Bogota

Bogotá's backbone public transit system is TransMilenio, a bus rapid transit network running on dedicated lanes with raised-platform stations, entered with a rechargeable TuLlave card. It's a flat fare regardless of distance (check the current fare before you travel — it's adjusted most years, generally each January), with free transfers within about 80 minutes of tapping in. Feeder buses (SITP) extend the network into neighborhoods the main trunk lines don't reach.

For point-to-point trips, ride-hailing apps (Uber, DiDi, InDrive, Cabify) are all active in the city and are the option most travel-safety guides recommend over street-hailed taxis, though it's worth knowing their legal status has been in a long-running regulatory grey area in Colombia — the apps work normally in practice, but this is an evolving situation rather than settled law. Self-driving isn't recommended within the city itself: traffic is heavy, street parking is limited (expect to use a paid guarded lot), and a plate-based rotation scheme ("pico y placa") restricts which days private cars can be on the road. Renting a car makes more sense for day trips outside Bogotá than for getting around within it.

Walkability varies a lot by neighborhood rather than being a citywide strength — Chapinero and La Candelaria are pleasant on foot, while the city as a whole is spread out and traffic-heavy. One Bogotá institution worth planning around: every Sunday and public holiday, roughly 120km of city streets close to cars from 7am to 2pm for the Ciclovía, a car-free cycling/walking program that's been running since the 1970s and is the oldest and largest of its kind in the world — a genuinely distinctive way to see the city if your visit lines up with one.

From El Dorado International Airport, official prepaid taxi counters in the arrivals hall are the simplest option into the city; a free shuttle bus also connects both terminals to Portal El Dorado, the nearest TransMilenio hub, for travelers continuing on the regular transit network.