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Bogotá is an underrated city with plenty to offer, especially for those who want a more authentic Colombian experience. It has a great restaurant scene, solid nightlife, and plenty of coworking spaces, making it a good place for remote workers. Internet speeds are excellent, and many services run 24/7.
Living costs are affordable, especially when earning in dollars. There are high-end options, but budget-friendly choices exist as well. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood—northern areas like Chico, Rosales, and Usaquén are quite safe, while the South should be avoided. Traffic is among the worst in the world, so either plan to walk most places or travel outside peak hours. Pollution is also a concern, though rain helps clear it up.
Weather can feel like permanent autumn with plenty of rain and temperature shifts throughout the day. The city isn’t the cleanest, and road quality is poor. However, it features a thriving creative scene, excellent museums, and a vibrant social scene. If you want to meet locals, knowing some Spanish is important since the nomad presence is smaller than in Medellín. Overall, Bogotá is a unique, affordable, and livable city if you pick the right area to stay in.
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Lived here for 6 months 2X over the last few years. This city is so under the radar. While medellin is overrun with gringos you will find very few here. International food is quite good and you will even find michelen starred restos here. Internet is great, and many cafes or coworking/weworks to work out of. Bogota is a tech capital in latam, so a decent place to farm out work, although dont expect mass english proficiency.
Women here are very good looking but more of the "classy" type versus the reggaeton video types you see in medellin. If you can find a solid gf/wife you will never leave trust me colombian women are one of a kind.
Traffic is some of the worst so make sure you can walk everywhere you gotta go or alternatively only travel outside of rush hour. Has all your favorite apps like uber and rappi as well. Rappi was actually invented here. Where you stay really matters as the class divide in Bogota is huge. Personally lived in Chico which I loved. Other people say rosales is good and if you like suburban life usaquen. South of the city is a no go, and probably a warzone. Night life is decent and has all types from classy to grungy. Chapinero and 85 are good for parties. Careful in chapinero at night, dont drink too much. Safety can be a problem mainly at night but if you live in chico,rosales, usaquen you dont really need to worry so much. Also Bogota is one of the most creative cities not just latam but worldwide. A true haven for artists of all types, big graffiti culture, and a ton of cool museums. Place is generally cheap if you earn dollars, but if you wanna spend big there are places. Also good for people on a budget as well. Weather wise it rains a lot and almost has a permanent "fall feeling". If you love fall its the place for you. Pollution can be bad so avoid high traffic areas in rush hour, but rain clears away pollution. For me personally Bogota is a true hidden gem, and an awesome place.
1 year ago
Lived in Bogota for 2 months, living with a local was great. The Bogota restaurant scene was amazing if you stay mostly in the tourist or rich parts of Bogota, outside of the tourist parts I only found a couple of good restaurants. I lived in the center and lived in the south of the city. Avoid the South like the plague, didn’t feel safe, low-quality infrastructure, and poor-quality restaurants. Only stay in the touristy areas as the traffic is some of the worst in the world. The weather was ok, not very cold and can have some hot days. Road quality is some of the worst in the world, I was constantly dodging potholes and if it rains the traffic becomes quite terrible. Pollution I found to be quite bad
Dating for me was pretty good, a lot better than Medellin that’s for sure.
The city itself after a few days you have seen it all and you will need to go on day trips for things to do. The city wasn’t very clean to be honest and I wouldn’t walk the streets alone at night.
Has great malls, cinemas, and medical care.
Not the worst city but not the best, I wouldn’t recommend it for long-term living. Happy to leave 5/10.
1 year ago
I've moved here permanently. Kids are in an elite school for $600pm, and I'm the only non-Colombian parent. I'm surprised there aren't more foreigners. Going to Gringo Tuesdays is a very touristy thing, I only ever went once everyone is 25 and trying to get laid basically, and its P$11,000 a beer, my local pub sells beer for $P2,000 by comparison. The longer you are here the more you discover. The "centre" of the city is really from 83rd-93rd-115th roughly, 83rd has loads of great clubs and restaurants and getting an uber at 2am is perfectly safe. Don't be hanging round calle 13 or something, visit and leave before dark! The further north you go the safer it is, above Parque 93 its probably safer than NY. There are a lot of WeWorks and the internet is super fast, I have 350MB broadband in my house, a six bedroom house with 1/4 acre garden for $400k. ScotiaBank/Colpatria gives you the best exchange rate.
3 years ago
Strongly agree that this is an underrated city! If you want to buckle down and get some work done, it's a great place to be. Folks here are a bit more serious and business minded, and it comes with generally good internet and functioning services around the city. There are a number of cool coliving buildings that make life really fun. I stayed in one called Plura Coliving for about $700/month. You get a private room/bathroom + gym, spa, bar, restaurant, laundry, coworking, rec rooms, etc. all built into the same building. Awesome place to stay!! Knowing Spanish will be more helpful, since the nomad community is much smaller than Medellín, but if you want a more authentic experience it's a great place to meet locals. Go to "Gringo Tuesday" nights at a local bar called Vintrash while you are there, great vibes and lots of fun people to meet!
3 years ago
Wildly underrated city. Lots of great restaurants, bars, nice people and wonderful museums and parks
3 years ago
I was at Bogota for two weeks last month and did not felt like doing much tourism. Its a packed city, traffic jam at its worse and a wierd vibe. Im not a city guy, though internet its great and services run 24/7. I stayed at a comercial barrio, Muequeta, in front of a uni, which felt safer.
3 years ago
I was told I was staying in an insecure part of the city by a local, but I really, truly didn't notice anything too sketchy. Walked down some bad roads, but no one tended much to be on them.
4 years ago
Nice city. Need cash in many places still hence long lines for ATMs. Safe. Pretty. Goes from cloudy to sunny to cloudy to sunny. Take a bike tour to see the city. I stay in Chapinero which was nice. There a gym called Body Tech and they'll let you work out there for free your first time. No water fountains though so bring your own.
5 years ago