Bogotá · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
Cold, high and unexpectedly cheap — Bogotá gives away more free museums than most capitals sell.
La Candelaria or Chapinero
La Candelaria has the colonial hostels and the museums on the doorstep; Chapinero is safer after dark and better for food and bars.
What a day costs
Roughly 85,000–160,000 pesos, about $21–40: a dorm 40,000–70,000, a corrientazo lunch 12,000–20,000, TransMilenio around 3,000 a ride.
TransMilenio and the SITP
The red articulated buses run in their own lanes on a Tullave card, with the blue SITP buses filling the gaps. Avoid both at rush hour with a pack.
Free by day
The Museo Botero and the Banco de la República galleries charge nothing, and the Sunday Ciclovía closes a hundred kilometres of street to cars.
Chorro de Quevedo
The tiny square where the city was supposedly founded, full of chicha stalls, storytellers and students. Free walking tours start from here most mornings.