Things to Do in Bogotá: What to See and How to Get Around

Bogotá is 2.600 metres up, 14 °C most of the year, and the busiest airport in Latin America sits inside it. Almost every guide to the city lists the same museums in the same order and tells you nothing about the two rules that will actually shape your week: which days your car is banned from the road, and the seven hours every Sunday when 141 kilómetros of the city’s main avenues belong to cyclists. This is the list, and the movement, together.

By the Safe Transfers Colombia team. Every figure is sourced at the foot of the page to the Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá, the Instituto Distrital de Turismo, the Instituto Distrital de Recreación y Deporte, the Banco de la República and the Secretaría Distrital de Movilidad. Prices and hours change: confirm before you go.

Start with the altitude, because it decides your first day

The Alcaldía Mayor puts Bogotá at 2.600 metros sobre el nivel medio del mar with an average temperature of 14 °C across 20 localidades. Two things follow from that, and both catch people out.

The first is the air. You land, you feel fine, and then the walk up a flight of stairs in La Candelaria tells you otherwise. Nothing about this is dangerous for most visitors, but the first afternoon is not the one to spend climbing. It is the one for a museum on flat ground.

The second is the temperature. Bogotá does not have summer and winter, it has wet and less wet, and 14 °C average means mornings that feel like autumn and afternoons that can turn in twenty minutes. People pack for Colombia and arrive dressed for Cartagena. Bring a jacket you would wear in London in October.

Most visitors arrive at El Dorado, which the Instituto Distrital de Turismo records as having moved 45,8 millones de pasajeros in 2024, putting it first in Latin America ahead of Mexico City at 45,3 millones, and connecting the city to 102 destinations, 45 nacionales and 57 internacionales. That volume is the reason the arrivals hall at 6 a. m. looks the way it does, and it is worth knowing before you decide how you are getting into town.

The two rules nobody puts in a things-to-do list

Pico y placa, Monday to Friday

Bogotá restricts private cars by the last digit of the number plate under Decreto 003 del 6 de enero de 2023. The measure runs de 6:00 a. m. a 9:00 p. m., de lunes a viernes, and the rotation is simple once you see it: on odd-numbered calendar days the plates ending in 1, 2, 3, 4 y 5 may circulate, and on even-numbered days the plates ending in 6, 7, 8, 9 y 0 may circulate. The other half stays parked.

It does not apply on Saturdays or Sundays.

This matters to you in exactly one way. If you rent a car, half of your weekdays are gone before you start, and the calendar decides which half. If you are moved by a company whose vehicles are registered for public service, the restriction is not your problem. That is not a sales line, it is the actual mechanism, and it is the single most common reason a self-drive plan in Bogotá falls apart on day two.

The Ciclovía, Sundays and holidays

Every Sunday and public holiday, from 7:00 a. m. to 2:00 p. m., the IDRD closes 141,46 km de vías interconectadas to motor traffic and hands them to people on bikes, skates and feet. More than 1,5 millones de usuarios use it every week. The IDRD calls it the oldest recreational Ciclovía in the world, with fifty years of history.

It is genuinely one of the best things about the city and you should do it. It is also seven hours during which crossing Bogotá by car is a different proposition, on the day when the plate restriction is switched off. The two rules invert each other, and knowing that is worth more than any list of restaurants.

La Candelaria and the museums

The historic centre is the reason most people come, and it is smaller than it looks on a map. The Plan Especial de Manejo y Protección for the centre covers three localidades, Los Mártires, Santa Fe and La Candelaria, an area with 233.000 residents that between one and two million people cross on a normal day. You can walk the part that matters in a morning.

Two of those closing days are traps. The Museo del Oro shuts on Mondays and the Museo Botero shuts on Tuesdays, so a two-day city break that starts on a Monday can miss both if you plan it in the wrong order. Do the Oro on any day but Monday and the Botero on any day but Tuesday, and the rest falls into place.

The Museo del Oro is not a small collection with a good name. The Banco de la República holds más de 34.000 piezas de oro y aleaciones there, plus around 25.000 objetos de cerámica, piedra, concha, hueso y textiles. Tuesday to Saturday it opens 9:00 a. m. to 7:00 p. m. with last entry at 6:00, and on Sundays and holidays 10:00 a. m. to 5:00 p. m. with last entry at 4:00. Give it two hours, not forty minutes.

Monserrate, and the 552 metres above the city

The Cerro de Monserrate stands at 3.152 metros, which is 552 metres above the city you are standing in. There are three ways up: the teleférico, the funicular, and the sendero peatonal on foot. The Alcaldía publishes the hill’s hours as Monday to Saturday 7:00 a. m. to 11:00 p. m., Sundays 5:30 a. m. to 5:00 p. m., and holidays 6:30 a. m. to 5:00 p. m.

The honest advice on the walking trail: it is a real climb starting from an altitude most visitors have not adjusted to, and Sunday morning is when half of Bogotá is on it. If you have been in the city less than 48 hours, take the cable car up and decide about walking down when you can see the path.

Go on a clear morning. The cloud comes in over the eastern hills through the afternoon more often than not, and the view is the entire point.

Getting around, honestly

TransMilenio carries an average of 4.000.000 de viajes a day across a fleet of 10.559 vehicles. It goes where you need to go and it is cheap. It is also, at rush hour, one of the more intense public transport experiences in the Americas, and it is not where you want to be with luggage or after a nine-hour flight.

Taxis and apps both work and both have their own rules and their own failure modes here. We have written those up separately in our guide to Uber in Bogotá and in our comparison of the airport taxi and the app, because the answer genuinely depends on where you are going and what time it is.

Walking is the right way to see La Candelaria and the wrong way to get between neighbourhoods. Bogotá is roughly 30 km end to end and the interesting parts are not adjacent. On what is sensible where, and when, our page on whether Bogotá is safe is the longer answer, and our page on the airport specifically covers arrivals.

What to do, by how long you have

Out of the city

Bogotá’s best day trips are all within two hours and all in the same direction, north and north-east onto the Sabana and into Boyacá. The three that earn the day:

• Zipaquirá, for the salt cathedral cut into a working mine. The shortest of the three and the easiest to fit either side of a flight. We run it as a private transfer to the Salt Cathedral, and the detail is in our Zipaquirá Salt Cathedral guide.
• Laguna de Guatavita, the crater lake behind the El Dorado legend, and the reason half the Museo del Oro exists. Ours is a private transfer to Guatavita, and there is a combined Zipaquirá and Guatavita run, and the rules at the lake are stricter than people expect, which is why we wrote our Laguna de Guatavita guide for people doing both in a day.
• Villa de Leyva, the colonial town with the enormous stone plaza. It is the furthest of the three and the one people wish they had given two days instead of one. We run it as a private transfer to Villa de Leyva, and what is actually worth the drive is in our Villa de Leyva guide.

All three are day trips where the driving is the constraint rather than the destination, which is exactly where pico y placa bites a rental car and does not bite a registered vehicle.

Questions people actually ask

What are the best things to do in Bogotá?

The Museo del Oro, walking La Candelaria and Plaza de Bolívar, and Monserrate on a clear afternoon are the three that nobody regrets. Add the Ciclovía if your stay includes a Sunday or a public holiday, and one day trip out to the Sabana if you have three days or more.

How many days do you need in Bogotá?

Two full days covers the centre and one other neighbourhood properly. Three lets you add a day trip to Zipaquirá, Guatavita or Villa de Leyva without rushing. One day is enough for the Museo del Oro, La Candelaria and Monserrate, and nothing else.

What is pico y placa and does it affect tourists?

It is a restriction on private cars by the last digit of the plate, under Decreto 003 de 2023, running 6:00 a. m. to 9:00 p. m. Monday to Friday. On odd-numbered days the plates ending 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 may circulate; on even-numbered days it is 6, 7, 8, 9 and 0. It affects you if you rent a car, because half your weekdays are unusable and the calendar picks which half. It does not apply at weekends.

Is Bogotá’s altitude a problem?

The Alcaldía puts the city at 2.600 metres. For most visitors it means a slower first day rather than a medical issue, but it is real: plan flat ground for the first afternoon and leave Monserrate, which is another 552 metres up at 3.152, for later in the trip.

What day should you avoid driving in Bogotá?

Sunday morning, and only for the reason nobody warns you about. The plate restriction is switched off at weekends, but the Ciclovía closes 141,46 km of the main avenues to cars from 7:00 a. m. to 2:00 p. m. every Sunday and public holiday. Cross the city before seven or after two.

Which museums are free in Bogotá?

The Museo Botero and the Museo de Bogotá are free every day except Tuesdays. The Museo del Oro is free to everyone on Sundays and costs $5.000 COP the rest of the week. The Museo Nacional and the Casa del Florero are free on Wednesdays from 3:00 to 5:00 p. m. and all day on the last Sunday of each month.

What is the weather like in Bogotá?

The Alcaldía gives an average of 14 °C. There is no summer or winter, only wetter and drier months, and the daily swing between a cold morning and a warm midday is larger than the swing between seasons. Bring layers and something waterproof whatever month you come.

Is El Dorado a busy airport?

It is the busiest in Latin America. The Instituto Distrital de Turismo records 45,8 millones de pasajeros in 2024, ahead of Mexico City at 45,3 millones, across 102 destinations. Build that into how early you leave for a departure.

Sources: the altitude of 2.600 metros sobre el nivel medio del mar, the average temperature of 14 °C and the 20 localidades — Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá. The record of 45,8 millones de pasajeros at El Dorado in 2024, the comparison with Mexico City at 45,3 millones, and the 102 destinations comprising 45 nacionales and 57 internacionales — Instituto Distrital de Turismo, August 2025. The pico y placa measure for private vehicles under Decreto 003 del 6 de enero de 2023, the hours de 6:00 a. m. a 9:00 p. m. de lunes a viernes, the rotation by which plates ending in 1, 2, 3, 4 y 5 circulate on odd-numbered days and 6, 7, 8, 9 y 0 on even-numbered days, and the fact that it does not apply at weekends — Secretaría Distrital de Movilidad and Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá. The Ciclovía at 141,46 km de vías interconectadas, the hours of 7:00 a. m. a 2:00 p. m. on domingos y festivos, the figure of more than 1,5 millones de usuarios each week and the description as the oldest recreational Ciclovía with fifty years of history — Instituto Distrital de Recreación y Deporte. The Museo del Oro collection of más de 34.000 piezas de oro y aleaciones and cerca de 25.000 objetos de cerámica, piedra, concha, hueso y textiles, the address at Carrera Sexta #15-88, the opening hours, the $5.000 COP admission and free entry for everyone on Sundays — Banco de la República and Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá. The free admission at the Museo Botero and the Museo de Bogotá every day except Tuesdays, and at the Museo Nacional de Colombia and the Museo de la Independencia Casa del Florero on Wednesdays from 3:00 to 5:00 p. m. and all day on the last Sunday of each month, with their addresses — Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá. The Cerro de Monserrate at 3.152 metros, the three routes up and the opening hours — Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá. The Plan Especial de Manejo y Protección for the historic centre covering the localidades of Los Mártires, Santa Fe and La Candelaria, the 233.000 residents of that area and the one to two million people who cross it daily — Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá. The TransMilenio average of 4.000.000 de viajes a day and the fleet of 10.559 vehicles — Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá, September 2024. The 552 metre difference between the city and the summit of Monserrate is our own arithmetic from the two published altitudes. Judgements about what to do with one day or three, which museums to see in which order, when to walk Monserrate and whether to rent a car are the Safe Transfers Colombia team’s own. Fares, hours and closing days change: confirm before you travel.