*This blog post isn’t sponsored; we just want to help!
In our previous blog post, which was a local’s edition of what to do in Bogota, one of my tourism tips was to ride a bike around the city to explore it. It soon hit me… people who come to Bogota don’t inherently have a bike to ride around.
So I thought I would do the research and help you guys out so you can just come here, to Just North, and find out where to rent a bike or where to take the best bike tours.
Here we go!
BogoTravel Tours
BogoTravel Tours has the best prices for renting bikes I could find online. They range from a simple setup to use for 4 hours that costs USD $11 to a setup with everything you need up to a baby seat for an entire day that costs USD $25. They even have tandem bikes!
As for bike tours, this company offers one of the most complete tours that operators in the city normally offer, at one of the best prices (USD $20).
BogoTravel Tours also offers an amazing graffiti tour, in which you just ride around to see Bogota’s graffiti. And I say the tour is amazing because Bogota’s graffiti is amazing. I hear during the trip they tell you about how Justin Bieber’s ill attitude started a graffiti revolution in Bogota. I’ll say no more! You’ll have to see it yourself!
Graffiti tours cost the same as a normal bike tour and are offered Monday to Friday because on Weekends and Holidays there’s a City Bike Tour, which covers most of the Graffiti tour’s spots.
Check them out here for more information and how to contact them!
Bogota Bike Tours
I had to include Bogota Bike Tours in this post because I just like them. On top of offering bike tours that are just as complete as BogoTravel Tours and at the same price (USD $20), they will give you a free tour if you donate an old, working computer. They give those computers to children who need them, and I like that.
Check them out here for more information and how to contact them!
Tips:
1. Always be prepared for rain. Bogota’s weather is crazy; you never know when or where it’s going to hit!
2. Make sure you definitely bike or jog or do some exercise on Sunday. The city of Bogota closes a whole lot of city streets for people to exercise, but mostly for bikers to do their thing. It’s called Ciclovia.
3. Don’t stay downtown, go explore the city! Tours have upsides and downsides. The upside is that you get a lot of cool information and do activities you wouldn’t have known existed otherwise. The downside is that tour operators confine you to a section of the city.
On the other hand, when you go out on your own you get to see a lot more stuff because you can go wherever you want. But, you don’t get information along with the sightseeing and you may miss out on activities you don’t know exist. At Just North, Lala and I usually prefer to do our own thing.
In conclusion, take a bike tour AND bike by yourself! There we go. Here are just some ideas for places you can look up and search for on a bike: Parque Simon Bolivar, El Campin, Parque 93, Parque Virrey, La Calera, and Club Naval Antares (those last two are for serious bikers).
4. Uber it up to get to the bike shop. Taking an Uber is by far the safest, most comfortable way to get around town. You’ll also be surprised at how inexpensive it is if you make money in a currency that’s more valuable than the Colombian Peso. A lot of tour operators will offer to pick you up, but it’ll cost WAY more than an Uber, which you can get yourself.
Of course, you can save even more money if you take a bus or a Transmilenio. These can be more complicated to use, but that just makes them more fun.
Looking for outdoor activities to do while you’re in Bogota? Check out our list of places for outdoor activities near Bogota! We’ve been there, and we recommend them.
Here’s a video of Eric wreaking havoc, or just being weird with a GoPro biking on the streets of Bogota:
