BOGOTá IN TWO DAYS: THE BEST ITINERARY

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Day 3: Bogotá in two days: the best itinerary

Today begins the route of Bogotá in two days after yesterday having visited the Cerro de Monserrate and El Barrio de la Candelaria on the route through Bogotá in one day.

Despite thinking that the jet lag we had already overcome in the trip to Colombia in 46 days, nothing is further from the truth, since today we get back early and when it is 5 in the morning we are already working and reviewing the places we are going to tour the city today at 8 am to order breakfast at The Grace Hotel, our accommodation in Bogotá and at 8:30 again go out to the streets of the city.

We return to take an Uber that by 11300COP takes us from Chapinero Alto to the Gold Museum, which will be the first visit of this Bogotá in two days.

Gold Museum, one of the places to visit in Bogotá in two days

Belonging to the museums managed by the Banco de la República, next to the Mint and the Art Collection and Museum of Art and the Botero Museum, the Gold Museum is one of the essential places to visit in Bogotá that you don't need You can lose on a route through Colombia for free.

With more than 30,000 gold pieces, from the indigenous cultures of the pre-Columbian period, in addition to ceramics, stones and textiles, the Gold Museum collection is the most important in the world in its kind, having in its rooms the collection of pre-Hispanic goldsmith's the world's largest including the Muisca Raft, intimately linked to the Legend of El Dorado, of the Laguna de la Guatavita.

Gold Museum, one of the places to visit in Bogotá in two days

Hours: Tuesday to Saturday: 09am to 18pm / Sundays and holidays: 10am to 17pm / Monday closed (last entry one hour before closing)
Price: 4000COP // Audio guide: 8000COP + 40000COP deposit (can only be paid in cash)

What to see in the Gold Museum: essential pieces

As we have commented, more than 30,000 pieces are exhibited in the Gold Museum, so although we recommend taking a tour of all the rooms, it would be practically impossible to go through all the details. That is why we want to leave you a list of what are for us the most important pieces of the museum.

Snail

In the first rooms you can see this incredible piece that represents a sea snail shell made of gold.

Poporo Quimbaya

This is one of the most important pieces of the museum that the Bank of the Republic of Colombia acquired in 1939. In it you can see a container, called poporo, that the natives used to store the lime that was mixed with the coca leaves .

Poporo Quimbaya

Mask

The interest of this mask is the possibility that currently gives us to recognize the physiognomy of pre-Columbian cultures.

Bat Man

In this piece you can see how each animal, in pre-Columbian cultures, had a different cosmology. Through certain practices, such as power plants, each man could make his body transform into an animal, making it very normal to identify relationships as man and jaguar or in this case man and bat.

Pectoral Man-Jaguar

The first thing we should keep in mind is that for the importance of the jaguar in pre-Columbian cultures since this represented the power of the elements and the priests were the only ones who could become in these animals through ornaments made in gold like this pectoral.

Crown

This crown represents one of the accessories used by pre-Columbian cultures, especially the caciques.

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Muisca Raft

Considered by many to be the most famous piece of the museum and even of the world of these characteristics, the Muisca Raft represents the ritual performed by the chief, jumping into the water, to make his requests and offerings to the gods.
In this case this piece is closely linked to the famous legend of El Dorado of the Laguna de la Guatavita.

Muisca Raft

Offering Room

This is the last room that is visited in the museum and we recommend you to be alert not to miss it, since while the projection lasts, it is closed.
In it you will see a series of projections in which some of the offerings that the natives offered to the gods are represented. In the background you will hear the songs of the kogui, priests of the Sierra de Santa Marta, who make this moment one of the most unforgettable tour of the museum.

gold Museum

Tips for visiting the Gold Museum

Although visiting the Gold Museum may seem like something simple, we want to leave you some recommendations so that the tour is the most interesting and complete.

The visit to the Gold Museum can be done perfectly for free or take a guided tour, included in the price of admission.
In case you do not want to take the guided tour, we highly recommend renting an audio guide for 8000COP (+ 40000COP deposit), with which you will be able to know the history and details of many of the pieces that are exhibited in the museum. The audio guide is quite dense But we believe it is essential to understand the pieces that are included in the collection.
The minimum time for the visit is 2 hours, bypassing many of the pieces and dedicating only a limited time to the pieces that we highlight in the previous point as more important.
Whenever you have time, we recommend you rent the audio guide and make a 3-4 hour visit to get to know the most important pieces and above all, understand a little more about indigenous cultures, such as the Muiscas, the Calima, Quimbaya, Tayrona, San Agustin or Tierra Adentro, among many others.
In the Gold Museum they have free wifi. You must ask on Floor 1, in the information area, for the password.
In addition to the exhibition halls, in the museum you can find restaurant, cafeteria and souvenir shop, with quality pieces and also, very worked.
Remember that on Monday the museum is closed to organize your route through Bogota in two days.

gold Museum

After almost 4 hours visiting the Gold Museum, which has become for us one of the places to see in Colombia and of course an essential on the route through Bogotá in two days we approach the church of San Francisco, which is right next door, touring the seventh or Carrera 7, which is one of the main arteries of the city, where many artists usually gather and where there is usually a lot of atmosphere especially on Fridays the afternoon.

The Seventh of Bogotá

San Francisco Church

This church is next to that of Santa Clara, one of the most ornate in Colombia. Although you can not take pictures inside, we recommend you to visit because it is not very large, so it will not take much time, but it is very interesting.

san francisco Church

After this visit, we approached the Santa Clara Museum, which is right next to Casa Nariño, since as we told you yesterday, we could not visit it because it was Monday and it was closed.

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Santa Clara Museum

As we mentioned earlier, Santa Clara is next to the church of San Francisco, one of the most ornate churches as well as being one of the oldest churches in the city and another of the places you can not miss in Bogotá in two days .
Although it currently does not work as a church, but is a museum, managed by the Government, we assure you that it is one of the most recommended visits in Bogotá.
Inside, which will leave you speechless when completely ornate, you can read different posters with the explanation of the history and evolution of the place, which highlights a nave of a vault with different religious paintings.

Hours: Tuesday to Friday: 09 am-17pm / Saturday and Sunday: 10am to 16pm
Price: 3000COP

Santa Clara Museum, another stop in Bogotá in one day

The visit to the Santa Clara Museum does not take us more than 45 minutes after we approached the Juan Valdez cafeteria, where we were already yesterday, to enjoy a couple of coffees for 8000COP, while we took the opportunity to update the Instagram account of Street Travelers where we are publishing and saving in featured all the stories of this trip to Colombia and the route through Bogotá in two days.

La Candelaria

It's time for lunch and today we decided to approach the El Gato Gris restaurant, located in the Plaza del Chorro de Quevedo, where we ordered some patacones, criollitas, empanadas and a steak plus two coconut and water lemonade for 85000COP, which are spectacular !

The Gray Cat

After eating we decided that we cannot leave the city and say goodbye to the Bogotá in 2 days without getting lost again in the Barrio de la Candelaria, which is one of the places we liked the most in the city, so we took a couple of hours to get lost in its little streets, enjoying again its incredible atmosphere and its art Street, which remind us of many of the reasons we like to travel so much.

La Candelaria

After this walk, we ask for an Uber that for 13000COP takes us to The Grace Hotel, where we rest for a while before visiting the last point we have pointed out on this route by Bogotá in two days.

Torre Colpatria viewpoint

At this point we have to comment that if our visit to the city coincided with Friday, Saturday or Sunday, we would have gone to the Torre Colpatria Viewpoint, a skyscraper located in the northern part of the Las Nieves neighborhood, from which we have read, It has a unique perspective of the city.
On this visit you go up the elevator to the 46th floor and from there you must walk up two more floors to reach the viewpoint area, from where you have 360 degree views over the city.

Hours: Friday 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. / Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 09:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Price: 8000COP

Torre Colpatria viewpoint

After a good rest time we leave the hotel now in the direction of the Zona Rosa de Bogotá, another of the places you cannot miss in the city.

Pink Zone

Located between the area of Chapinero and El Chicó, between races 11 and 15 and streets 79 and 85 is the Zona Rosa or Zona T of Bogotá, which is one of the best known in the city if you want to enjoy a good atmosphere with places to party as well as restaurants and bars, which can be a perfect complement to this Bogotá in two days.
In addition, during the day, in this area you can find different fashion stores and some shopping centers such as the Andean.
Although this area is considered safe, even at night, after a certain time it is important to go with caution and if you have to take a taxi, call him from the restaurant or ask for an Uber.

After a walk around the area, we decided to dine at Sumo Sushi, a restaurant located near our accommodation, where we ordered tuna tartare, great, and two types of rolls, which we do not like, plus two juices of lulo for 107000COP .

Sumo Sushi

After dinner and when it is almost 10 at night we return to The Grace Hotel where we fall after the tour of Bogotá on two days today, with which we have just met the most important places in the city.

We leave you a map with the route we have done today through Bogotá in two days, which includes the Gold Museum, a new visit to La Candelaria to visit the Museum of Santa Clara and the Barrio Rosa.

Ideal route to visit Bogotá in two days

In case you want visit Bogotá in two days, we recommend you to make this itinerary that is a bit different from the one we do, as long as you can fit it with the opening days of the museums.

First day: