Where I Stayed
I didn’t feel comfortable walking around the Chapinero neighborhood outside the Selina in the evenings. In the mornings there were street food vendors within easy walking distance & a few blocks away a really nice Juan Valdez (aka the Colombian version of Starbucks) with a large seating area. There was a small grocery store right next door, where we were able to purchase bottled water for very cheap each day. Overall, neighborhood and walkability were not my favorite. Location: 3/10
The Selina had a restaurant & bar on the second floor where I ate many meals and drank my full body weight in Pola del Pub IPAs. More points to Chapinero because they served a few authentic Colombian dishes – I tried Ajiaco for the first time here! Food & Drink: 9/10
I met so many people at Selina my first night by myself at the “welcome drink.” Which I was very nervous to attend by myself but am so happy I did. I was pleasantly surprised by the age demographic being closer to my age (mid to upper 20s)- I think the coworking aspect of Selina draws a bit more mature demographic than your typical hostel. However, Selina Chapinero was still party vibes. If you want to meet a more outgoing crowd, the vibe was: 9/10! I ended up meeting a group of people who I went out with more nights we should have during the work week…Including Gringo Tuesday!
We stayed 5 nights in “The Suite” which came with free Wi-Fi, private bathroom w/ hot water, coffee machine, linens, sofa, desk, & an EXTREMELY comfortable queen bed. Room: 9/10
Although I didn’t utilize many of the amenities at Selina Chapinero, I did think they were worth calling out – retail & snack space, restaurant & bar, movie theater, library, coworking space, yoga. Amenities: unknown rating
I didn’t pay the extra cost to utilize the co-working space. However, the wifi was superb, I didn’t have any disruptions and the perks of having a private room with desk space meant private undisturbed work time. Work-ablilty: 8/10
For full transparency, room cost was $243 USD for five nights. Cost: 10/10
Overall: 8.5/10
The Parque 93 neighborhood felt much safer. The Selina was also located right next door to a connivence store for me to purchase water. About a 5minute walk from a popping greenspace and restaurant/ bar area (including a food hall with loads of yummy food opportunities). Location: 7/10
The bar/ restaurant at this Selina was constantly busy. The drinks were more targeted towards margaritas and cocktails with this crowd. And the Welcome Drink was absolutely not a success. The redeeming factor in this seven out of ten score is the menú del día – every day the chef had a lunch menu of the day including a fresh fruit juice, soup, entree, and small dessert. Something I looked forward to every day! Food & Drink: 7/10
People at this location were not as social. The welcome drink didn’t draw a crowd. People from the Hostel didn’t seem to utilize the bar, even with live music on Friday Nights. Vibe: 3/10
The “Standard” included a private bathroom with an amazing shower and hot water, a huge window with a really strange view straight into an office building across the way. A small desk but no seating area. The mattress was very disappointing compared to Chapienro. Room: 7/10
I also didn’t use many of the amenities at the hostel. Retail & snacks, shared kitchen, yoga. Amenities: unknown rating
I spent time working in my room, which was a little prison-like to spend the entire day in. I worked downstairs at the bar in the afternoons, but the background noise was loud with all the people traffic. Workability: 7.5/10
$250 in the “Standard Private” for 8 nights. Trading less room for a nicer neighborhood. Cost: 9/10
Overall: 7/10
Getting Around & Safety
Communicating in Bogota was almost exclusively in Spanish. Having some comfortability with basic Spanish was super helpful and important. A few tours that I went on had an English translator, however, even in those instances the tour included maybe 25% of the content of the native language tour. Most people were helpful and patience with my attempts to communicate.
Taxis vs. Ubers: A lot of online resources will tell you that hailing a taxi off the street is unsafe. While this wasn’t my experience, I still echo the need for being hypervigilant. The taxis were substantially more expensive than rideshare and if you don’t speak the language well, expect that you will probably pay even more. My biggest tip is to ask and clarify the price before accepting the ride. The alternative option is the rideshare app “Uber” which at one point in time was made illegal, and I couldn’t clearly find any resources to tell whether they are fully legal at this time. I can say, it’s still at least frowned upon. With that, the Uber driver will ask that you sit in the front seat (so that it doesn’t look like a rideshare situation). It is also advised that you not keep a close eye on your phone on the street, be discreet.
One final note about taxis and Ubers, that a local friend shared with me was that closing doors to cars should be done softly, closing a car door with the normal amount of force you might use in the US is considered quite rude.
Foods to Eat
Street Food
Here is my non-exhaustive list of street foods that I tried and highly recommend: Cholado, arepas, empanadas, bunelo, tinto, frutas
Restaurants
Food from Selinas including: Ajiaco, pizza (this was Jon not me), many many many menú del día!
From the Food Hall: I was in Bogota during my dad’s birthday, I celebrated remotely with a tiny birthday cake from Luisa’s Postres. I was craving Pad Thai which led me to an Asian restaurant (KO’s or something like that) – unfortunately, they were out of Pad Thai so I ordered Chicken Tikka Masala – served a little differently than typical in America.
This next set of food images
- Another authentic Colombian dish, Bandeja Paisa from Brasas Del Llano. Located in Zipaquira not Bogota – but super fun atmosphere, we stopped here for lunch after a Salt Cathedral tour.
- Croissant sandwich with ham + espresso from Azahara Coffee. This place was 10/10 find, and one of the only places open early on a Sunday morning.
- Hole in the wall Indian Restautant called Indian Gourmet.
- Ajiaco from the El Dorato airport in Bogota.
Helpful Spanish phrase: “la cuenta” > “the check”
Places to Drink
Drinks from Selina, Juan Valdez, Azahar Coffee, Hatsu Tea (from the convenient store), Bogota Beer Co (BBC), Red Room.
Favorite beer: Pola del Pub IPA
Favorite atmosphere: BBC
Creepiest Vibes: Red Room Speakeasy
Helpful Spanish phrase: “una cerveza por favor” > “a beer please”
Places to See: Monserrate
For just over $5 USD you can take the teleferico (cable car) to the top of Monserrate. You should absolutely do this – I didn’t have any clue how large Bogota was until I saw it from the top. A lot of locals let us know that the area outside of Monserrate is not the safest area. The weekends are the safest time to go, especially if you are planning on hiking to the top. We planned on a quick trip and still spent about 3 hours in total. It took us 10 minutes to get a car up but about 45 mins in line to get a car down.
A few tips: go a couple hours before sunset, pay extra for express lane down the mountain, have a buddy.
Helpful Spanish phrase: “Puede tomar mi foto” > “Can you take my photo”
Day Trip: Salt Cathedral & Lake Guatavita
Salt Cathedral
The Salt Cathedral is one of the biggest tourist attractions near Bogota. There are a lot of tour companies that will combine this tour with Lake Guatavita; it was about an 8-hour day, with a lot of hours in the car. The Salt Cathedral is a functioning underground Roman Catholic Church. Sectioned into the birth, life, & death of Jesus. Destination for pilgrimage, worship, and tourism.
The Cathedral was very touristy, they do direct you through a series of gift shops to exit. If you want to take the tour in a language other than English, you will be given headphones for a self-guided audio tour. The tour focuses on the religious story versus the physical salt cathedral.
Overall 7/10
Lake Guatavita
This was my favorite tour out of Bogota, it was gorgeous! The tour was start-stop, with a lot of wonderful storytelling and background. The tour was of course in Spanish and the English tour guide was able to tell us the summary of each story. I would recommend looking up the story of El Dorato before arriving for some helpful context. The Lagoon was beautiful, and the nature was breathtaking.
Day Trip: La Chorrera
We needed at least two people to make this tour happen. At 8am Sunday morning, our Spanish speaking driver picked us up at Selina. He was so wonderful and patience, for the most part, when trying to communicate with us. The actual hike takes about 2 hours. The hike is mild, but the elevation is brutal! Our tour guide let us know that this hike is mainly a tourist attraction. I am glad that we took this hike, getting outside and being active while traveling is my favorite.
A note about the drive: On Sundays the bicyclists get the right of way on the roads. Which makes for an interesting drive up the mountain. To get to La Chorrera, you start up the same road as Monserrate. Many people will be biking right up along the road with you. I will say I am exceptionally impressed by the depth perception of all the drivers on the roads. There will still be lots of honking.
Digital Nomad in Bogota
Was Bogota a good location for digital nomads? YES, absolutely. There are a plethora of coworking locations to plop down and rent space. The wifi was strong and uninterrupted for the two weeks I was there. Although I did bring my Solis Hotspot for backup (and for getting around the city without a sim). I do have an affiliate link to share if you are interested in Solis: LINK Coupon Code: KINZ11
Wifi: Great
Time zone: Eastern Time
Electrical Sockets: Types A and B. Plug type A is the plug which has two flat parallel pins and plug type B is the plug which has two flat parallel pins and a grounding pin. Colombia operates on a 110V supply voltage and 60Hz. Great news to my American readers, type A & B do not require any type of converter plug. the supply voltage is similar to our 120V and 60Hz (the standard fluctuating between 110 – 127V), we are compatible!
The infrastructure is set for a digital nomad. The cost of living is extremely affordable. I can confidently say that you will meet other digital nomads in Bogota.
(In light of being fully transparent, some of the links on this page are affiliate links and if you go through them to join/make a purchase/or complete any other related offer I will earn affiliate credit &/or commission.)
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