How to Spend 3 Days in Bogotá

This enormous city of more than eight million people is a world-class cultural destination, with excellent museums, gorgeous Spanish colonial architecture, and dozens of pretty parks and plazas to explore. With three days in Bogotá, you can see the highlights and get out to explore the Colombian countryside. Here’s how.

Day 1: Culture in La Candelaria

Start your day with an orientation of La Candelaria, Bogotá’s cobbled historic district, during a walking tour of its top attractions, including Bolívar Square (Plaza de Bolívar), Chorro de Quevedo plaza, Teatro Colón, and Casa de Nariño (the Colombian presidential palace). Spend the afternoon digging deeper into Colombian culture at one of La Candelaria’s top museums, either the Botero Museum, which showcases the art of Colombian artist Francisco Botero, or the popular Gold Museum (Museo del Oro), with the world’s largest collection of pre-Columbian gold artifacts. Finish your day by taking the cable car to the top of Monserrate to watch the sunset over the Colombian capital.

Day 2: Colombian Countryside

Devote your second day to rural Colombia. Popular day trips take in the small town of Zipaquirá, with a fine downtown dating from the 1700s and the famous Salt Cathedral, or the whitewashed Spanish colonial town of Guatavita. Many trips combine the two into a single full-day excursion. Alternatively, spend a day in the beautifully preserved colonial Villa de Leyva, known for its picturesque adobes—freshly painted and bathed in bougainvillea—which house boutique hotels, restaurants, and the best collection of craft shops in the country. If you have energy to spare, stop off at Andrés Carne de Res on your way back to Bogotá. This enormous, popular venue offers dinner, drinking, and dancing.

Day 3: Outdoor Adventure

It would be a shame to leave Bogotá without experiencing the natural beauty of Colombia, a playground for thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies. Choose your level of adventure today, whether it be horseback riding through the East Hills, hiking through lush forests to the country’s tallest waterfall, bird watching in Chicaque Natural Reserve, soaking up the splendor of Chingaza National Park, or riding tandem while paragliding or hang gliding high above the city. This last night is the perfect time to enjoy Bogotá’s legendary nightlife; take a salsa lesson from a professional dancer before hitting the floor at some of the city’s dancing hot spots, or join a local for a nightclub crawl through Zona Rosa and Parque 93.