How Safe Is Bogota For Tourists? My Experience

Intro

After heading down from Costa Rica on Volaris, I spent a couple of nights in Bogota. A question that a lot of people have been asking me; Is Bogota safe? I have decided to make this post to showcase my experiences.

It Is... Mostly

I was out and about for the majority of the two nights in Bogota, heading down to the South and up to the North. Throughout my time there, I found Bogota quite a safe city. There weren't times that I felt uneasy apart from one instance. I had just finished watching Man United vs Liverpool, and the police pulled up next to me telling me to put my phone away.

The reason... I was discussing this with my Uber driver, who witnessed this, and he said that people can snatch phones out of their hands very easily. This was in Parque 93 as a point of reference, by far my favorite area in Bogota!!

So.. What Would I Recommend?

If I can offer a couple of pieces of advice before you go, these are them. However, these apply to all places in the world, not just Bogota. These are all personal opinions by the way..

1. Don't have your phone out for long periods of time as a friend of mine had one knicked a little bit ago. If you need to check quickly where you are going that's fine but I wouldn't stand on the sidewalk for 20 minutes on your phone.

2. Know where you are going, or at least somewhat. Have some sense of direction and don't look like a tourist wanting to be robbed...

3. Take Ubers! I love the concept of Uber, but I don't like how much they take from drivers. However, Uber is your best friend in Colombia. I got mine from the airport in the departures area. If you are wondering, there is a taxi mafia just like in most countries in the world. I found Uber to be safe and the drivers friendly! This especially applies at night if you are coming back from a club. Diminish the opportunity to have anything bad happen.

4. Treat others how you would like to be treated... I find Colombians to be fun and outgoing people who are more so respectful. As I watched the United Liverpool game, they all congratulated me on the victory.

These tips all sound simple, don't they? They should as Bogota isn't as dangerous as people say in "most areas", I cannot speak for the whole city. It's just like any country and with extremely minimal precautions, everything should be okay 🙂.