We’ve pretty much established that Bogotá is clearly in the nosebleed section of the Andes. But if terrestrial pursuits don’t raise your interest, there are many ways of elevating body and soul closer to the heavens—this city isn’t at all short on lofty viewpoints.

One of the most obvious vantage points is the Sanctuary of Monserrate, perched birdlike on a mountain peak lording over downtown Bogotá. This whitewashed, colonial-era church and associated restaurants and crafts market can be accessed by cable car, vertical railway, or on foot. From its height of 3,160 meters (10,367 feet), the entire city spills from the foot of the cordillera in Liliputian proportions. Towering over even the skyscrapers, Monserrate offers views as far as the volcanic hills on the other side of the Sabana.

Nestled 162 meters (532 feet) above the streets of downtown, the observation deck of the Colpatria Tower (open weekends and holidays from 11am to 5pm) places you in the middle of the action, where you can see Matchbox-sized vehicles radiate in all directions, peek into high-rise apartment windows, or even—if you’re lucky—catch a bullfight at the Santa Maria bullring from an ultra-skybox seat.

Nocturnal vistas also dot the city, and one of the most spectacular is the view from the Café de Buenos Aires, an Argentinean tango bar and restaurant with floor-to-ceiling windows along three walls atop the Residencias Tequendama. The nearby Colpatria Tower itself is illuminated in Crayola colors, while neon signs and corporate logos add bursts of color to the otherwise topaz grid of Bogotá; one of the more colorful—certainly the brightest—points of light is the Doll’s House strip club a few blocks over on Avenida Caracas.

Uptown, literally, is the curvy, corkscrew road to La Calera, hidden in the mountains hemming in Bogotá to the east. Dotted with bars, restaurants, and nightclubs that offer L.A.-style panoramas of the northern half of the city, the road splits from the city proper along the Avenida Circunvalar, and a taxicab is required. You can enjoy the view from several of the clubs—the Auditorio La Calera (mixed crowd) and El Clóset (mostly gay) being two of the more popular ones—or from a simple scenic overlook called El Mirador. However you decide to do it, make sure you’re getting high the legal way.

Settled at the beginning of the 20th Century by the elites of Colombia’s capital, the Teusaquillo neighborhood (part of the larger district of the same name) lies studded with architectural gems in the shadow of downtown’s skyscrapers. Located between Avenida Caracas, Avenida 28, and calles 32 and 36, Teusaquillo offers brick and stone artistry and verdant landscaping among its stately residential structures.Celebrated at the city’s most elegant suburb in the 1920s, Teusaquillo grew from a football pitch at the turn of the century to Bogotá’s Bel-Air, where political luminaries, socialites, and captains of Colombian industry raised mini-mansions along with families. Noted architects Alberto Manrique Martín, Kurt Brunner, Galindo Guerra, and Hans Wiesner constructed homes in the neighborhood in the varied styles of the English Victorian period that suited Bogotá’s chilly climate while contrasting stylistically and thematically with the Iberian and colonial structures of La Candelaria or the Republican modes of the central business district.

Residences in the area reflect designs from several British and American architectural movements during the Victorian era (1837-1901): the Arts and Crafts movement, which stressed individual craftsmanship over pre-fabrication, Gothic Revival, integrating Medieval stone construction with brick masonry design, and shingle-style Queen Anne architecture that features gabled roofs underneath earth-toned shingling.

For an unexpected glimpse of Bogotá’s historical homes in a close-in, easily-accessible, and safe area (hopefully on a sunny Sunday), take TransMilenio to the Profamilia station along Avenida Caracas (at Calle 35) and head westward, away from the mountains, along any of the streets between calles 32 and 36, up until Carrera 22. Here, you’ll be transported not only to another time, but also to a quiet corner of the city that some may find more suitable for tea and crumpets than chicha and tamales.

Photo courtesy of Alejandro Forero Cuervo