Colombia (Lonely Planet, 5th Edition) - Jens Porup [52]
The ground floor looks at pre-Columbian history, with rather oblique references to past groups and some gripping Muisca mummies that may date as far back as 1500 years. Things pick up on the second floor, where in room 9 (surrounded, oddly enough, by Spanish colonial art) you can see an English-language video of how a recently built road disrupted life in a Caribbean town.
On the third floor, room 16 gives the best sense of old prison life – with old cells now done up in various exhibits. The first on the right regards Jorge Gaitán, the populist leader whose 1948 assassination set off the Bogotazo violence – and coincidentally delayed the opening of this museum! There’s also a hall devoted to playful modern art by local artists Botero, Obregón and Weiderman. Curiously the La Violencia period of the 20th century and guerrilla groups are scarcely covered.
Afterwards, the lovely gardens have a nice glass cafe, and there are many good eating options on nearby Calle 29.
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Northern Bogotá
For shoppers, high-class foodies, or the boutique-hotel and club crowd, Bogotá’s north offers endless options. For traditional travelers – looking for quirky museums, street fairs and hot chocolate – the north trails La Candelaria.
The three main areas are Zona G (roughly between Calles 69 and 70, east of Carrera 7), most popular for eating; a 15-minute walk north Zona Rosa overflows with commercial action, centered at its T-shaped pedestrian heart ‘Zona T’ (at Av 82A between Carreras 12 and 13).
A 10-minute walk north leads to the slightly more polite Parque 93, with a tidy patch of green lined with nice (and chain) restaurants.
A few blocks east, Museo El Chicó (Map; 623 1066; www.museodelchico.com, in Spanish; Mercedes Sierra de Pérez, Carrera 7A No 93-01; adult/student COP$2500/1500; 10am-5pm Mon-Fri, 8am-noon Sat) is housed in a fine 18th-century casona (large, rambling house) surrounded by what was once a vast hacienda, now little more than a garden. It features a collection of historic objects of decorative art, mostly from Europe, plus a kids’ park.
The World Trade Center (Map; cnr Calle 100 & Carrera 8A) is the heart of Calle 100’s ‘financial district,’ with business offices and a couple of hotels.
Once a pueblo outside Bogotá, and now enveloped in the metropolis, the atmospheric neighborhood of Usaquén (Map), about 30 blocks northeast of Parque 93, still lives like a village – albeit one with upper-class locals and a quaint central plaza surrounded by stylish antique shops, chic bars and fusion-style eateries. The roughly 10-square-block area is centered by the quaint Plaza Central de Usaquén (Map; btwn Carreras 6 & 6A & Calles 118 & 119). It’s best coming on Sunday for its flea market.
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Western Bogotá
Many travelers limit their western forays to trips to the bus station or airport, but there are a few here-and-there attractions. At 360 hectares, Parque Simón Bolívar (Map) is slightly larger than New York’s Central Park, something that more than a few of the weekend draw of 200,000 local park go-ers like to point out. It’s a nice spot, with lakes, bike paths and walkways, public libraries, stadiums and many events including the beloved Rock al Parque in October or November. The ‘Simón Bolívar’ stop on TransMilenio’s E line reaches the east end of the park (at Av Ciudad de Quito and Calle 64).
West of the park (reachable by foot via a pedestrian bridge over busy Av 68, then past the El Salitre sports complex), the Jardín Botánico José Celestino Mutis (Map; 437 7060; www.jbb.gov.co, in Spanish; Calle 63 No 68-95; 8am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm Sat & Sun) has a variety of national flora from different climatic zones, some in gardens and others in greenhouses. Airport-bound buses along Autopista El Dorado pass by near the gardens.
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HIGHLIGHTS OF SOUTHERN & WESTERN BOGOTÁ
It’s a sad state of affairs, but the bulk of Bogotá – pretty much anything outside