Think twice.
Numbeo's Safety Index puts Bogota at 33/100 for crime — that makes it read sketchier than Colombia's national picture overall (43/100 vs 45/100).
City page · part of Colombia
The one number a country page can't give you
What people who actually live in Bogota report
Numbeo aggregates thousands of resident-submitted perception surveys into a per-city Crime Index (higher = worse) and its inverse, a Safety Index — the only real city-granularity crime signal feeding this page, alongside Colombia's national advisory, political, health, and police-trust data.
Crime Index
66.7
Safety Index
33.3
Sub-scores
Same real inputs as Colombia's national page, with crime swapped for Bogota's own Numbeo number above.
Local know-how
Staying safe in Bogota, specifically
- • Bogotá is not at all as dangerous as it once was and as it may occasionally have been portrayed in certain movies.
- • The principal safety concerns for travelers are pickpockets and the occasional taxi crime.
- • Taxi crime is a weird problem here (see "Million Dollar Ride" below).
- • The Million Dollar Ride (Spanish: Paseo Millonario). Although this infamous event is mostly a thing of the past, separate incidents still occur.…
Legal status (national law)
Legal since 1981+ UN decl. sign.
Source: Wikipedia — LGBTQ rights by country →Pack this, know this
The little things that trip people up
Plug & voltage
A / B · 120V
Driving side
right
Emergency
police: 112 / ambulance: 125 / fire: 119
Tipping
A service charge of 10% is generally added to the bill in nice restaurants (if it's not, you should add it yourself). Tipping taxi drivers is not common. Most "tipping" is merely rounding up to the nearest thousand pesos (e.g., rounding up your cafe bill to COP$7,000 from COP$6,700). Private tour guides do not need to be tipped, but it is common to do so, if you liked the guide.
SIM / Data
Carriers: It's simple enough to get a SIM card and even an unlocked phone at the international airport in Bogotá, although there is, of course, a price hike. They're not hard to find in any city either, just ask your hotel or hostel staff where to go. Topping up is also easy, and can be done pretty much on any street corner.
Cash vs. Card
The currency of Colombia is the Colombian peso, but the symbol you will encounter is $ (ISO code: COP). Wikivoyage uses the notation "COP$" for clarity.
How this compares to Colombia
Numbeo's Safety Index puts Bogota at 33/100 for crime — that makes it read sketchier than Colombia's national picture overall (43/100 vs 45/100).
See the full Colombia page and all receipts →