Bogotá vs Lima
Which would you pick?
The short answer
They cost about the same day to day — Bogotá $50–100, Lima $55–110 mid-range per person. Both are at their best in Dec–Mar, so one trip can take in both.
Side by side
Mid-range, per person, in US dollars. Both guides were costed the same way — see how we work these out.
| 🇨🇴 Bogotá | 🇵🇪 Lima | |
|---|---|---|
| Daily budgetmid-range, per person | $50–100 | $55–110 |
| Cheap meallocal staple | $4.50–7.50 | $3–6cheaper |
| Mid-range hotelper night | $75–135 | $45–95cheaper |
| Transit ridesingle trip | $1.10 | $0.40–0.80cheaper |
| Avg. monthly salarylocal, for context | ≈ $750 | ≈ $940 |
When to go
Filled months are the ones each guide recommends; hollow ones it warns off.
What you'd actually do
A few of each guide's picks, one per category before seconds — the full lists are on the guides themselves.
🇨🇴 Bogotá
A big, grey, cold-mornings capital on a plateau 2,640 m up, with a colonial core, a gold museum and a food scene most visitors fly straight past. It asks for more street sense than Medellín and gives back more than its reputation suggests.
- Museo del Oro$Museums & old town
- Monserrate$$Views & day trips
- La Puerta Falsa$Restaurants
- Zona T & Zona Rosa$$Nightlife
- Museo Botero$Museums & old town
🇵🇪 Lima
A grey-skied capital of ten million on a desert cliff above the Pacific, and — genuinely — one of the best places to eat on earth. Most people transit through it. That's a mistake.
- Cevicherías at lunchtime$$Food
- Plaza Mayor & the centre$History
- Malecón cliff walk$Coast & neighbourhoods
- Mercado de Surquillo$Food
- Larco Museum$$History
Practicalities
| Bogotá | Lima | |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Spanish, spoken slowly and clearly by Colombian standards. English in upmarket hotels and restaurants in the north; very little elsewhere. | Spanish. English is common in Miraflores and Barranco, much less so elsewhere |
| Currency | Colombian peso (COP). US$1 ≈ COP 3,300 in September 2026. Prices use a $ sign and a dot for thousands: $20.000 is COP 20,000, about $6. | Peruvian sol (S/), around S/3.75 = $1 in mid-2026 |
| Time zone | COT (UTC−5), no daylight saving | PET (UTC−5). No daylight saving |
| Power | Type A/B plugs, 110V (US plugs fit) | 220V, Types A and C — flat US-style and round European pins both common |
| Tap water | Drinkable — Bogotá's water is treated and locals drink it | Not drinkable. Bottled water throughout |
| Emergency | 123 for police, ambulance and fire | 105 police · 116 fire · 911 general |