The Best Places

Museum of Colonial Art Located in a fabulous colonial mansion, this museum houses hundreds of pieces from the time of the conquest and the early settlement of Colombia.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez Cultural Center Colombians are justly proud of their Nobel Prize-winning author, whose works are celebrated throughout the world. This new facility provides extensive information on the author, whose novels include 100 Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera. Stop by to learn more about the author, and to have a cup of good Colombian coffee in the open air cafe.

Botero Museum Fernando Botero is Colombia's best known artist, famous for his depictions in paint and sculpture of "the fat ones." The Botero Museum houses the artist's own collection of artwork, including a thunder-jowled Mona Lisa. The museum also includes works by Picasso, Monet, Renoir and Matisse.

Museum of Gold This spectacular museum is home to more than 30,000 pieces of pre-Columbian artwork, including the famous raft of Guatavita, source of the El Dorado legend. The Gold Museum is located on one of downtown Bogota's busiest plazas, the site of an informal market for Colombia's famous emeralds (and for its equally famous fakes!)

Colombia is still a bargain. Just remember: when you get hungry, avoid the American-style restaurants and instead choose one of the local favorites. A McDonald's hamburger, for example, goes for US$7, and fails to live up to the dubious standards of its American origins. La Candelaria's Restaurante Masiz, on the other hand, serves a four-course Colombian meal with veggies and fresh-squeezed fruit juice for $3.

The coffee is great too - naturally. Oma and Juan Valdez are the big chains (they are the Starbucks of Colombia), but try a locally-owned shop. At Cafe Negro the service is as fun as the coffee is rich.