I was lucky to visit Bogota. We bought our tickets through a travel agency and our final destination was Rio de Janeiro. The route was very long because we bought the cheapest tickets to Brazil. It was something like this: Lima – Bogota – Sao Paulo – Rio de Janeiro and for the return flight, the same trip. While in Bogota, the airline (Avianca) offered us a free international ticket and one-night accommodation in exchange for our seats. Of course, we said yes and we used this opportunity to explore Bogota city.
At that time, the flights from Bogota to Brazil were overbooked, so the airline gave us three free international tickets, one for each day that we stayed, accommodation and free food. We were on holiday, so we voluntarily accepted the airlines offer and ended up staying three days in Colombia for free. It was definitely one of the best ways to start our trip. I guest I was lucky, because I could use those free tickets for other trips. If that happens to you one day, and you have no obligations in your final destination, then I would say just go for it.
The first day in Bogota, we visited the city center. I remember that in each corner of the street, there was a soldier from the army. I must admit that soldiers caught our attention because they carried big guns by your side. Walking and asking everybody in the street, finally we arrived at Plaza Bolivar, which is the main square of Bogota city center.
Our hotel was near the National Museum, a place that many Colombians would recommended. We were fortunate because the day we visited the museum, there was an exhibition of the “Terracotta Warriors”, life-size figures warriors, buried near the first emperor of China.
We were in Bogota in July and there was a lot of rain, so we couldn’t walk a lot around the city. However, we visited interesting places such as the Botero Museum, which contain the art of the famous Colombian painter and sculptor Fernando Botero. His works are characterized by people with high-volume, in other words, “fat” figures.
Other places that I would recommend and we unfortunately didn’t have the time to visit are: Mount Monserrate: for a nice view of the city and the Gold Museum (Museo de Oro)
Nightlife in Bogota
At night we visited the Zona Rosa, located in an upscale neighborhood, in the north of the city. The Zona Rosa is full of shopping centers, cafes and restaurants. You can go shopping in the afternoon and then at night go out for a dinner or have a drink in a bar. People in Bogota are very friendly and if you decide to visit this city, don’t forget to try a good Colombian aguardiente and a “tinto” coffee from Juan Valdez.
Author: Fiorella
Fiorella is the author of Chica On The Road. She is a Peruvian girl, who loves to travel. She lived in Bolivia, Italy, Australia, United States, Canada, Germany, and Southeast Asia. She created this travel blog to inspire others to travel more and share travel tips. She is now learning Italian and still traveling.
