Bogota is a huge city. From the top of Montserrat, an altitude of 3200 meters, you can observe part of the 8 million habitants populating the valley. Gigantic cities are usually complicated to visit but luckily everything is grouped up within a few kilometers of each other in Bogota. Pretty much, it can all be visited by walking through the colourful streets from one attraction to the other.
La Candelaria Neighbourhood
The city square, known as plaza Bolivar, was built in the 1530’s. Ever since, the important buildings where built around it at the feet of Montserrat. In this barrio (Neighbourhood) there are more than 120 hostels within a square kilometer. Colourful buildings all covered in numerous artistic street art makes the streets fun to wander through. Every now and then you will be offered drugs by some shady people but they accept no as an answer without any problem. The streets are safe and between the hostels there are many restaurants where you can eat good lunches for around 5$. This city has been the best by far for food quality and the diversity of restaurants. The smell of braised meat has opened my appetite more than once and the 3$ gigantic pizza slices that come with soda will allow you to remain on budget.
Montserrat – The best view of Bogota
Montserrat is the mountain behind La Candelaria. A cable-car can take you back and forth for around 15$. At the top of the mountain a church with different other beautiful buildings dominates the city. Gardens and man-made waterfalls make this place relaxing and the rainbows that often appear make feel magical. It is important to try to visit the mountain on a sunny day; some people try to get a day with nice visibility for weeks before getting that perfect moment. When the sun comes out and the clouds in the valley disperse you can then see the vastness of Bogota. Montserrat is absolutely amazing, especially with nice weather.
Plaza Bolivar of Bogota
Plaza Bolivar has been present since the early 15 hundreds. It had many different names throughout history and it is the central historical point of Bogota.
Where to eat in Bogota
There are a lot of restaurants around the plaza Bolivar but you can find some everywhere in the city; unlike most of cities of Colombia, Bogota offers various restaurants with great quality. You will find the typical dishes in small restaurants that don’t look like much from the outside but turn out to be great bargains on a quality/price ratio. It is also very easy to save money as in the Calandaria neighbourhood restaurants are fighting to get backpackers by offering great prices. For 2.50$ you can get a giant slice of pizza that will get you full and a Cola.
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