How to Get to Monserrate in Bogota

Published June 15, 2024

Every route ends at the base station on Carrera 5 Este and Carrera 3 Este. How you get there is up to you.

I took an Uber from my Airbnb. The ride took about 15 minutes, and the app showed the price before I got in.

Guides list the Las Aguas and Universidades Transmilenio stations as the closest. If you drive, aim for Taquilla Teleférico Monserrate.

Then there’s the walking trail. The city runs it, and it closes on Tuesdays. Climbers can start between 5 a.m. and 1 p.m., and walkers can come down until 4 p.m. I skipped it. The summit sits at roughly 3,150 meters (10,335ft), and the thin air made even a short walk hard work. Unless you’re in great shape, take the cable car.

The cable car and the funicular both go to the top. I rode the cable car up and down. Maintenance sometimes limits service to one of them, so check the official schedule the day you go.

Tickets are the other half of how to get to Monserrate. Buy your ticket on the official portal before you go. Sunset and sunrise slots fill up fast, and a timed ticket lets you skip the line to buy one.

It does not skip the other line. I bought the regular ticket online and joined the line for people who already had tickets. Plenty of people had one, and that line took about 45 minutes, with six or seven cars filling up ahead of me. I can’t tell you how long it would have been without a ticket. Arrive 45 minutes to an hour before your slot.

Once you’re in line, aim for a spot at a window. The view gets better the higher you go, so you’ll take the same photo again and again at different heights.

Going down, the line was shorter, about 30 minutes, but plan for it. The last car leaves at closing time: 10 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 5 p.m. on Sunday. If you want the sunset, pick a day other than Sunday.

The operator also sells a fast pass for 96,500 pesos, about $30. I didn’t try it, so I can’t tell you what it saves. Dollar amounts are rounded, and prices change, so check the official schedule before you go.

At the top, my body let me know where I was.

I didn’t need a jacket at sunset, but I did need to stop and breathe. A short walk took real effort, and everything seemed to cost about three times the energy.

So pace yourself. Give yourself extra time to reach the church and the overlook. Planning how to get to Monserrate means planning for the air as much as the ride. Bring your inhaler if you have asthma. If you have a heart or lung condition, ask a doctor before you go.

The view isn’t going anywhere. Take your time.

The summit is a flat area, and it’s easy to explore. Turn left from the cable car exit and you’ll find the basilica, a Monserrate sign that makes a good photo spot, and an overlook above the city.

From the overlook, Bogotá looks like the view from an airplane window. The city goes on in every direction. It hardly looks real. This is why I travel.

The basilica is open daily from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., except Tuesdays, when it opens at noon. Masses follow a posted schedule that changes by day, so check the official page before you go.

I sat in on a mass. Then I waited for the sunset.

You don’t have to attend, but step inside quietly and take a moment anyway. Then walk out through the big doors, because that’s where the view hit me. The mountains and the sky opened up in front of me, and I count it among the five most beautiful sights of my travels.

Take your time at the doors. The overlook can wait.

From the flat summit, walk to the opposite side from the basilica and you’ll find a concrete path that zigzags down the mountain. Statues line the route. They’re the Stations of the Cross.

I walked a good way down, then turned around and climbed back, because I had to rejoin the line for the ride down. At this altitude, that climb is no joke. Leave yourself extra time.

The best moment of my day happened here.

My second language is Korean, so when I heard Korean voices behind me, I turned around in surprise. Four older Korean men stood there. We started talking in Korean, and they told me they were senior military officers, including two-star generals, and that one worked for the Korean government at the president’s house. We traded stories about our time in the military.

Korean, in Bogotá, on a trail behind a church. It was the last thing I expected.

Plan for high prices. About 20 stalls line the road, roughly 10 on each side, and they sell the same goods at the same prices, so comparing won’t save you anything. I figure the prices reflect the cost of hauling supplies up the mountain.

Bring cash. The stalls didn’t take cards, and I wish I’d carried more. I always buy my sons the machine-pressed souvenir pennies, and this machine wanted two gold-colored coins, similar in look to a US dollar coin. I’m not sure what they were. They cost about a dollar apiece, plus some small change.

The sit-down restaurants are established and fairly fancy, so cards may work there. Ask before you order.

I ate ajiaco, the traditional Colombian stew of chicken and potatoes. The food was average at best, and not what I’d hoped Colombian cooking would be. The view made up for it. From my table, I watched fog and mist roll over the jungle canopy at the edge of the mountain.

I stayed until the sun started to drop, then took the cable car down. By the time I reached the bottom, the sky had turned pink in the distance and the cars on the road had their headlights on. It was still light enough to see everything.

The base is worth a stop. Shops line the street, and I grabbed a beer and some quick food. Then I heard live music, so naturally, I followed it. Give yourself a little extra time here. It’s easy to get pulled in.

When you’re ready to leave, open your Uber app and set the pickup on Carrera 1, in front of the row of small stalls across the street from the cable car station. Follow the app’s pin, because Uber may move it to a nearby corner. Before you get in, check the license plate and the driver’s name.

I stay at the same two-bedroom apartment every time I come to Bogotá, and I’ve never found a reason to switch.

My Airbnb is called Centralis Bogotá – apartment in downtown Bogotá and I paid $138 (USD) for four days. This place is very nice and large. I split the cost with my buddy Preston which came out to $17.25 USD. The apartment one block from the Las Aguas and Universidades Transmilenio stations, which is why the ride to Monserrate is so short.

Anytime I leave the apartment, I use uber and not a taxi. Always requestion an Uber from the app.

Something that is worth knowing is that in Colombia, your app gives you a six digit code that the drive must put in his system.

You want to always verify the tag number, and ask the driver who he is here to pick up. Don’t say your name first. Make them prove it.

Uber is illegal in Colombia but it runs nonstop. If the police think that you are getting into an uber, they will pull the driver over. It is nothing for the drive to tell you his name and that ya’ll are friends, in case you are pulled over.

This is the safest way to ride in Colombia. Taxi have demanded double the fare at arrival or refuse to take you to your location until you pay more.

Just stay away from Taxis.

Before my trip, I joined Facebook groups for expats in Bogota to learn what to see and what to avoid. After a lot of back and forth, a member named Cali messaged me.

He offered to show me around because he wanted to practice his English with Americans. He speaks it as well as I do.

Since my first trip to Bogota, Cali has become my permanent fixer in. If language or safe neighborhoods worry you, I recommend him.

He doesn’t drink. He’s a workout fanatic who swims twice a day, runs everywhere, and wants to make the Colombian Olympic team.

When I booked him, he charged $20 to $40 a day, so ask him for his current rate.

You can reach Cali, my Bogota Fixer, on WhatsApp and Instagram. SoyCali06

If you’re still deciding whether Bogotá feels right for you, I wrote about that in “Is Colombia Really That Dangerous?” For more places to explore, browse my Colombia travel guide.

CALI (BOGOTA FIXER) | WHATSAPP NUMBER | 57 302 2313359

Would I do it again? Yes.

I didn’t want to go. It’s the cable car, the church, the tourist trap. But everywhere I turned, people told me I had to see it. Locals too. You could see the joy on their faces when they talked about it. Tourists go, sure. But so does every Colombian who calls Bogotá home. That should tell you something. If you’re still working out how to get to Monserrate, I’d say go.

So I went. I stood in front of one of the five best views of my life, then ran into two-star generals from the command I basically worked for when I lived in Korea, speaking Korean on a trail behind a church. An average bowl of ajiaco came with clouds rolling over the jungle like they had somewhere to be. The soup was forgettable. The afternoon wasn’t. I think about that mountain more than almost any place I’ve been.

Did I enjoy Bogotá? Not really. Still, I keep going back. The tickets are cheap, I like South America, and people ask me where to go and whether I’ll come along. So I do.

Forget what you’ve heard. Your picture of Bogotá is decades old, like judging America by the 1970s. If you don’t want to see drugs, stay out of the neighborhoods that have them. Same for prostitutes. Pick your streets.

Take the family. Drink the beers. Eat something you can’t pronounce. Be happy you’re there.

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