Bogota
Travel Guide > South America > Colombia > Bogota
Introduction
Bogota is the capital and largest city in Colombia with well over 7 million people living in the city and more than 10 million in the metropolitan area. It is located in the central mountainous part of the country on a plateau at a height of 2640 meters, which makes it one of the biggest cities in the world at this altitude, together with Quito, La Paz and Lhasa. The city has been inhabited for almost 500 years. Today it is the economical and cultural heart of the country and has good infrastructure for travellers. Still, while it is much more safe than it used to be, crime can be a problem in the city. However, with the normal precautions you shouldn't worry too much about the stories you hear outside Colombia.
Neighbourhoods
Sights and Activities
Events and Festivals
With the majority of the city being Catholic all major Catholic holidays are celebrated.
Weather
The climate is mild yearround and because of its height it is never very hot and humid like most other cities in the tropics. The dry period is from December to March with clear days, frost is possible at night and during the day it is pretty warm. It is never warmer than about 28 degrees Celcius. During the June-August period it is relatively dry as well, but cloudy and windy conditions rule the city and temperatures vary less than during the sunnier dry period.
Getting There
By Plane
El Dorado International Airport (BOG), located 15 km west of Bogota, is the base of the Colombian national airline Avianca. Avancia has flights from Bogota to countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States and Madrid. To the latter, Iberia has flights as well. Air France flies to and from Paris.
By Train
By Car
By Bus
By Boat
Eat
Drink
Work
Learn
This is version 5. Last edited at 6:04 on May 15, 08 by GeoBot (+57). 2 articles link to this page.
Except where otherwise noted, content of this article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License