Luxury hotels in Bogotá

Bogotá guide

Bogotá: the Gold Museum and La Candelaria

Pre-Columbian treasures, a colonial quarter full of murals and Monserrate above the city.

The Museo del Oro holds the world's largest collection of pre-Hispanic gold work and is the most cited visit in Bogotá. It sits on the edge of La Candelaria, the colonial quarter of churches, plazas and street art around Plaza de Bolívar, best explored with a guide.

Take the cable car or funicular up Monserrate, at more than 3,100 metres, for the view over the city, and visit the Botero Museum, free and nearby. The Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá, carved inside a salt mine, is an easy day trip. Bogotá is cool all year at 2,600 metres, so pack layers.

Monserrate and the Botero Museum

Monserrate, a mountain crowned by a seventeenth-century sanctuary at 3,152 metres, is one of Bogotá's most cited sights, reached by cable car or funicular, with views over the whole city; mornings are clearest. Pilgrims climb its path on foot, especially at Easter.

The Botero Museum, in La Candelaria, holds works donated by Fernando Botero, including his own paintings and his collection of Picasso, Monet and Renoir, and admission is free. The Gold Museum and Plaza de Bolívar are a short walk away.

Zipaquirá's Salt Cathedral

The Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá, carved into the tunnels of a salt mine about 180 metres underground, is the most cited excursion from Bogotá, about an hour north. The Stations of the Cross lead to a vast nave with a lit cross carved into the salt.

The colonial town of Zipaquirá has a pleasant main square, and the excursion can continue to Guatavita, the lake linked to the legend of El Dorado, or to the colonial town of Villa de Leyva, further north.