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Sightseeing Overview
Bogota is located in the geographical center of the country and it stands on a plateau 2,574m (8,445ft) above sea level (which makes it a third highest capital in South America, after La Paz and Quito).

The old historic city center, La Candelaria, the main center of interest to tourists, lies between two very different parts of the town; northern Bogota is mainly residential and up-market; whereas areas in southern Bogota are lower income suburbs which, as you go further south to the outskirts of Bogota, become shantytowns.

La Candelaria covers the site of the old Santa Fe, which the first settlers made their home, and from which the city developed. It is a fairly well preserved historic district. Just south of La Candelaria, the business district is an area dominated by Manhattan like skyscrapers and with offices, banks, shops and cinemas.  

Tourist Information
The City Institute for Culture and Tourism
Plaza de Bolivar
Carrera 8 no 9-83
Tel: (01) 327 4900/16.
Website: www.bogotaturismo.gov.co

The above information desk is open seven days a week 0800-1800, and the staff speak English.

There is another one at El Dorado airport, at the bus terminal (tel: (1) 295 4460).

Passes
There is currently no sightseeing pass available in Bogota.

Key Attractions:

Plaza de Bolivar
This is the first port of call for most visitors to Bogota; built in the center of the historic part of Bogota, this square has a statue of Simon Bolivar in the middle (built by Pietro Tenerani, an Italian artist, in 1846). Little is preserved from the original colonial times, but a walk around the square still makes for an interesting venture and will allow you to take in governmental, political and other buildings (including an astronomical observatory).

Plaza de Bolivar
Free admission.

La Candelaria
This is the historic center around the Plaza de Bolivar. Despite some unfortunate architectural influences from 20th century, the barrio remains largely soaked in the colonial spirit and lifestyle. Some buildings are being restored to their former glory, some are still dilapidated. The first buildings were built in the 16th century and today’s La Candelaria is actually a group of old districts such as La Catedral, Egypto and La Concordial. The area was declared a National Monument in 1964. The streets of the old Santa Fe are full of old Spanish style mansions with heavy doors, large halls, spacious rooms, patios, thick walls and various styles of balconies. The 19th- and 20th- century buildings are locally known as Republican. La Candelaria of today has a strong bohemian, cultural and academic flavor.

Historical town center
Free admission.

El Museo del Oro (Gold Museum)
Internationally renowned, the Banco de la República Gold Museum boasts some 34,000 gold pieces from all major pre-Hispanic cultures in Colombia, making it one of the most important gold museums in the world. Guided tours are conducted twice daily (in English at 1100 and 1500).

Calle 16, corner of Carreras 5 and 6
Tel: (1) 343 2222.
Website: www.banrep.gov.co/museo/esp/home.htm
Admission charge.

Cerro de Monserrate
One of the peaks overlooking the sprawling city (Sabana de Bogota) from the east, Cerro de Monserrate towers 3,160m (10,367ft) above Bogota. There is a church on the top with a statue of Senor Caido from 1650s to which numerous miracles are attributed. The present church was erected when the original chapel was destroyed in the 1917 earthquake. It gets very busy on Sunday when a large number of pilgrims and tourists flood the place. Apart from the church itself, the surrounding area is very commercialized with food and souvenir stalls offering mainly pork and chicken in all forms and colors and inevitable pastries (almost always coated in sugar) as well as souvenirs. But the view from the peak is magnificent. On a clear day one can spot Los Nevados, the volcano range in the Cordillera Central, 135km (84 miles) away to the west. The peak is accessible via cable car, funicular railway or by foot.

Cable car and funicular railway
Carrera 2E no 21-48 (at the foot of the mountain)
Tel: (1) 284 5700.
Admission charge.

Museo Botero
The art collection donated by Colombian artist Fernando Botero is thought to be one of the most important in the country’s history.  The collection consists of 120 artworks, mainly paintings, drawings and sculptures by European artists such as Picasso, Chagal, Dali, Renoir, Matisse and Monet.

Calle 11 no 4-21
Tel: (1) 343 1223.
Free admission.

Church of Santa Clara
Probably the most representative of the cluster of colonial churches in town. Built between 1629 and 1674 as a part of the Poor Clares Convent, its walls are completely covered by paintings and statues of saints, all dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries.

Carrera 8 no 8-91
Tel: (1) 341 1009.
Admission charge.

Further Distractions:

Sunday Stroll
The city center is closed to traffic on Sundays and Bogota suddenly springs to life, with bookstalls and small markets with hand-made crafts sprouting all over the place and cyclists taking to the streets in great numbers. You will also have more time to pay attention to small chapels or churches, some of them having their origins deep into the beginnings of the Spanish presence on the continent.

Tren Turístico de la Sabana (Savana Tourist Train)
Take a trip from Bogota to Nemocón and back to explore the Savannah around Bogota. The train leaves on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays at 0800 from the Estación de la Sabana and at 0900 from Estación de Usaquen in northern Bogota. Tickets should be purchased in advance at the station. The trip usually includes a papayera (a small band playing Columbian music) and food is also available from one of the carriages. Nemocón is normally reached by 1145, and visitors have a couple of hours to stroll through the village and have some lunch before boarding the train for the journey back to Bogota.

Estación de la Sabana, Calle 13 no 18-24 (downtown)
Estación de Usaquen, Calle 110 con Carrera 10 (north Bogota)
Tel: (1) 257 1459.

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