting around
TransMilenio, the red bus system on its own lanes, is CO$3,550 a ride since January 2026, paid with a tu llave card (about CO$8,000 at station kiosks, then top up). It covers the Carrera Séptima to the center and the Autopista Norte to the Zipaquirá buses. Uber, DiDi and Cabify are cheap and work everywhere; use them after dark. Taxis hailed on the street are fine by day if you ask them to run the meter.
Day 1
La Candelaria on foot
- FromYour hotel in La Candelaria
- 1
- 6 min · walk
- 2
Museo Botero
La Candelaria · 75 min
Botero's own collection in a colonial house two blocks uphill, free and closed Tuesdays. The Casa de Moneda next door is free too.
- 10 min · walk
- 3
Museo del Oro
La Candelaria · 90 min
Fifty thousand pieces of pre-Hispanic gold, including the Muisca raft. Closed Mondays including holiday Mondays, free on Sundays when it is packed, last entry 6 p.m. on weekdays.
CO$21,000
- 9 min · walk
- 4
La Puerta Falsa
La Candelaria · 60 min
Open since 1816, a dozen seats beside the cathedral on Calle 11. Order the ajiaco santafereño, or a tamal with chocolate completo and cheese to drop in the cup; the line moves.
- 9 min · walk
- 5
Street art walk to the Chorro de Quevedo
La Candelaria · 105 min
Murals fill the lanes between Calle 10 and Calle 13. The free walking tours are tip-based (CO$30,000 to 40,000 a head) and leave mid-morning and early afternoon.
- 1.8 km · transit or taxi
- 6
Monserrate
Monserrate · 150 min
Take a taxi or Uber to the base station, not the walk from Las Aguas, a mugging spot at dusk. The ride up takes four minutes to 3,152 meters: about CO$32,000 to 35,000 round trip (half on Sundays), until 10 p.m. Monday to Saturday, 6 p.m. Sundays and holidays.
CO$32,000
- 2.2 km · transit or taxi
- 7
Capital Cocina y Café or Salvo Patria
La Candelaria or Chapinero · 90 min
Capital Cocina on Calle 10 for Colombian plates in a candlelit colonial room if you are sleeping in La Candelaria. Otherwise an Uber north to Salvo Patria in Chapinero Alto, a neighborhood bistro with a short Colombian menu; book it.
Day 2
Markets, museums and the north
- FromYour hotel in La Candelaria
- 1
Plaza de Mercado de Paloquemao
Paloquemao · 90 min
The city's wholesale food market, best before 10 when the flower hall is still full. Taste lulo, granadilla, guanábana, feijoa and uchuva, and eat a tamal or a changua at the counters; on Sunday go to the Usaquén flea market instead.
- 1.7 km · transit or taxi
- 2
Museo Nacional de Colombia
Centro Internacional · 90 min
A 19th-century panopticon prison on the Séptima where the cells are the galleries. Closed Mondays, open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at weekends; free Wednesday after 3 p.m. and the last Sunday of the month.
- 3.8 km · transit or taxi
- 3
El Chato
Chapinero · 90 min
Álvaro Clavijo's contemporary Colombian cooking on Calle 65 in Chapinero: set lunch or tasting menu. Open from noon Wednesday to Sunday, 2 p.m. Monday and Tuesday; Harry Sasson in Zona G serves lunch daily.
- 16 min · walk
- 4
Zona G and Quinta Camacho
Chapinero Alto · 75 min
Walk north through the English brick streets between Calle 69 and Calle 72: bakeries, bookshops, a coffee at Masa on Calle 70. The G is for gourmet; most of the city's serious restaurants are within six blocks.
- 2.7 km · transit or taxi
- 5
Parque de la 93
Parque 93 · 60 min
Short Uber north to the park the money moved to: cafés on four sides, a proper flat white at Azahar on the east side, dogs and office workers. On a Sunday continue to Usaquén for the flea market around the plaza, open through the afternoon.
- 19 min · walk
- 6
Zona T
Zona T · 90 min
The pedestrian T of Calle 82 and 83 at Carrera 12 and 13: Central Cevichería for ceviche and a Colombian beer, or whatever terrace is full. Loud, safe and lit; the bars run until late.
- Next door
- 7
Andrés DC
Zona T · 150 min
Four floors of steak, aguardiente and dancing on Calle 82. Book a table and expect a cover and a crowd after 11 p.m.; Theatron in Chapinero is the other big night out.
Day 3
Zipaquirá, or a Sunday on the Séptima
- FromYour hotel in La Candelaria
- 1
TransMilenio to Portal del Norte, then the Zipaquirá bus
Autopista Norte · 120 min
Ride the red buses north to Portal del Norte (CO$3,550), then take a Zipa bus from the intermunicipal bays, every few minutes for about CO$10,500. It takes 45 minutes to an hour; a taxi or Uber direct is about an hour and far more.
CO$14,000
- 30 km · transit or taxi
- 2
Catedral de Sal de Zipaquirá
Zipaquirá · 150 min
A cathedral carved 180 meters down inside a working salt mine. Open daily from 9 a.m., last entry about 4:40 p.m.; the foreign adult passport is CO$125,000 with audioguide, so buy online, and bring a layer.
CO$125,000
- 14 min · walk
- 3
Plaza de los Comuneros, Zipaquirá
Zipaquirá · 75 min
Walk down into the colonial center for lunch on the square: trout, a bandeja or a mute soup at any of the restaurants under the arcades. Funzipa, in the old salt works below the hill, is the local Sunday treat.
- 30 km · transit or taxi
- 4
Back to Bogotá
Autopista Norte · 105 min
Same bus and TransMilenio in reverse, or an Uber from the plaza if there are three of you. On a Sunday, flip the day: Ciclovía on the Carrera Séptima 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., the free Gold Museum, then Usaquén market.
- 18 km · transit or taxi
- 5
Coffee tasting at Café San Alberto
Centro · 75 min
San Alberto's downtown café on Carrera 7 at Calle 16 runs guided tastings of its Quindío coffee, with branches in the Gold Museum and Usaquén. Book the tasting a day ahead.
- 4.6 km · transit or taxi
- 6
Leo or Mini-Mal
Chapinero · 120 min
Leo, Leonor Espinosa's restaurant in Chapinero, is Colombia's ecosystems on a tasting menu and books out weeks ahead. Mini-Mal, a few blocks away in Chapinero Alto, cooks the same Pacific and Amazon ingredients at a plain price without the wait.
Loading the map…
Pins are approximate. Tap one for the stop; the directions links open Google Maps.
The practical bits
From the airport
El Dorado (BOG) is 13 kilometers west of Chapinero and 40 to 60 minutes in traffic. Take an official taxi from the signed stands outside arrivals, which run the meter plus an airport surcharge of a few thousand pesos, about CO$35,000 to 50,000 to Chapinero or La Candelaria; or order an Uber, DiDi or Cabify from the designated pickup zone, usually a little cheaper at CO$26,000 to 35,000. Ignore anyone offering a taxi inside the hall. With light bags, the free feeder bus to Portal El Dorado and a TransMilenio trunk route reaches the center for CO$3,550 plus the tu llave card.
What a day costs
About CO$150,000 to 250,000 a day per person for meals, museums, TransMilenio and a few Ubers, roughly US$40 to US$65. An ajiaco at La Puerta Falsa is CO$20,000 to 30,000, the Gold Museum CO$21,000, Monserrate about CO$32,000 round trip. The Zipaquirá day is the big one at around CO$150,000 with the ticket and buses, and a tasting menu at El Chato or Leo is CO$250,000 to 400,000 a head.
Where to stay
Got a day to spare?
Worth knowing
- Bogotá sits at 2,640 meters and Monserrate at 3,152. Day one is deliberately downhill and slow: water, a light lunch, no aguardiente until the second night. Headaches usually pass by the morning.
- No dar papaya: do not hand anyone the chance. Phone away on the street and on TransMilenio, no watch worth stealing, cash split between pockets. Downtown and La Candelaria empty after dark, so take an Uber even for six blocks.
- Buy one tu llave card per person at a station kiosk and tap in; the bus doors do not take coins. Skip TransMilenio at rush hour, when it is the most crowded system you will ever stand in.
- Carry a packable rain jacket every day. The afternoon storm is loud and over in an hour, and the morning is the reliable half of the day for anything outdoors.
- Cards work in restaurants, museums and supermarkets; markets, the Zipaquirá bus, tips and street food are cash. Draw pesos from ATMs inside banks or shopping centers, by day.
Things you can ask once it’s in the app
Plans change. Ask Chat and it proposes a reshuffled day you can apply, or just answers the question.
We land at 3 p.m. on day one, rebuild the afternoon so we still get MonserrateIs the Salt Cathedral worth CO$125,000 for two of us, or should we do the museums?How do we get from Chapinero Alto to the Gold Museum by TransMilenio?Ana gets altitude headaches, what should we change on the first day?Plan a rainy afternoon in Bogotá with no outdoor stops
Questions
Is Bogotá safe for visitors?
Yes in the neighborhoods this plan uses, by day. Keep your phone in a pocket and take an Uber after dark, especially in and out of La Candelaria, and skip the walk between Las Aguas and the Monserrate station at dusk.
Which day works in the rain?
Day 1: the Botero and the Gold Museum are indoors, and the ajiaco is made for a storm. Save Monserrate for a clear late afternoon; Waystop's rain plan is a second version of the day you can switch to, so nothing is lost.
Is the Salt Cathedral worth the day?
Once, yes: nothing else is like it. The foreign ticket is steep at CO$125,000 and the round trip takes four hours by bus. On a Sunday the Ciclovía and the free Gold Museum are the better day.
Will the altitude hit me?
Most people feel a mild headache and short breath on stairs for a day. Drink more water than usual, keep day one gentle and leave the aguardiente for day two; see a doctor if it is still bad on day three.
Before you go
Nearby
Same country first, then the cities people tend to pair with Bogotá. Want two or three in one go? String them together in the trip builder.
Your version
Now make it fit your trip.
Add your dates, your hotel and who’s coming, then ask Chat to change anything: it proposes the edit and you tap Apply. Want a long lunch instead of a museum? Just ask. Every place is checked against Google Maps before it lands on your day, and Chat can tell you when to leave for the next stop. Going on to another city? Build a multi-city trip.