May vs June

Best match

Rainy season easing — better mornings and still very affordable before the June dry season.

• ↑May sits at the transition between the first wet season and the second dry season. The heavy afternoon rains of April begin to ease and the mornings extend into the early afternoon before clouds build. The surrounding Sabana de Bogotá — the vast high-altitude plateau in which the city sits — is at maximum green and the weekend escapes to small towns like Villa de Leyva (three hours north, a beautifully preserved colonial town) or Zipaquirá (with its underground Salt Cathedral, a genuinely extraordinary subterranean cathedral carved into a working salt mine) are at their most scenic.
• ↑The Bogotá restaurant scene is particularly accessible in May: a post-rainy-season crowd at the Zona Rosa and the Chicó neighbourhood restaurants and bars is less international-tourist-heavy and more local. The hip café corridor along Calle 67 in Chapinero Alto — home to Azahar coffee, Café Quindío, and several excellent pan de bono bakeries — is at its most relaxed.

Best match

Second dry season opens — clear skies, the Ciclovía at its best, and international visitors start arriving.

• ↑June marks the opening of Bogotá's second dry season (June–August) and the city is at its most photogenic and most comfortable. The Ciclovía on Sunday mornings in June sunshine — with the Andes visible to both east and west and the city's famous street art along the Séptima route — is the quintessential Bogotá experience. Rent a bicycle from one of the stands near the Parque de la 93 or Parque Nacional.
• ↑The Bogotá Philharmonic and the Teatro Colón (Colombia's national opera house, built in 1895 and magnificently restored) programme their best performances for the dry season months when audiences travel most easily. Tickets are extraordinarily affordable by international standards.