Bogotá

Colombia’s capital Bogotá is a city out to prove the world wrong. Known as a violent and rather grim place in the 1990s, Bogotá has since pulled together and flourished. The arts have burgeoned, security has tightened and several enlightened schemes have been introduced – not least, the weekly cyclovia, when bicycles take over the city.

That’s not to say that this high-altitude South American metropolis still doesn’t have its share of urban problems. Poverty, congestion, crime and pollution persist, whilst its ever-growing population – already over seven million inhabitants, many of whom reside in Bogotá’s shantytowns – place pressure on services.

However, these deterrents are far outweighed by Bogotá’s attributes. Bogotá has one of the widest choices of restaurants in South America, several world-class museums, plenty of colonial churches and mansions, parks, lively street art, frequent festivals and a pulsating nightlife. A cable car also runs up into the neighbouring Andean peaks.