Begin your tour at CC Hacienda Santa Bárbara, a shopping center built directly into a 19th-century hacienda. Admire the original colonial structures preserved and integrated into the building.
From there, walk into the historic core of Usaquén. See the Iglesia de Usaquén and the Parque Central, the heart of what was once a separate town. Admire the colonial-era church, the square with its Simón Bolívar statue, and the surrounding streets that still have the proportions of a small Colombian town.
Pass the Alcaldía Local de Usaquén, the colonial town hall, still operating as a government building, and several art galleries that reflect Bogotá's strong and internationally recognized creative scene.
The restaurant strip around the park is one of the highlights: former colonial buildings transformed from the inside out. The 19th-century facades remain completely intact, but the inner courtyards – the old patios – have been covered with glass roofs or pergolas and converted into large, airy restaurant spaces. Sitting inside one of these, you're surrounded by colonial walls and flooded with light. Outside: 19th century. Inside: 21st century. It's a perfect metaphor for the city.
On Sundays, the tour extends to 3.5 hours and includes the Mercado de las Pulgas, Bogotá's most beloved arts market. Handmade crafts, food specialities, local art – and the city's own people browsing alongside you. This is not a tourist market. Bogotans have been coming here every Sunday for decades. Combined with the art market on the surrounding streets, it's one of the most authentic snapshots of Bogotá's weekend culture.
Throughout the walk, the guide brings Usaquén to life with context: how this neighborhood fits into Bogotá's stratification system (Usaquén is Estrato 5–6 – the affluent north, a world apart from the south of the same city), how Bogotá's explosive growth shaped its neighborhoods, and how the city's remarkable transformation – from one of the most dangerous cities in the world in the early 1990s to a globally recognized model for urban innovation – is visible right here, in the open streets and open doors of Usaquén.
