Bogota food tour

BOGOTÁ FOOD TOUR - Perched more than 2,600 metres up in the Andes, Bogotá is a city that runs on hot drinks, hearty soups and the comforting smell of corn on the grill. Its historic heart, La Candelaria, is a maze of cobbled streets, colonial churches and colourful murals where Indigenous traditions, Spanish recipes and flavours from every corner of Colombia meet. As the evening chill sets in, the cafés and corner kitchens come alive, and this is where the locals come to eat.

Over four hours and 15+ tastings, we're eating our way from a bustling neighbourhood market through the lantern-lit streets of La Candelaria, with a game of tejo, Colombia's explosive national sport, along the way.

First, warm up with a crisp roasted pork lechona empanada and a plate of exotic Colombian fruits. Then step into a cultural house celebrating the Amazon for crispy chicharrones de pirarucú, one of the largest freshwater fish on Earth, served with casabe, a cassava flatbread, and a hot Andean passion fruit punch, hervido de maracuyá. Next, discover the sacred coca leaf with a cup of mate de coca, a tradition that Andean communities have shared for centuries.

Pull up a chair at a classic neighbourhood eatery for Bogotá's favourite comfort food: changua, a gentle milk and egg soup, with a parade of arepas, from the cheesy arepa boyacense to the sweet and white arepa de peto. Then take a trip to the Caribbean coast with a crispy arepa de huevo, a corn fritter with an egg hidden inside.

At an old-school bakery, tear into warm pan de yuca, then crunch on achiras, a traditional biscuit from Huila, and sip a thick chocolate santafereño. In Bogotá, it's traditional to drop a slice of cheese into your hot chocolate. Trust us.

Follow the steam to a family kitchen for a rich Pacific fish soup, sopa de pescado, with a glass of jugo de borojó, a jungle fruit juice from the Pacific coast.

Still hungry? Good. We're not finished yet. Try your hand at tejo, Colombia's national sport, where players hurl metal discs at targets packed with tiny explosive charges. Then refuel with a golden chicken empanada before finishing on a sweet note with aborrajados, ripe plantain filled with melted cheese.