AlexMC

Hi,

I'll be flying from GIG to UIO on AV C late November. I'll land in BOG around 1pm on a Thursday flying to UIO on a 11pm flight.

Any tips about what to do during this time? I suppose visiting Botero's might be tricky because if the traffic?!

Any ideas?

Takes in advance,

Alex

drvannostren

10 hours at BOG is way too much.

It's a nice airport, as is the lounge, but that's too much and the food selection isn't good enough to really sit down and have a meal to even kill 1-2 hours.

I'm not sure where the Botero's are that you speak of, but 10 hours is a lot of time especially considering the airport isn't that far from town like MDE where it's minimum like 35-45 mins from the city.

Even if you just take a cab or the transmilenio and go downtown or to a mall, at least you can kill 5-6 hours exploring leaving yourself time to get back and lounge a bit before the flight.

Long story short...DON'T waste those 10 hours in the airport. If you have legitimate work to do, go for it, but otherwise you'll be much wiser to visit BOG briefly.

JohnnyColombia

Botero Museum is in La Candelaria, easy to visit if you have ten hours. You can also get up Monserrate for sunset. Get some dinner in Restaurante Casa Santa Clara whilst you are up there. The view from the gents' toilet is the best in Bogotá

AlexMC

Tks, drvannostren! My idea is to leave the airport in fact. I've heard nice things about the new AV lounge but this is not FCT in FRA, right?!
I've been in Bogota for 3 days in 2007 and I enjoyed the city a lot. I'll be flying with my significant other and wanted to enjoy the city a bit during this time.

Tks, JohnnyColombia. Do you think having dinner there is nice? I know there are so many good choices in the city, right?

To be in the airport for the 11pm flight, at what time should I Leave, say, zona T?

FlyingIsCool

Definitely go to the Gold Museum. That is a must! And if it's during the week, then you should also try to go to Monserate. On the weekends the lines are way too long.

You will find good restaurants in the Zona T and Parque de la 93.

Depending where you are in Bogota, I would plan for 1.5 hours space to get to the airport.

Have fun!

AlexMC

^

drvannostren

Haha me and Johnny naturally answering the Colombia questions lol.

The lounge is really nice Alex, I DOUBT you'll be able to get into the Diamond lounge (I'm not 100% sure who gets access outside of Lifemiles Diamond members) but spending anymore than 2-3 hours in there is just wasting time. The wifi is pretty good, there's finger foods and drinks, lots of different seating options (even when it's "full" there's still stools, desks, chairs to use) and my personal favorite...THE NAP ROOM! It's off in the corner and has recliners, lights off, great little place to set an alarm and snooze if need be.

There's a Samsung laptop section in there as well if you don't wanna use your own, a few ipads and a video game room. There are showers too but I can't say I've ever used em.

JohnnyColombia

I think Santa Clara is a great place to eat, very traditional but well executed. I don't actually think Bogotá is such a great place to eat, lots of places with nice tablecloths but crap food still.

I'd say an hour to the airport tops at night time.

I think the Gold Museum sucks. Then again lots of people disagree with me. If you mainly want to see it to say you've been then run through the first couple of chambers then straight up to the top floor where the good stuff is.

Botero Museum outclasses the Gold Museum in most ways.

Gonna stick my neck out and disagree with this too. In the Zona T and Parque 93 you will often find more expensive restaurants with those pretty tablecloths and crappy food. If you want a nice dinner not in Santa Clara then go to somewhere like Armadillo, the JW Marriott or Daniel Dine and Wine, all in Rosales. Just north of there you have El Bandido Bistro but get there early or you won't get a table. Leave T and 93 though for those rich kids that had their taste buds shot off in a guerrilla attack.

This too!

AlexMC

Thank you again, guys. I know there is a lot to be seen in Bogota and I'll definitely return for a more long stay. For these 10 hours, you guys gave me a bunch of great ideas. Thanks!

KenInEscazu

JohhnyColombia knows more than me about Bogotá, of course, but I have spent quite a bit of time there, and I really like the Italian restaurant Luna in Zona T. They bring out this big piece of fresh bread that is puffed up with air. I could eat 3 or 4 of those. The service has always been great, and I've never had anything but excellent food there. Especially the desserts.

Kacee

Agree 100%. The Museo Botero is a gem. The surrounding neighborhood is fun, too. At least during daylight hours.

You might even consider getting a cheap room in La Candelaria just to have a place to relax. I did this during my last BOG layover, booked at BH Bicentenario for the day, got a room with a beautiful view of Monserrate over Parque de las Periodistas.

Traffic shouldn't be too awful at those hours. Your nighttime return to BOG should be very quick in fact.

I have never had a meal in Bogota that was better than mediocre.

AlexMC

Another question just came to my mind: will it be safe to leave my dispatched luggage waiting for the last flight of the day to UIO in BOG for such a long period? I can always ask at GIG to have it delivered to me in BOG and use a locker in the airport, if that's preferable.

Please no offense. For such a long period (10 hours) that would be my recommendation in a Brazilian airport...

KenInEscazu

My experience regarding lost items with Avianca in Colombia just blows my mind every time I think about it. The first thing I left on board was my iPhone. I didn't realize it until I got to my hotel room over an hour and a half after my arrival. Seemed to me like I was simply out one iPhone.

I called, just in case, and they had found the phone in my seat, put it in a bag with my name on it and locked it in security for me to retrieve at my convenience. That is the first thing of value that I have left on an aircraft and recovered, and it was in Medellin, Colombia.

Since then, I have had other personal items of less value (but still valuable) fall out of my pocket during a flight, and they have recovered all but one. I haven't recovered the last one yet, but it was just ten days ago. It could be waiting for me at SJO. That's where they said they would return it. I'll find out Friday.

Once I had a bunch of Coca Light left over at the end of my trip, and there was plenty of space in my suitcase, so I decided to take it home. They paged me at the gate and asked me to go with them to the tarmac, as they needed to see what liquid I was carrying. They were not allowed to open any luggage without the customer present. I went downstairs to the tarmac and explained what was inside, watched them open it, and they thanked me and put it on board.

Anything can happen, but if my experience is consistent with their regular practices, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Colombia has a bad reputation from its sordid history, and the reality today could not be farther from the picture most North Americans have before visiting.

I often lament that most Gringos who visit don't speak Spanish, so they don't get the real picture of how warm, friendly and proud the vast majority of Colombians I meet really are. There are exceptions, of course, but overall I feel safer in most parts of Colombia than I do in any part of Costa Rica.

coolcoil

I have had many flights connecting through BOG with somewhat tight connections and therefore many instances where my bags did not make it onto the plane with me and were held for many hours (sometimes >24) in either BOG or MDE. I've never had anything pilfered. I don't have any locks on my bags nor do I use a wrapping service.

That said, I don't put any high value items in my luggage either.

AlexMC

Thank you again, guys! It is going to be only clothes, really and nothing of real value.