Bogota Bike Tours — Local services in Bogota, Capital District

This bike tour is just ok but I can't really recommend it. The pros are that you cover a lot of ground (literally), it helps you familiarise yourself with the bits of the city you want to go back to and the bits you want to avoid, it's a bargain at COP45,000 (£10/$12). I'm marking it down a bit for payment method (cards not accepted/cash and PayPal only) but mostly because of our guide Mike, who was either uninterested or unaware about ... guiding. If only he spent as much time signalling to us about where we were going as he spent on his phone. More than once he went on ahead without some of us or all of us, crossed intersections when he wasn't meant to (so we did too), and for the most part he failed to indicate to us where we were going. Right? Left? Straight ahead? On the road? On the sidewalk? Are we slowing down because we're stopping or because you're using your phone? Who knows. But it's dangerous and annoying for other road users. More than once, we were in the way of pedestrians. The MVP in this tour scenario is Fabio, who made sure nobody was left behind, that we didn't get squashed or shoved by other road users, and took an interest in our general whereabouts. The bikes could be in better condition and we had a few mishaps along the way, including a loose wheel. The coffee stop was unnecessary, I didn't get why we were at that particular cafe, and the trip through Santa Fe felt like poverty tourism. There was way too much time spent at the fruit stall, and I didn't appreciate the insults (in Spanish) from locals. One person in our group said it felt like we joined Mike on his day off. Another said it was confusing that he didn't indicate. Another, however, said the lack of indicating was funny and an adventure. Go figure. We don't know Bogotá, we don't know the rules of the road, so help us out maybe? I didn't feel unsafe or threatened but, as someone who has done bike tours in diverse places (Mexico City, Tokyo, Bangkok, Berlin etc), I am unimpressed by the way this tour was run, so I'm also baffled by the high ratings. If you decide to do this tour, take a small/light backpack, a waterproof jacket, and layers you can take off and put on easily. There's no basket on the bike so only take what you can carry. Also, take cash for snacks and coffee (COP20,000 max for both) as these aren't included. I liked my coffee but would rather have used that money to...

I enjoyed my tour with Bogota Bike Tours. The owner Mike is a two decades American ex-pat ex journalist so he knows the city, speaks perfect english and is well articulated to explain the ins and outs. The bikes are 18-21 gear mountain bikes of decent quality and in decent shape. Bogota can be hilly but the tour is mostly flat and in the few parts where it goes a little bit uphill it's good to have bikes like these with lots of gears. I would highly recommend doing the tour on a Sunday (as I did) when some of the major streets are closed to car traffic so it's safer to ride a bike and easier to stick to the tour. I would also recommend doing the tour with smaller groups because otherwise it can be a bit hard to hear Mike's quite soft-spoken voice, especially with the nearby traffic on some streets. The tour was almost a bit too long (4.5 hours on the day I did it, partly because we had one member of the tour that didn't really know how to ride a bike) and focused mostly on the downtown area and a lot on the street art of Bogota (almost a tad too much, I would have loved to see more monuments and places of interest). My favorite part was when we were taken through one of the local markets and were offered samples of 10-15 varieties of local fruit (maybe not the most covid friendly activity but nevertheless very enjoyable). The price for that time is totally fair (45000 pesos, about 20...

Yuly was the most knowledgable, passionate, and caring tour guide. She is truly proud to be Colombian and she seemed genuinely interested in sharing the history, art, folklore, and culture of her country. We did a fruit tasting, visited a coffee shop, la plaza de Bolivar, discussed several murals/graffiti displays, got to create our own work of art at a local art/graffiti gallery which was my favorite, rode through neighborhoods from different estratos/levels, and stopped at a beautiful park where Yuly told us part of the history of Bogota. The entire group was very captivated, as she was a great speaker. Regarding the bike ride, it was a Sunday and there was a large parade and several vendors, people, other bikes and cars about so I would recommend this tour for people who are comfortable biking in a busy city. Overall I had an amazing time. In the beginning I thought I would just try a few fruits, some coffee, and get some exercise, but at the end of the tour, I felt I had learned a lot about the culture, people, and history of Colombia and I gained a genuine appreciation for the country and for Bogota. Gracias por una...