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How to live like a local in Bogotá
Where to stay
Overview
Get out of the city center and head for Usaquén, a charming neighborhood surrounded by mountains in the northeast of Bogotá. The streets are packed with characterful colonial buildings, you’re spoiled for choice with restaurants, and there’s not only the huge Hacienda Santa Barbara shopping mall at your disposal, but the fabulous weekly flea market, Mercado de las Pulgas.
Locals use the highly efficient TransMilenio rapid bus transit system. It works like an overground subway system and is one of the world’s largest public transport networks. Download the TransMilenio y SITP app to research your journey and buy a card at the entry to the station you’re starting from before loading it with journeys. The passcard (tarjeta) costs 6,000 pesos ($1.50) and an average trip is 3,600 to 4,600 pesos.
What’s Nearby
Where to shop
Overview
A wonderful assault on the senses, Paloquemao Market is not laid on for tourists to buy snow globes and souvenir keyrings. It’s packed with Bogotá residents who still, for the most part, eschew supermarkets in favor of produce from local vendors.
Explore the narrow alleyways: There’s a large area of the market dedicated to flowers (Colombia is the second-largest flower exporter in the world, so chances are the lilies, chrysanthemums, and carnations you buy at your local florist were grown here), and sections dedicated to meat, fish, fruit, and veg. Stock up on fruit such as granadillas and guanabanas (a Colombian soursop), while snacking on arepas (corn-flour tortillas filled with meat or veg) or almojábana, the local cheese bread.
What’s Nearby
Where to eat
Overview
Opt for small, family-run restaurants offering a menú del día. They can be found all over Bogotá (just look for the sign), and you’ll be treated to a budget-friendly lunch of soup, followed by a meat of the day with rice, plantain, beans, and salad, alongside Bogotános refueling before returning to work.
What’s Nearby

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