FFlash

Landing 7am in BOG international, departing international at 11pm (AV flights). Never been in bogota before (several times in other South America though). Sunday whole day to spend in other words. I speak fairly fluent Spanish if it matters.

My interests:
-learn about Colombian history a bit (museums)
-eat some local food (no fine dining, but neither unknown streetfood), mid-price, anything goes
-just walk around / bicycle town
-watch people, architecture, parks etc.
-a soccer game I will see if there is any, but are they safe to go and easy to find tickets?
NO SHOPPING

I assume I need to land through immigration, but how much time should I plan for departure check-in/passport control etc? My bags will be checked through as it will be a long layover.

How about moving in town and between airport, are taxis safe and cheap to hail on streets (I am very OK to use public transport)?

I am aware answers are found also by google but I know seasoned flyertalkers usually know better Thanks for help!

Brucemcdou

You mentioned you enjoy walking/biking, so this may interest you: Sundays in Bogota host the Ciclovia, where they close major streets for bikes. Locals and families ride bikes, walk, jog, etc. There's stores and stands where you can rent bikes. If your large bags are checked through but you're willing to either wear or pack bike-appropriate gear in your carry-on, you could join the crowds. Not sure if any of the lounges at BOG include showers to clean up afterwards!

Info on tours, rentals, etc. here: http://www.lan.com/onlyinsouthameric...-bikes-bogota/

FFlash

Very good idea, thank you!!! Lovely

JohnnyColombia

Mike does cool bike tours, so you can get booked on one and then ask him about getting there.

http://www.bogotabiketours.com/

If he has a tour starting at about 11am then you can go straight to Monserrate, go up the mountain, then come back down and walk to Mike's place to start your biking

On Sunday all the pilgrims walk up the mountain, it is a bit dangerous most days of the week but safety in numbers on a Sunday. There are lots of street food stalls on the way up. Took me about 90 minutes up and about 75 down, but you could go up the cable car and walk down or vice versa.

I do not use taxis at BOG, they are jerks. I use Uber and there is free wifi in the airport but the authorities are making it harder to use Uber so I am not sure what you should do.

The Cilcovia ends at 2pm, so you could go drinking in the afternoon or head somewhere like the Botanical Garden. The Gold Museum is free on Sundays, and the Botero Museum is brilliant. The centre gets a bit chippy when it is empty so I would not hang around there for too long.

Unless you go drinking, you are liable to run out of things to do before you need to get back to the airport. I think the AV lounge has showers

Brucemcdou

+1 ^ for the Botero Museum. If you have any interest in 20th Century Modern art, this is a wonderful, and very manageable, museum. Botero's pieces are displayed in historical context with art of his contemporaries from the early and mid-20th Century. And the museum itself is set around a relaxing courtyard with a very atmospheric fountain and two stories of cool, shaded balconies.

Did not use taxis when I was there, and also avoided Uber due to things I'd read about (licensed) taxi drivers stopping Uber drivers. I just used a car arranged by my hotel, which was similar to any sedan car service in any American city. I also don't speak any Spanish so was looking for the most pain-free way to go.

Good luck and please report back about your one-day layover.

fly_yag

I've got a similar layover in BOG coming up connecting UA-AV arriving at 6 am and departing at 10 pm. Any idea if it is a good idea (or even permitted) to have bags checked through on that long a layover or would I be better off short-checking my bag to BOG and using the luggage storage provided at the airport?

coolcoil

I don't know whether you can through-check for such a long layover, but I suspect that you can. I know that many would advise not to do it, but I have had bags hanging in the system that long at BOG several times without problems. The important thing, of course, is not to have any valuables that would be easy and desirable for a thief to steal. Electronics and booze, of course, are high on the list. I wouldn't worry about good-quality clothing or shoes, particularly if they are used.

As there is a bit of a risk, if you do go down that path, it would probably be worth the effort to inventory the contents of each bag with photos.

ClimbingCook

The Bogota Street Art tour (http://bogotagraffiti.com/) was the highlight of my time in Bogota. For luggage if you're really worried, you can short check your bags, have them plastic wrapped, and check them in again. I'd echo what others are saying and just avoid leaving valuables in your checked luggage.

lisagindc

At the airport, make sure you get into the line for registered taxis--do not accept a ride from the guys standing just outside departures. You may read about a ticket system at the airport--that no longer exists. I used Uber the entire time I was there and was fine.

The primary problem with Bogota is traffic. Be sure to leave yourself plenty of time to get to the airport. It can take 25 minutes from the center, or more than an hour.

The ride up the mountain to Montserrate (via cable car) is interesting. I would also second the recommendation for the Botero museum or the Museo de Oro. (Although, I found this museum to be a bit overwhelmingly detailed.)

Have fun!

FFlash

Some feedback about my long layover. Definitely recommend for anyone to plan in a long layover if not few days!

Arrived in the morning. It was raining, but expecting to clear, so I took no hurry. I reclaimed my bags and took them to the end of hall where there is a baggage storage, 12000COP per bag, about 4€ for 12 hours.

Decided to avoid taxi-cowboys and Uber-hassle (if there is such), after finding a youtube post about how to grab the public bus which seemed supereasy. It was easy. Just exit terminal, clear sings for shuttle transfer to the "Portal Eldorado" with the feeder bus (green "alimentador"). Once at the Portal, just buy a loadable card 3000COP and loaded 2 trips on it, each 2000COP. Enter the Portal gate and search J6 bus with end stop at "Universidades" which just a short safe walk from La Candelaria old town area.

I did go to the Mike's bogotabiketours.com place in La Candelaria and it was a great choice. Tours at 10:30 and 1:30pm, lasting some 5 hours. There were about 15 people going and they split the group after a while, Mike taking a shorter route and Maurizio taking a longer route which I took too.
It stopped raining (they provided plastic ponchos). Bikes were quite worn mountainbikes and some of them not working properly, but the pace of biking was moderate to low so no issues there. You don't want to ride an expensive bike anyway to attract thieves.
Some notes about the bike tour:
-Mike is from California and talks better english and seemed more focused
-Maurizio is a walking history teacher and he knows the area in and out and tells long stories (good or bad), so he took us 6,5 hours in the end! But it was worth it, a true experience!
-Beware that Maurizio's way of routes and navigating in the traffic is pretty unorthodox. He cut the roads, between cars, one-ways around etc. If you are not a biker, you might get afraid but I just liked it as I am used to such biking from childhood However, he was a great guy and even if traffic in Bogota is crazy, the cars were surprisingly polite towards bikers!

Finally, the tour taking so long I did not have the time to Monserrate, nor were the museums open due to Colombians voting that day. I walked back to the Universidades station and took bus K6 back to the Portal and from there again a feeder bus to the airport. Easy and faster than taxi, since the Transmilenio buses have their own lanes so they don't stand in jammed