Being Digital Nomad in Bogotá (Colombia)
We spent about ten days in Bogotá, between two planes. The city is much less cool than Medellín but it is a very convenient transportation hub, to visit Cano Cristales or the Colombian Amazon.
If you hesitate to come to South America, don’t hesitate any more because Colombia is very well adapted to digital nomads.
Where to stay in Bogotá?
We did not bother much, we booked a room in the hotel Vilar America(link Booking), which I highly recommend. It offers spacious rooms at 30€/night. Since we stay a long time, we were even upgraded in a huge room (50m ² ?) with kitchen. Luxury! With daily cleaning + buffet breakfast. Here is a video to show you the room (404) that we had. The table is really good, we settled down there to work, without having to pay coworkings.
The positive point is that there is a French restaurant specializing in flammekueches next door (all-you-can-eat formula on Wednesday evenings).
The negative point is that there is no wall separating the room, so when JB makes a call, I hear everything 😀
In any case, the Chapinero district, a business district with lots of banks nearby, is highly recommended. Because it is right next to a lot of coworking spaces (10€ max per day for the most expensive of them).
The neighborhood is safe, with plenty of good, stylish restaurants and good public transport connections. I like the Carulla supermarket where you can sit and enjoy their catering service.
Transport in Bogotá
I admit that we mainly used Cabify and Uber (1€ to 2€ per ride) but public transport works well in Bogotá.
You still have to buy a card and put some money on it (count about 2300COP the ride), you can’t pay directly in the bus. But they have an efficient bus network, in addition to the Transmilenio network, a mixed tram-bus network.
The cab in Bogota is a little more expensive than Cabify, but we were not ripped off. Be careful, the meter displays units and not the price. There is a correspondence table to consult to know the exact price. There are additional fees for night, weekend, or terminal/airport trips.
Learn more about transportation in Colombia by consulting my practical guide: 3 weeks in Colombia
Speedtest
Wifi is very good. As we are at the hotel, the speed is a little bit lower in the evening when there are a lot of people at the hotel. But that remains acceptable. When we moved in room 202, a little far from the Wifi spot, we had to use our repeater – pocket wifi Huawei to better capture in the room.
Rappi
Seeing many Rappi delivery people in Bogotá makes you wonder what’s going on in this city. In fact, this service is so popular that everyone uses it. You can even subscribe for a year to have free delivery of (1) your groceries (2) your medicines (3) your online purchases (4) cash (5) your meals, and even in non-partner restaurants. For the non-partner restaurants, you just have to make your shopping list (with pictures if you want) and someone will go and get it for you. It is terribly efficient!
To test this service and get a 3000COP welcome bonus, use our discount code: e3w14998653
Our travel diaries in Bogotá
- Bogotá (Colombia): the old city, Monserrate, Gold Museum
- Bogotá (Colombia): Flower Market & the Emerald Museum
- Where to buy an emerald in Bogotá
- Colombian SIM card
To learn more about Colombia, read all our articles here
