Everything is fun and games until you reach a new country or destination and you don’t have transportation booked to get you to your accommodation. If you are flying to Bogota, you are probably wondering how to get from Bogota airport to the city. If like most backpackers or travelers, you are planning to stay a few days in Bogota, you are likely to stay in La Candelario o el Chapienero, To help you work out how to get from El Dorado airport to your Bogota accommodation I have put together this handy guide to help you work out your options.
Most people want to get from Bogota airport to Candelaria, the cheapest and easiest way to do that is with the Transmilenio. On the other hand, if you are heading north, to Chapinaro, your best option is to take a Bogota airport transfer or a taxi.
Need a Colombia backpacking itinerary? Click here to read mine.
To make things easier for you, I’ve narrowed down five ways you can move from Bogota airport to your accommodation. Let’s get to it…
How to Get From Bogota Airport to City
- Transmilenio
- Uber
- Airport Taxi
- Colombian Buddy (private Bogota airport transfer)
- GottoGo
PS. If by chance you haven’t chosen your accommodation yet, in my opinion, the best area to stay in Bogota is Chapinero over La Candelaria.
Confession: I feel like I need to confess about my first trip to Bogota. I got out of the airport, tired, jetlagged and pretty disorientated. My Spanish was ok, but I was used to Guatemalan Spanish which was a bit slower, with less of an accent. Anyway, a guy approached me telling me he was an Uber driver and quoting me a good price into town.
Stupidly I got into his unmarked car and he took me to La Candelaria. By the time I got there, it was dark and he kicked me out close to my accommodation, telling me he was unable to drive down my street. So I reluctantly got out and then spent the next hour walking the streets unable to find my Airbnb getting more and more upset. My Guatemalan phone didn’t work, I had no local currency, and I was like a big flashing ‘gringa’ target.
In the end, the police found me wandering up on the main road and escorted me to my accommodation. It could have been so much worst, I made so many stupid mistakes, so please don’t be like me, plan your route from the airport!
Did You Get Travel Insurance Yet?
If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that you need to be prepared for anything! Travel insurance has always been high my list of things to get before I travel but now more than ever its at the top of my list.
I’m pretty sure we have all had travel plans messed up because of COVID and not all insurers covered this. So when looking for travel insurance it’s important to check it covers travel disruption due to COVID-19, Hey Mondo, Passport Nomads, Safety Wing, and Travel Insurance Master all provide cover for this.
Hey Mondo is great if you are looking for a great value flexible policy. They offer single trip cover, annual multi trip cover, and long term travel cover. You even have the option to start the cover when you are already on your trip, although you won’t be covered for the first 72 hours. For me my favourite feature is their app which offers you a 24/7 Dr chat and the ability to file a claim direct in the app.
Passport Nomads provides the most comprehensive cover for Digital Nomads. The game changer with them is that you have a red card and if you find yourself in need of medical care you just contact them and they will pre load your card with the funds to cover your treatment, meaning you won’t need to pay out of pocket and then put in a claim later.
Safety Wing is great value with monthly cover starting at $39. It’s super easy to use and it just renews each month. They have an excess of $250 and it’s simple to make a claim through their website. I currently use them as they offer me free cover for my son as part of my policy and I like that it renews on a monthly basis, so I don’t have to pay out a big lump sum up front.
I also use Travel Insurance Master for some short vacation type trips.
If you are doing shorter trips or an extended backpacking trip then Hey Mondo or Travel Insurance Master are the best option. If you are a digital nomad or planning travel of at least 6 months then go for Passport Nomads or SafetyWing.
Option 1 – Take the Transmilenio From the Airport to la Candelaria
If you are staying in La Candelaria and you are on a budget, this is by far the cheapest Bogota transportation option to get from Bogota airport to the city! It will cost you just over $2mil (about 60 cents or 50p) and it is pretty quick! There is a Transmilenio station inside the airport, so you just need to follow the signs to the Transmilenio and get on a bus to Universidades.
Check how far your accommodation is from the station and if it is still a bit of a walk then download one of the taxi or ridesharing apps and book a car or taxi to take you the rest of the way. Or just suck it up and walk! Don’t flag down a taxi, especially at night or if you are on your own.
Option 2 – Book a Transfer With GuateGo
This company is one of my favorites. They recently added Colombia to their transportation offerings, and I couldn’t be happier about it. I’ve traveled with them around Guatemala and they never failed. You can search for transportation from El Dorado airport to La Candelaria or from La Candelaria to El Dorado airport and a bunch of other options.
Option 3 – Book an Uber From the Airport to Bogota City Centre
Is Uber Legal in Colombia?
Strictly speaking, Uber is not legal in Colombia. It was banned in early 2020 but just 2 weeks later it came back online. Although, there is still a lot of tension between the taxi drivers and Uber drivers, in my opinion, it’s safer and more reliable to use one of the apps rather than just getting in a taxi.
These are the Taxi and Ride-Sharing Apps Available in Colombia (updated December 2021):
- Uber
- Beat
- DiDi
- Tapsi
- Cabify
I used Beat to get from the Airport to the north of Bogota, and it cost me less than $6 USD. I think it is more than double that in a Taxi.
Option 4 – Take an Airport Taxi to Bogota City Center
As a golden rule, don’t get in a taxi in Colombia…especially in Bogota. But Bogota airport taxis are safe, as long as you use an official one.
If your flight gets in late, taking a taxi from Bogota airport to La Candelaria is the safest option. You will see the Bogota airport taxis parked up outside the airport, to book a taxi you will normally need to go to the booth. The cost of the taxis from Bogota airport to La Candelaria should be around $15 USD.
The taxi fare from Bogota airport to Chapinaro will be a little bit more, but not much. Expect to pay around $20 USD.
A general note about taking taxis in Bogota (not airport Taxis):
Taxis in Bogota are not safe for tourists. It is commonly known that at paseo millonarios (“millionaire rides”), taxi drivers pick up tourists and then pick up some rather nasty friends. They will then take you to a cash machine and make you withdraw millions of pesos. I know people who this has happened to. That is the worst-case scenario, at best you will be taken on a nice tour of the city while the meter is running haha. Don’t risk it by picking up a cab on the street! If you need more reasons for not taking a taxi on the street, take a read of this article from How to Bogota where they explain things a little better.
If you want to get a taxi in Bogota then use the Tapsi or Easy Taxi apps. You go through a booking system and have a record of the drivers details. It is by far the safest way to take a taxi.
Option 5 – Get a Colombian Buddy to Pick You Up!
If reading this list of Bogota airport transportation options has terrified you, I’m sorry, but is better to be prepared than run into trouble because you were unprepared hay! Secondly, I have just the thing to put you at ease a Bogota airport transfer provided my Colombian Buddy.
There is a wonderful company in Bogota called Colombian Buddy, who do what they say on the tin! They can be your Colombian friend. So, why not ask them to come and pick you up from the airport and take you to your accommodation? They offer private Bogota airport transfers into the city center.
While on-route you can ask them a ton of questions about things to do in Bogota that will help you make the most of your time…BOOM!
Where to Stay in Bogota?
Airport Hotels
Here are the 3 best hotels with free transport to the airport, that I recommend staying at when you have a late/ early flight or just want to be near the El Dorado airport.
- Aloft Bogotá Airport: Great value hotel 2.5 km from the airport
- Ayenda 1045 Boutique Aeropuerto: Small place for a short stay if you are flying in or our out of Bogota
Accommodation in La Candelaria
I recommend staying in Chapenero over La Candelaria if you are staying longer than 24 hours (for safety reasons). In this blog post, I break down each of the areas in Bogota I recommend to stay in, including some recommendations.
Hotels I recommend:
Hotel Morrison
Selina Chapinaro
Republica Hostel Chapinero
Hotel Living 55
93 Luxury Suites & Residences
If you are only in town for 1 night then I recommend staying in one of these places in La Candelaria:
Selina La Candelaria
Casa artistica
Arche Noah Boutique Hostel
This post was proofread by Grammarly
Oliver
Friday 29th of April 2022
Hi Claire, you should add to your article the fact that you need to have a Transmilenio card to ride the bus. We waited for a bus and tried to pay cash, but it’s not possible. There is a booth to buy the card inside the arrivals terminal.
Lucu
Monday 23rd of November 2020
I'd like to comment that more instructions needed to locate the bus. The bus stops aren't INSIDE the airport, they are outside exit 9. I had to ask few people to locate it, there were no signs where I was exiting the airport. There are also different stops for buses going different routes, to get to Universidado you'll need the 500 bus. I had to look at the routes to figure it out. The payment is only via transport card, but I gave cash to someone who swiped it for me . Carrying change comes in handy !
Claire Summers
Saturday 5th of December 2020
Thanks, Lucu that's super helpful. I only did it traveling to the airport which was much easier! When I was there in March the bus stop was just outside the airport exit though (still within the airport grounds). Has this changed?
Andrew Caro
Thursday 13th of February 2020
Your article is quite good. The only comment I have to make is regarding the taxis. It is an unfair generalization to say that taxis are not safe for tourists. There are more than 50 thousand taxis in Bogotá, and it is a safe service. The advice should be not to stop a taxi on the road, but to ask for a taxi by phone or any of the platforms (they will come in less than 5 minutes and they’ll tell you the number of registration plate of the taxi). Most taxis belong to any of those organized platforms and they are safe.
Claire Summers
Thursday 13th of February 2020
Thanks for your comments... If you actually read my post though I do say taxis from the airport are fine and using one of the taxi aps is also safe. But flagging a taxi down on the street if you are a solo female traveler (who my blog is written for) is not a safe option. But yeah thanks for mansplaning what I already wrote ?