The Bogotá that thinks about the future and not just the past
When you think of Bogotá, the first things that come to mind are La Candelaria, the Muisca gold, colonial architecture, and Monserrate Hill. And yes, that historic Bogotá is spectacular. But there's another city, less advertised, that pulses with the same intensity: the Bogotá of laboratories, telescopes, printed circuits, and 3D printers. It's the city where an engineer from Universidad Nacional discusses quantum physics with a barista while brewing an espresso, and where an eight-year-old builds their first robot on a Sunday morning.
This guide is for you, curious traveler, STEM student, tech professional, or parent who wants their kids to see science as an amusement park. In 48 hours, you can explore a route that combines interactive museums, open laboratories, digital fabrication workshops, and even a renovated planetarium. And no, you won't find the typical tourist route of churches and art museums here. This is something else.
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August 2026 is a perfect time for this route: the city has renovated several scientific spaces, and there's a more active maker scene than ever. The prices I mention are a reference for this month, and I always recommend checking hours before heading out, because Bogotá has a habit of changing schedules on long weekends and holidays.
1. Saturday morning: Maloka and its interactive experiments (not the typical planetarium)
Maloka is not a museum for looking at display cases. It's an interactive science center where the rule is to touch, spin, push, and experiment. It's located on Calle 26, in the west of the city, inside the Bogotá Convention and Exhibition Center. The exact address is Carrera 68D # 24A-51, and although it might sound far from the historic center, the trip is worth it.
The central experience is its permanent exhibition hall, which was renovated in 2025 with new stations on neuroscience, renewable energy, and biotechnology. But what captivates visitors most, especially adults, is the perception room: a space where your brain tricks you with optical illusions, tilted rooms that disorient you, and mirrors that distort your body. This isn't a place to rush through; plan for at least three hours inside.
The immersive dome cinema experience
Maloka has a dome cinema that rivals traditional planetariums. The screen is a giant dome that completely envelops you. Shows change each season, but the most popular ones are about astrophysics and ocean exploration. In August 2026, they're screening an experience about the James Webb telescope that is simply mind-blowing. Shows last between 40 and 50 minutes, and the cost is included in the general admission.
A fact few tourists know: Maloka has an area called “La Sala de los Niños” (The Children's Room) designed specifically for kids under 6. There, little ones can play with water, sand, and blocks that teach basic physics principles without them realizing it. If you're traveling with young children, this is the place to start the morning before they get tired.
Prices and hours (reference August 2026)
- General admission: around $25,000 COP (children under 12 and seniors over 60 pay a reduced rate of approximately $18,000 COP)
- Hours: Tuesday to Friday from 8:30am to 5:00pm; Saturdays and Sundays from 9:00am to 6:00pm
- Recommendation: buy tickets online the day before. Weekends get crowded, and lines at the box office can exceed 30 minutes.
- The dome cinema has shows every hour, but seats are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. Arrive 15 minutes before the show you want to see.
To get there from the center, the most practical option is a taxi or a ride-hailing service. The trip from La Candelaria takes about 25 minutes on a Saturday morning. You can also use the TransMilenio system: the nearest stations are El Tiempo or Concha, both on Calle 26, and from there it's about a 10-minute walk. However, the TransMilenio trip from the center can take up to 40 minutes due to transfers.
If you get hungry after Maloka, there's a fast-food spot inside, but I recommend leaving and walking two blocks to the restaurant area on Calle 26. There, you'll find everything from corrientazos (daily menu) for $15,000 COP to vegetarian options. Nothing spectacular, but it does the job.
2. Saturday afternoon: Open laboratories at Universidad Nacional (physics, chemistry, and robotics)
Universidad Nacional de Colombia is the most important higher education institution in the country, and its main campus in Bogotá is a city within a city: 300 hectares of green areas, modernist buildings, and state-of-the-art laboratories. But what few know is that several of those laboratories open their doors to the public on certain Saturdays of the month.
The program is called “Ciencia al Barrio” (Science to the Neighborhood) (although it's not exactly the official name, that's what we locals call it) and it works thanks to volunteer students and professors from the Science and Engineering faculties. On these days, visitors can enter particle physics labs, do chemistry experiments with everyday materials, and see robotics demonstrations with the university's competition teams.
How to enter without being a student
Access to the campus is controlled. You need to present your ID or passport at the main gate on Calle 26, say you're going to the open laboratories activity, and they'll give you a visitor pass. It's free, but there's an important detail: the lab workshops have limited capacity and are not reserved through the university's official website. Most attendees find out through the social media of student science outreach groups, which publish registration forms just a few days before the event.
Here's the tip I promised in the title: the "secret" schedules for these workshops are published on the Instagram and X (Twitter) accounts of the Science and Engineering faculties at Universidad Nacional, not on the university's main page. Look for the accounts of the physics, chemistry, and robotics student groups, and turn on notifications. Registration forms fill up in less than 24 hours, so you have to stay alert.
If you don't get a spot for a specific workshop, no problem: the campus has a Natural Science Museum that includes an impressive collection of fossils, insects, and stuffed birds. Admission is free, and it's open on Saturdays until 4:00pm. You can also walk around the campus and see the famous Engineering Building, a brutalist work that looks like it's from a sci-fi movie.
The campus planetarium
Inside the campus, there's a small astronomical observatory that belongs to the Science faculty. It's not as big as the Planetario de Bogotá, but it has the advantage of being free and much quieter. On Saturday afternoons, if the sky is clear, astronomy students bring out the telescopes and do solar observation. It's a completely different experience from a museum: you're talking directly with people who are studying the cosmos and explain it with contagious passion.
The observatory doesn't have a fixed address within the campus, so the best thing is to ask at the main gate for the Observatorio Astronómico de la Universidad Nacional. It's behind the Science faculty, and students can guide you. Entry is free and open.
What to bring and what not to do
- Bring your passport or ID. Without a document, they won't let you into the campus.
- Don't wear formal clothes. It's a university campus; the vibe is relaxed. Comfortable shoes because you'll walk a lot.
- Don't touch lab equipment without permission. Students are friendly, but there are safety protocols.
- If you want to eat on campus, there are several cafeterias and university restaurants. The daily plate costs around $8,000 COP and is quite decent.
3. Sunday morning: 'La Fábrica' makerspace in Chapinero: 3D printing and DIY electronics
Chapinero is the neighborhood where Bogotá gets modern. Among specialty coffee shops, vintage clothing stores, and startup offices, there's a space that's a magnet for the maker community: La Fábrica. It's not exactly a makerspace in the strict sense (it's more of a collaborative workshop), but it's the most accessible place for a visitor to have a hands-on experience with 3D printing, laser cutting, and basic electronics.
La Fábrica is on Calle 58 with Carrera 9, in the heart of Chapinero. The space is an old mechanical workshop converted into an open laboratory. It has 3D printers, a laser cutter, carpentry tools, and a small arsenal of electronic components (Arduinos, sensors, wires, breadboards).
Sunday workshops
On Sunday mornings, La Fábrica organizes an open DIY electronics workshop that's perfect for beginners. In two hours, you learn to build a basic circuit with an Arduino and program it to do something simple, like turning on LED lights in sequence or activating a small motor. You don't need any
