VISITING BOGOTÁ
Bogotá is the metropolitan center of Colombia, with a total population of nearly 10 million people. It is a vibrant and diverse city with a lot to offer in terms of historical sites, museums, markets, shopping, cafés, restaurants and nightlife.
The city was founded in the 1530s by the Spanish conquerors, right at the heart of one of the most important indigenous cultures that dominated the area at the time. The architecture of the city center (La Candelaria) still maintains a lot of the colonial charm, mixed with neoclassical and modern buildings. It is beautifully bordered by green mountains (the cerros) that shelter the city to the east.
Bogotá is located 2,640mt (8,675ft) above sea level. Its weather is pleasant and cool all year round (50°F/10°C-68°F/20°C). It can rain during any month of the year, so having an umbrella with you can be useful as well as dressing in layers.
Bogotá overview
Air travel
The International Airport of El Dorado (BOG) serves the city of Bogotá and was renovated recently. It is located in the west of the city, only 13 miles from the city center where Universidad de los Andes is located.
Transportation to and from the airport
The best way to travel to and from the airport is a taxi cab. Make sure to use a taxi service authorized by the airport. As soon as you go through customs in the airport and get the exit, you will find taxis next to the pavement, look for the booths with Taxi signs where you will find authorized personnel identified with orange jackets who will help you get a taxi.
You can also request a safe taxi using the APPs “Uber”, “Tappsi” or “Easy Tappsi”. These APPs use only registered taxis and confirm the plates of the taxi that will pick you up. The airport has free Wifi. Remember that if you decide to take an application service, you have to go to the first floor of the airport, because this taxis cannot park in the authorized taxis pavement, it means where the taxi signs are. Furthermore, it is suggested to use these Apps to move around the city.
Taxis to and from the airport can cost between $20,000 and $40,000 Colombian pesos, depending on the area of the city where you are going.
Your hotel can help you arrange a taxi service back to the airport on your departure date. Ask them about the appropriate time to leave the hotel in order to get to the airport in time. Arrive at the airport 3 hour prior to the time of your flight for international flights, and 1.5 hours for national flights.
Local transport in Bogotá
Bogotá has a public transportation system that includes TransMilenio (the main mass transit system, which works like a subway but is run by red buses in an exclusive lane at street level), and SITP buses (blue and orange buses without an exclusive lane). TransMilenio and SITP buses use fare cards (“Tarjeta tu llave” or “Tarjeta cliente frecuente”) that you have to buy in advance. A trip in a TransMilenio is $2,000 and a trip in a SITP bus is $1,700. For more information about each option you can go to the following links:
You can also download the APP “Moovit”, which helps you find the possible ways to get to your destination by giving you information about public transportation routes, stops and schedules, as well as alternative ways to move around the city.
For those staying at hotels in the north of the city near carrera séptima (Av. 7), the best SITP route to get to Universidad de los Andes is orange bus 18-3.
Taxis are another good way to move around the city. We recommend you do not get a taxi directly in the street but instead have your hotel arrange for a taxi or use one of the following APP services:
“Uber”: it allows you to order a trip with registered private cars that drive passengers to their destinations. You don’t have to pay the driver directly. Instead, the APP charges your credit card directly.
“Tappsi” or “Easy Taxi”: these apps help you order a registered yellow taxi from your current location. The APP confirms the plates of the taxi that will pick you up.
Traffic in Bogotá can be very heavy, especially during rush hour. Keep this in mind when planning your itineraries
Accommodation in Bogotá
The conference will be held at the Universidad de los Andes, located next to both Bogotá's city center (El Centro/ Las Aguas) and historic district (La Candelaria; Calle 7–17). The local conference organizers recommend finding accomodation in the following districts of the city, to maximize your comfort and enjoyment of the city of Bogotá. You will note in your online hotel searchs that other districts (e.g., Candelaria, Centro Internacional, El Centro, Parque 93, Salitre, Usaquén) are highly rated by travelers to Bogotá, but it should be noted that these other areas will require extensive travel time to the conference site or are not comfortable places to be at night. It is worth emphasizing that Bogotá traffic can be exceedingly, prohibitively heavy.
Transport information
Chapinero Alto; the Zona G; Rosales.
It is the local conference organizers' strong recommendation that first-time travellers to Latin America stay in these three districts. They are about 5 miles north of the city center either in Chapinero Alto (Calle 53–Calle 62) the Zona G (Calle 67–70) or Rosales (Calle 67–76), all east of Carrera 7 (Carrera 1–7). These districts are some of the most pleasant districts of the city that are still close to Los Andes (15–20 minute taxi ride; $3–5 USD), and they offer mid-range to upscale hotels, artisan restaurants, and urban infrastructure typical of any "desirable"–"very desirable" neighborhood elsewhere in the world. These districts preserve some of Bogotá's best architecture and are especially nice to walk around at night, though it is always best to walk together in groups.
Hotel suggestions
There are some suggested hotels whose icons appear below. These hotels have been chosen for their exceptional quality and service in their different categories, and all are official hotel providers of Universidad de los Andes. Below you will also find information about the housing service at Los Andes.
Remember that taxi prices in Colombia are ruled by a unit cost table. So, a trip from or to the airport has an extra charge of $ 4100 Colombian Pesos (1,5 Euros). A trip from the airport to Los Andes University can be 250 or 260 units, this is $24 000 Colombian Pesos, approximately 9 Euros.
You can easily calculate the total price of the units of your trip using this web site:
For further information, please go to this website:
https://vivienda.uniandes.edu.co/index.php/cityu-torre-2
Also you can download the brochure below to get to know the spaces and the instructions for reservation:
Email: viviendauniversitaria@uniandes.edu.co
Accommodation at Los Andes University
The organizing committee strongly recommends the University housing service which opened early this year.
The colloquium's plenary sessions will be held in the auditoriums of these buildings, so this would be a very practical option of accommodation during the days of the event.
Breakfast is included as well as the cleaning services (fresh bed sheets and towels).
Below you can find more information about the types of rooms, the conditions for reservations and the costs: