Museums · Bogotá · Colombia
4 best museums in Bogotá
The collections worth your time, how long each takes and how to fit them together.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: Frank Ballesteros, CC BY 2.5
Quick answer
Start with Museo del Oro, Museo Botero and Museo Nacional de Colombia. Together the 4 picks below take roughly 9–10 hours across 3 areas; 1 is free.
Key facts
- Places in this guide
- 4
- Free entry
- 1
- Time to see them all
- 9–10 hours
- Areas
- La Candelaria, La Macarena and Ciudad Salitre
Museums in Bogotá
Museum · La Candelaria
1.Museo del Oro
The Banco de la República's Gold Museum on Parque Santander displays tens of thousands of gold objects and thousands more in ceramic, stone and textiles from Colombia's pre-Hispanic cultures.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Iconic
- History
- Art
- Rainy day
- Kids
Gallery · La Candelaria
2.Museo Botero
Housed in a colonial mansion around a courtyard, this free museum shows Fernando Botero's donation of his own paintings and sculptures alongside his collection of works by Picasso, Monet, Renoir, Dalí, Miró and others.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Art
- Free
- Rainy day
- Iconic
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Museum · La Macarena
3.Museo Nacional de Colombia
Colombia's oldest museum, founded in 1823, occupies a 19th-century star-shaped former prison, El Panóptico.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Art
- Rainy day
- Architecture
Museum · Ciudad Salitre
4.Maloka
An interactive science museum largely underground, with hands-on rooms on the human body, biodiversity and technology, and a dome cinema.
- Time needed
- 3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Rainy day
Grouped by area
| Area | Places | Time needed |
|---|---|---|
| La Candelaria | Museo del Oro and Museo Botero | 2–3 hours + 1.5–2 hours |
| La Macarena | Museo Nacional de Colombia | 2 hours |
| Ciudad Salitre | Maloka | 3 hours |
Booking and timing
Of these 4, 1 free, 2 low cost, 1 mid-priced. None needs booking far in advance. The longest visit is Museo del Oro; group the rest by area to save travel time.
How to fit them into 3 half-days
Grouped by area and kept to about four hours each, so you walk more than you ride.
- Half-day 1 (La Candelaria): Museo del Oro → Museo Botero, at least 4 hours.
- Half-day 2 (La Macarena): Museo Nacional de Colombia, at least 2 hours.
- Half-day 3 (Ciudad Salitre): Maloka, at least 3 hours.
The quietest months for queues
- January: highs of 20°C (68°F), about 7 rainy days, quiet crowds. One of the driest months, with sunny mornings and cold nights; the city is quiet in early January as residents holiday elsewhere.
- September: highs of 19°C (66°F), about 13 rainy days, quiet crowds. Mixed weather with the second rainy season approaching; a quiet month.
- November: highs of 19°C (66°F), about 17 rainy days, quiet crowds. Rainy and grey, with Christmas lights going up late in the month.
The neighbourhoods they are in
- La Candelaria — Colonial old town of museums, churches, street art and hostels below the Eastern Hills
- La Macarena — Bohemian hillside neighbourhood of galleries and small restaurants above the bullring
More of Bogotá
Questions travellers ask
+Where should I start in Bogotá?
Museo del Oro. The Banco de la República's Gold Museum on Parque Santander displays tens of thousands of gold objects and thousands more in ceramic, stone and textiles from Colombia's pre-Hispanic cultures.
+Which of these are free in Bogotá?
Museo Botero.