How to get to Bogota?
Bogota is Colombia’s best-served city, thanks to its role as capital. You can get there by bus and plane, or by car if you’ve decided to rent one. But in any case it’s going to be really simple to get to Bogota.
Disclaimer: we apologize in advance for any grammatical or syntactic errors, as our native language is not English (we're a Colombian-French couple), so we hope you'll forgive us and still enjoy the information we share with you! Please note that all the information on our blog is based on our own experience, and is checked and updated regularly.
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Getting to Bogota by bus
How to get to Bogota
Bogotá is centrally located in the country, and can be reached by direct bus from all the country’s major cities. There is also a network of regional buses linking the capital with all the villages in the region.
Getting to Bogotá by bus from Medellin
- Duration: approx. 10h
- Fare: approx. $70.000 COP
- Companies: Rapid Ochoa, Expreso Brasilia, Flota Magdalena, Bolivariano, Empresa Arauca
Bus to Bogota from Santa Marta
- Duration: approx. 16 hours
- Fare: approx. $100.000 COP
- Companies: Copetran, Expreso Brasilia, Berlinas
Bus to Bogota from Bucaramanga
- Duration: approx. 10h
- Fare: approx. $70.000 COP
- Companies: Omega, Copetran, Berlinas, Concorde
Bus to Bogota from Cali
- Duration: approx. 10h
- Fare: approx. $70.000 COP
- Companies: Expreso Palmira, Flota Magdalena, Bolivariano
Bus to Bogota from Cartagena
- Duration: approx. 22h
- Fare: approx. $100.000 COP
- Companies: Copetran, Expreso Brasilia, Berlinas
Bus to Bogota from Pereira
- Duration: approx. 8 hours
- Fare: approx. $70.000 COP
- Companies : Bolivariano, Expreso Palmira
More info on bus travel in Colombia
We’ve written an post on buses in Colombia, giving you all our tips for finding information, timetables and fares for buses in Colombia. It can be tricky, so you might as well have some tips on how to get around by clicking below.
Bogota bus terminal
Transportation to Bogota
There are three bus stations in Bogotá, known as “Bus Terminals” in Colombia:
- Terminal Salitre: the main terminal in the city center
- Terminal del Norte: located in the north of the city, for journeys to the north of the country
- Terminal del Sur: located in the south of the city for journeys to the south of the country
Where to find the Bogota Bus Terminal
- Website: terminaldetransporte.gov.co
- Address: Terminal Salitre: Diagonal 23 #69-11
- Terminal del Sur: Calle 57Q #75F-82
- Terminal del Norte: Calle 192 #19-43
- Telephone: 57 (1) 423 3600
- Mail: terminalbogota@terminaldetransporte.gov.co
- Facebook: facebook.com/TerminalBogota
How to get to Bogota Bus Terminal
How to take a cab from La Candelaria to Terminal Salitre
- Time: approx. 30 minutes
- Fare: about $15.000 COP
How to take a cab from La Candelaria to Terminal del Norte
- Time: approx. 40 minutes
- Fare: about $20.000 COP
How to take a cab from La Candelaria to Terminal Sur
- Time: approx. 40 minutes
- Fare: about $15.000 COP
Getting to Bogota by plane
Find a flight to or from Bogota
To find a flight to Bogota in Colombia, we recommend you fly with the national airline Avianca.
Fly to Bogota from Medellin
- Duration: about 1 hour
- Fare: between $100.000 and $200.000 COP
- Airlines : Avianca, Viva Colombia, Satena
Fly to Bogota from Cartagena
- Duration: approx. 1h30
- Fare: between $100.000 and $400.000 COP
- Airlines : Avianca, Latam, Viva Colombia, Wingo
Fly to Bogota from Bucaramanga
- Duration: approx. 1h30
- Fare: between $130.000 and $290.000 COP
- Airlines : Avianca, Latam, Viva Colombia
Fly to Bogota from Cali
- Duration: approx. 1 hour
- Fare: between $140.000 and $290.000 COP
- Airlines : Avianca, Latam.
Fly to Bogota from Santa Marta
- Duration: about 1h30
- Fare: between $150.000 and $250.000 COP
- Airlines : Avianca, Latam, Viva Colombia
ONLINE PAYMENTS ON COLOMBIAN WEBSITES
Refusal to pay often happens when we try to pay online. For example, this has happened to us several times on the San German Express site, the Satena site and the Avianca site. We solved the problem by using our VPN and locating it in Colombia. This enabled us to bypass local restrictions and the payment was accepted.
Bogota airport info
Transport to Bogota
Bogota airport is Colombia’s largest airport. It is served by all the world’s major airlines and offers connections from the world’s major capitals.
Where to find Bogota airport
Bogotá airport is located close to Bogotá city center.
- Name : El Dorado Airport
- Code : BOG
- Website: aeropuertocartagena.com.co
- Address: Crespo Calle 70
- Tel: 57 5 693 1351
Transfer between Bogota airport and city center
Cab from Candelaria to El Dorado airport
- Duration: between 30 minutes and 1 hour, depending on traffic.
- Fare: between $20.000 and $30.000 COP
Busbetween Candelaria and El Dorado airport
- Duration: 1h minimum depending on traffic and not counting the wait at the bus stop
- Fare: $2.200 COP – You’ll need to buy a rechargeable card beforehand at $3.000 COP
More info on airport transfers in Bogota
We’ve written an post dedicated to transportation in Bogotá, and in particular to transfers to and from Bogotá airport. Find all our tips by clicking below.
Getting to Bogota by car
How to get to Bogota
Bogota can be reached by car from any of Colombia’s major cities. To drive in Colombia, you need to respect a few safety rules, familiarize yourself with local customs and prefer to use the main roads. We explain everything in our post dedicated to driving in Colombia.
Driving from Medellin to Bogotá
- Distance: 445km
- Duration: approx. 8 hours
- Tolls: approx. $70.000 COP
Driving from Santa Marta to Bogota
- Distance: 940km
- Time: approx. 17h
- Tolls: approx. $110.000 COP
Drive from Bucaramanga to Bogota
- Distance: 400km
- Time: approx. 7h30
- Tolls: approx. $50.000 COP
Drive from Cali to Bogota
- Distance: 465km
- Time: about 8h30
- Tolls: approx. $100.000 COP
Drive from Cartagena to Bogota
- Distance: 1000km
- Time: approx. 19h
- Tolls: approx. $120.000 COP
Rent a car in Bogota
Today, car rental is becoming increasingly popular in Colombia, and it’s perfectly possible to rent a car to get around.
Of course, it’s cheaper to make a loop and return your car to the same city and agency where you booked it. But it’s also possible to rent a car for a one-way trip from point A to point B. This is what we did on our road trip between Bogota and Santa Marta.
In any case, whether you want to discover Bogotá’s surroundings, include the capital in your road trip or drive to the rest of the country, we recommend that you read our post on the subject, where we give you all the information you need to rent a car in Colombia.
Best tips
Rent a car in Colombia
To rent a car, we advise you to use the Rental Cars comparator, which gives you a complete overview of the different rental companies in Colombia.
Visit Bogota in english
Visit Bogota differently
Contact our local partner for a guided tour of Bogota in english!
Practical information about Bogota
For all practical information on Bogota, please visit our general post and our dedicated posts:
