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Bogotá Region

Colombia's trendy and metropolitan capital has everything one might want carved within its urban fabric – outstanding food, vibrant nightlife and a cavalcade of culture are but a few reasons to remain. However, this high-altitude playground sits at 2640m, so most bogotanos looking for a break from the city also look for warmth, fleeing for lower elevations further afield. Outside the capital district, there are also significant changes in landscape, where you can find lakes, waterfalls, cloud forests, mountains and a maze of small towns and villages, many of which hold on to their colonial fabric. Whether you're looking for mesmerizing underground cathedrals forged from salt, legendary cities of gold or a challenging climbing route or two, bidding Bogotá adios and exploring the surrounding department of Cundinamarca ain't a bad way to come down from on high for the day.

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Bogotá Region.

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Museo del Oro
Bogotá's most famous museum and one of the most fascinating in South America, the Gold Museum contains more than 55,000 pieces of gold and other materials from all of Colombia's major pre-Hispanic cultures. The collection is laid out in logical, thematic rooms over three floors; descriptions are in Spanish and English. Second-floor exhibits break down findings by region, with descriptions of how pieces were used. There are lots of mixed animals rendered in gold (eg jaguar-frog, human-eagle); note the female figurines indicating how women of the Zenú in the pre-Columbian north played important roles in worship. The 3rd-floor 'Offering' room exhibits explain how gold was used in ceremonies and rituals. Some of the displayed tunjos (gold offerings, usually figurines depicting various aspects of social life) were thrown into the Laguna de Guatavita; the most famous one, found near the town of Pasca in 1969, is the unlabeled gold boat called the Balsa Muisca. It's uncertain how old it is, as generally only gold pieces that include other materials can be carbon dated. There's more to understanding the stories than the descriptions can convey, so try taking a free one-hour tour (11am and 4pm Tuesday through Saturday; in Spanish and English) – tours vary the part of the museum to be highlighted. Audio guides (COP$8000) are available in Spanish, English, French and Portuguese. The museum gets exceedingly busy on Sunday, when entry is free.
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Museo Botero
Even if you've never heard of Fernando Botero, you'll probably recognize some of his highly distinctive paintings of oversized (read: chubby) characters, including dodgy dictators, fleet-footed dancers, dogs and birds. Colombia’s most famous living artist is also a prolific sculptor and his curvaceous bronze statues display equally generous girth. The museum, which belongs to the Banco de la República de Colombia, was founded in 2000 when Botero donated more than 100 of his own works, along with 85 from his personal collection of other artists' work – a haul that includes pieces by Picasso, Monet, Matisse and Klimt. The painter curated the museum himself. Botero paintings to look out for include a parody of Di Vinci’s Mona Lisa (1978), the wonderfully intimate Pareja Bailando (1987) and the haunting studies of Colombia’s drug-cartel violence in the 1980s and '90s. Audio guides (COP$10,000) in English, French and Spanish are available from the museum complex's main entrance on Calle 11. Other than that, there’s no cost.
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Iglesia de San Francisco
Built between 1557 and 1621, the Church of San Francisco is Bogotá's oldest surviving church. In the atmospherically dark interior, with its extravagant pews and steady trickle of praying pilgrims, your eye is immediately drawn to the gilded, U-shaped 17th-century altarpiece, the largest and most elaborate of its kind in the capital.
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Plaza de Bolívar
The usual place to start discovering Bogotá is the giant concrete Plaza de Bolívar, the heart of the original town. What it lacks in green foliage it makes up for in grandiosity. In the middle of the square is a bronze statue of Simón Bolívar (cast in 1846), the work of Italian artist Pietro Tenerani. This was the city's first public monument. In the center of the square are flocks of pigeons that dive-bomb anyone within 50m – a hat is a good idea.
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Colección de Arte
Most of Banco de la República's permanent art collection, which features 800 pieces by 250 different artists spread over 16 exhibition halls at two addresses, is reached via elaborate staircases within the same museum complex as Casa de Moneda and Museo Botero. The collection has been reorganized into five time periods spanning the 15th century to modern day, each separately curated. The collection's contemporary art exhibition is located inside Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango on Calle 12. Most of it sticks with modern splashes of oils by Colombian artists, including giant figurative paintings by Luis Caballero (1943–95) on the first floor. A bit at odds with the rest are the two first-floor halls toward the east, which focus on 17th- and 18th-century religious objects, including two extraordinary custodias (monstrances). The largest was made of 4902g of pure gold encrusted with 1485 emeralds, one sapphire, 13 rubies, 28 diamonds, 168 amethysts, one topaz and 62 pearls. But who's counting?
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Casa de Nariño
On the south side of Plaza de Bolívar, beyond the Capitolio Nacional and reached via Carreras 8 or 7, this is Colombia's neoclassical presidential building, where the country's leader lives and works. To visit, you'll need to email or go to the website and scroll down to 'Visitas Casa de Nariño' under 'Servicios a la Ciudadanía'. No permission is needed to watch the changing of the presidential guard – best seen from the east side – held at 3:30pm Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The building is named for Antonio Nariño, a colonial figure with ideas of independence and who secretly translated France's human-rights laws into Spanish – and went to jail for it, a couple of times. In 1948 the building was damaged during El Bogotazo riots and only restored in 1979. Register in advance for 45-minutes tours at 9am, 10:30am, 2:30pm and 4pm during the week; 2:30pm and 4pm on Saturday; and 3pm and 4pm on Sunday. Note: guards around the president's palace stand at barriers on Carreras 7 and 8. It's OK to pass them, just show the contents of your bag and stay clear of the fence-side sidewalks.
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Museo Nacional
Housed in the expansive, Greek-cross-shaped building called El Panóptico (designed as a prison by English architect Thomas Reed in 1874), the Museo Nacional explores Colombia's past via archeology, history, ethnology and art. The collection is spread across 17 galleries that will eventually be themed by floor – the museum is undergoing a major modernization that will last through to 2023. The first two galleries, Memoria y Nación and Tierra como Recurso, are open and present a strikingly modern contrast to the whitewashed walls and dated galleries elsewhere in the museum. On the 3rd floor, room 16 gives the best sense of prison life – with old cells now presenting various exhibits. The first on the right centers on Jorge Gaitán, the populist leader whose 1948 assassination set off the Bogotazo violence – and, coincidentally, delayed the opening of this museum. Afterward, check out the lovely gardens and their pleasant glass Juan Valdez cafe. There are many good eating options on nearby Calle 29bis.
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Museo Santa Clara
One of Bogotá's most richly decorated churches, the Santa Clara is also its oldest (along with Iglesia de San Francisco). Deconsecrated in 1968, it was acquired by the government and is now run as a museum, with paintings by some of Colombia's most revered baroque artists. The church was once part of an adjoining Franciscan convent that was demolished in the early 20th century. Built between 1629 and 1674, the single-nave construction features a barrel vault coated in golden floral motifs that looks down over walls entirely covered by 148 paintings and sculptures of saints. Interactive panels are available in Spanish, English, French and Portuguese.
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Museo Militar
This two-floor museum is run by military guys in fatigues, and features playful models sporting the history of military uniforms (note the 'antiterrorist' outfit and the insane diving suit); a Korean War room; and a courtyard of artillery and aircraft including a presidential helicopter. Newer, postpeace agreement installations have been added, including a timeline of Colombia's armed conflict and Alex Sastoque's Metamorfosis, a copper AK-47 turned shovel, an idea – converting a tool of destruction into a tool of creation – which has come to symbolize the end of civil war in Colombia. ID required.