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Travel Guide

Where to Go Glamping Close to Bogota

Posted on October 26, 2019

glamping close to bogota, where to, cheapest to most expensive

I did the research so you don’t have to. Also, I did the research because I’m looking for a place to go glamping for our honeymoon! We figured it would be nice to lay low and relax a little before traveling, and some glamorous camping fit nicely. Glamping seems to be getting extremely popular, and lots of places have sprung up in Colombia where you can glamp (is that even a word?). So here’s a list to help you choose where to glamp close to Bogota! I’ve arranged them from cheapest to most expensive (-$- to -$$$$$-), but you can be sure these are all the best spots for glamping close to Bogota at each of their price ranges.

Where to go Glamping Close to Bogota

(from cheapest to most expensive)

1. Glamping La Finca – $

Glamping La Finca isn’t quite as close to Bogota as others (about 3 hours), but it’s quite nice for its price. I would say the only thing I don’t love about the place is that the tents are lined up side by side like suburb houses. Each one of them has a hot tub, though, and they look super cozy. On top of everything, if you stay here, you’re in Villa de Leyva, which is one of Colombia’s coolest towns. There’s a ton to do. From eating at great restaurants to sweating outdoors – it’s got it all. Glamping La Finca’s prices range from $200,000 Colombian pesos (about $65 USD) to $320,000 pesos (about $100 USD) per night for 2 people depending on the day of the week and time of year. You can read about Villa de Leyva by clicking here!

2. Bajo el Cielo Glamping – $$

High in the mountains of Colombia, this glamping hostal is close to Guatavita, looking over the Tomine Dam. Their domes are spacious, minimalistic and well-designed, and their areas have everything you need for comfort. Their standard domes with private bathrooms and outdoor space cost $280,000 pesos a night for 2 people (about $87.5 USD). The domes with a Jacuzzi cost $380,000 a night (about $120 USD). These prices include breakfast, and they increase by $100,000 pesos on the weekends. Being close to Guatavita, there’s also lots to do around the area, such as hiking, town visits and even helicopter rides! Bajo el Cielo Glamping is only an hour and a half from Bogota.

3. Glamping Colombia in Guatavita – $$

This place is also close to the beautiful town of Guatavita, an hour and a half from Bogota. Each one of their glamping areas has a wooden platform, a dome with a view of the dam below, and a private bathroom. The domes are nice and spacious. Its location gives you lots to do while you’re there: you can visit lakes, hike, do outdoor sports and go for a helicopter ride. It costs $360,000 Colombian pesos for two people per night (about $110 USD) and that includes no meals. I’m also not completely sure how their prices change during weekends or the high season. I can’t speak for their customer service, but their online, pre-glamping customer service is pretty bad.

4. Niddo Suesca – $$$

Only an hour from Bogota, we’ve heard a lot about Niddo because it’s close to Colombia’s most popular climbing area. Its tents look extremely warm and homely, and are well-designed and spacious. Of all the glamping close to Bogota I’ve researched, it also looks like the most romantic spot for glamping close to Bogota. The tents are nice and far apart, although not as much as I’d like (you don’t feel as much in the middle of nowhere). The cheapest I found was the smaller Niddo at $233,000 (about $72 USD) and the most expensive was the large Niddo at $490,000 (about $150 USD). These prices are per night for two people and don’t include any food. The prices do vary depending on the day of the week and time of the year.

5. La Villa Suiza – $$$

High in the mountains, this “Swiss Village” (the name, translated) looks over one of our favorite camping areas – the Neusa Dam. I’m not exactly sure if it counts as glamping because what they have is some wonderful chalets, but they look so warm and inviting that I had to include them on this list. They have standard chalets and deluxe chalets. Their prices range from at least $350,000 pesos (about $110 USD) to $450,000 pesos (about $140 USD) for two people per night depending on the day of the week and the type of chalet you’d like to experience. If you want one with a hot tub, though, the price spikes up to $550,000 pesos!

6. Kingdome Glamping – $$$

As you may have deduced from this place’s name, they have glamping in domes. What this place boasts is their 2-story domes with internal, private hot tubs. Their spaces are big and beautifully decorated, surrounded by woods. Like 2 other places for glamping close to Bogota, this one is in Guatavita, so there’s lots to do other than glamping as well. Their 2-story domes with hot tubs cost $450,000 pesos (about $140 USD) and their standard dome costs $400,000 pesos (about $125 USD) per night for two people.

7. Terramaga Glamping – $$$$

Terramaga is located in the town of San Francisco, about an hour and a half from Bogota. This place looks like a near-perfect glamping spot – each space is nice and isolated, everything is in the woods, and some of the glamps are even right by a river. It looks super romantic and outdoorsy. That being said, it is one of the most expensive because of how great it is. Each space costs $480,000 pesos (about $150 USD) during low season and $550,000 pesos (about $170 USD) during high season per night for 2 people. They book on AirBnB.

8. Yuva Glamping – $$$$$

Yuva Glamping is probably the most expensive glamping spot close to Bogota, but also one of the most amazing I found. Each dome’s individual area is huge and nicely far apart. One of them (maybe more) is right by the river, and I can just imagine falling asleep to its gentle lull. Also, all of the glamping areas have Jacuzzis. It’s about an hour and a half from Bogota in the town of San Francisco. Two of their glamping spaces cost $530,000 pesos (about $165 USD) per night for two people and the other two cost $630,000 pesos (about $200 USD). Those prices include breakfast and they increase by $100,000 pesos during the high season.

Well, that’s that for the best places to go glamping close to Bogota! I hope this list helps you narrow down your options for a super fun experience.

If you’re looking for outdoorsy things to do close to Bogota, click here to read our blog post!

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Travel Guide

How to get to Suesca

Posted on August 29, 2018

The reason Suesca has so much tourism, and especially so much adventure tourism, is the Suesca Rocks (Rocas de Suesca in Spanish). The climbing here eventually also attracted mountain bikers and hikers. Then, hostels and restaurants started springing up, and now Suesca is a common weekend getaway for people from Bogota. There is so much to do: if you want adrenaline or nature and relaxation, Suesca’s got it. This is how to get to Suesca. You’ll also find what to do in Suesca and some things to know below!

If you’re in Suesca to climb, you’ll be interested in reading this blog post on Macheta, a less touristy place with steep, 5.12+ climbing!

How to Get to Suesca

*The map to get to Suesca from Bogota is at the end of this post!

In Public Transportation:

From Bogota, take a bus directly to Suesca. You can take the bus from the Portal Norte, which is Bogota’s Northern Bus Terminal, and anywhere on the Autopista Norte (the main highway going north) after Calle 183.
If you’re going to the town of Suesca, tell the driver and it will be obvious when to get off.
If you’re going to Suesca’s touristy area, or the Suesca Rocks, tell the driver you’re getting off at the entrance to the Suesca Rocks (la entrada a las Rocas de Suesca, in Spanish). Stay alert to when you’re getting there because sometimes the bus driver will forget to tell you you’ve arrived (you’ll see a lot of restaurants, climbing centers and hostels on your right).
You’ll find the entrance to the Suesca Rocks on a corner with a Monodedo store. Go in that road and you’ll get to a railroad.
Follow the railroad left and you’ll get to the Suesca Rocks.

In a Car:

With a GPS: if you’re going to the town of Suesca, enter “Suesca, Cundinamarca” into Google Maps or Waze and follow the directions. If you’re going to the Suesca Rocks, enter “Suesca Rocks” and do the same.

Without a GPS:

Exit Bogota going north and stay on the main road to Tunja, not the one that passes Chia.
Shortly after passing the second toll from Bogota, you’ll see a sign that says Guatavita and Suesca are to the right. Suesca is actually to the left, but you have to turn right after the bridge to take the roundabout, get on the brigde and cross it, and take the other roundabout to get on the road back to Bogota.
About 50 meters (150 feet) from there, you’ll see two roads to the right: an unpaved road that goes through a gas station and then an actual road that’s in terrible condition. Take either of them.
Following this road, you’ll soon get to a fork in the road where you have the option to go left towards Nemocon or right towards Suesca. Go right and you’ll be headed straight to Suesca.
Right before Suesca, there’s a sign that points to the right towards the Cañon de la Lechuza (Owl Canyon). Stay to the left to get all the way to the town of Suesca.
If you’re going to the Suesca Rocks, which is before the town, you can park shortly after you pass the road to Owl Canyon, where you’ll see a bunch of restaurants, climbing centers and hostels on your right. The parking lot is to the left, in a big grassy area.
After parking, walk the way you were driving and you’ll find the entrance to the Suesca Rocks on a corner with a Monodedo store. Go in that road and you’ll get to a railroad.
Follow the railroad left and you’ll get to the Suesca Rocks.

What to do in Suesca

Climbing:

If you’re not a climber, you can find a lot of hostels and tour agencies that offer climbing services. The best ones are on the street before the entrance to the rocks. I’ll warn you now, it can be pricey, but climbing is so worth it. Climbing is an extreme sport, but it is totally safe if the people you’re with know what they’re doing. It is a physical and mental challenge and a beautiful sport.

If you’re a climber, you can buy the guide book to Suesca at the Monodedo store that’s on the corner of the road you take to get to the Suesca Rocks. Other than that, do your thing. The climbing in Suesca is known for being old-school because the park has been developed since the 70s. Nowadays, the park has over 500 routes, with so many left to be opened. It has sport climbing and trad and can have some crazy run-outs. The rock is slick from use, slabby as hell and a 5.9 can be a 5.11. There are multi-pitch routes all along the cliff that you can top out. The climbing is very mental and very vertical. Enjoy!

Where to Stay:

Suesca has an endless amount of places to stay – hotels, hostels and AirBnB’s. But we know the best place! Some friends of ours have a large property right outside Suesca with a beautiful house with big windows all around. That’s without mentioning the huge fireplace, great for a rainy day spent under blankets, and the fountain that murmurs all day long. It’s one of the most comfortable place we’ve ever been. Here’s the link to their AirBnB site – they rent the house out or do it per person, and the property also has a perfect camping area.

Cycling:

Mountain biking in Suesca is almost as popular as the climbing. Suesca has some trails with long, difficult climbs and equally long, much more fun downhill rides. It’s a great place to bike because you can get some good exercise and then walk to the cliff, have a picnic or eat at an amazing restaurant. Here’s a link with a ton of bike trails to can take around Suesca. Get out there on your bicycle and enjoy this place!

Hiking:

Laguna de Suesca (Suesca Lagoon): one great place for a hike is the Suesca Lagoon. It is a big lagoon, not too deep, where you can fish. How to get to the Suesca Lagoon: enter Mirador de la Laguna de Suesca” in your GPS and follow the directions. If you don’t have a GPS, stay on the road on which you enter Suesca, which is Carrera 4A. Once outside of the town, where the road splits into three, take the middle road. Follow this road until an intersection where there will be a statue of the virgin mary to your left. Go left. Then take the next left turn and you’ll get to the Suesca Lagoon Lookout Point.
Tunnels: there’s a hike where you get to a tunnel that’s part of the Suesca railroad. I haven’t been there but it looks amazing! To get to these tunnels, turn left once you enter Suesca and then take the following right turn to get on Carrera 5. Follow this road out of the town. At the following intersection, turn left. Stay on this road and you’ll arrive at the railroad and tunnels, which will be on you left. Look at the map below to understand how to get there!
Cañon de la Lechuza (Owl Canyon): this place is known for the owls you can see during the afternoon and night and the tall cliffs that surround this part of the Bogota river’s riverbed. The best way to get here is to walk from the entrance to the Suesca Rocks, go left and follow the railroad. That way, you’ll see the rocks, the large statue of the virgin Mary, the camping area and Owl Canyon. The other option is to walk above the Suesca Rocks to the canyon. To walk up there, don’t go left with the railroad. Instead, keep going straight up the hill. You can see all this information in the map below!

Camping:

If you follow the railroad for about 10 minutes with the cliffs on your right, you’ll come to a large campsite right by the railroad to the left. It’s a great place to camp close to the rocks, but a lot of the people who stay there are there to drink and not to sleep. It’s a fun plan, but not everyone’s thing. It costs $15,000 Colombian pesos (about $5 dollars) a night per person. Another option is to go glamping, which is camping glamourously. NIDDO is a hostel with tent-like rooms that are very comfortable and even more attractive. It’s a cool experience!

Some things to know:

You can buy the climbing guide to Suesca at Monodedo, which is indicated in the map below.
The climbing here is technical, as much in the climbing style as in gear knowledge and mental strength (leading can be scary).
Make sure you take cash in Colombian pesos, especially small bills to pay buses and stores/services that can’t take your card.
Camping in the campsite in front of the Suesca Rocks costs $15,000 pesos per person a night.
The road right before the entrance to the Suesca Rocks is full of hostels, restaurants, stores and tour agencies that can help you with practically anything.
The rainy seasons are from April to June and October to November.

I hope this helped you learn how to get to Suesca and what to do in Suesca! If you’re looking for another place to explore close by, you can check out out blog on the Neusa Dam!