City guide to Medellín: how to spend 5 days

Medellín is the second largest city in Colombia with a population of about 4 million people. It’s located in a deep valley with tall skyward buildings in the centre and tightly packed houses sprawling outwards from the center up the sides of the valley. The city sits at an elevation of 1500m. The city has undergone a massive transformation in recent years and it’s clear why it is such an attractive city for travelers to visit with it’s pleasant temperate climate (although it rained A LOT when we were there), great restaurants and lively bar scene, museums, walking tours and public artwork. Medellín is my favourite city in Colombia by a mile and there is just so much to do here.

Getting there and away

Medellín is located in the basin of a valley surrounded by mountains and difficult to get to over land, long bumping buses so I suggest flying into it if you’re coming up further north or south. From the Zona Cafetera or Bogota you can easily take a bus. It’s a 10 hour bus from Bogota and a 6 hour bus from he coffee region.

By air: Medellín has two airports, any international or domestic flights will come and go from Aeropuerto Internacional Jose Maria Cordova. It’s about 45 mins on bus 10,000 from airport which costs $10,000 or a $75,000 COP taxi. On the way to the airport we got a collectivo from near the bus station for $12,000 each. However the car lost control and spun a full 360 degrees across the other side of the road and we were blessed nothing was coming behind or the other way. Don’t think policing tyre tread depth is high on the Colombian polices’ list of priorities and I doubt there is such a thing as an NCT or MOT here. Although uber is illegal in Colombia I’ve found those drivers the safest and most reliable. We flew from Santa Marta with Viva Air for less than $30 and got a flight to Bogota from Medellin with Avianca for $40 so domestic flights work out really cheap.

The bus from the airport drops you at San Diego Mall or the bus terminal. From San Diego Mall a taxi to the El Poblado area is $5000 COP.

Getting around Medellín:

Medellín is the only city in Colombia to have a metro and the Paisa’s (people from Medellín) are very proud of it. They also have a series of gondolas that connect the higher up areas to the city and are a unique way to travel and see the city. Basically a ski lift over the city. Buy a metro ticket and top it up with a couple of journeys. You can travel for as long as you like for the same price as one stop. Each trip costs about $2500 COP (less than a euro).

Things to do

1. Comuna 13 tour: This tour is a must in Medellín. This neighbourhood was once one of the most dangerous in Medellín and has undergone a huge transformation and now is safe to visit. The houses in this area are crammed together and cling to the mountainside above the city. The new addition of outdoor escalators provide access to homes in marginalised areas that were previously isolated from the city. I did this tour with Zippy and our guide Laura is a local who hails from the Comuna herself. She brought us to her house which has one of the best views of the city. Her family have set up the cutest cafe on the rooftop of their home. She shared her experiences growing up in Comuna 13 while we ate empanadas made by her sisters. The graffiti in this area is seriously impressive too. The tour was a free walking tour and goes twice a day. There were other paid f tours of Comuna 13 but our free tour was amazing.

2. Discover the real city on a free city walking tour: we did this tour through Real City Tours and it was another excellent tour. We got to see real downtown Medellín and learn more about the history of the city.

3. Go shopping at Santa Fe shopping centre: this massive shopping center has all the American and European brands you would expect at home. If you need to pick up and toiletries, makeup or clothes you’ll get it all here.

4. Visit Museo Casa de la Memoria: this is a good free museum that illustrates the urban conflict in Medellín. You can download the app and listen as you go around the museum. Survivors share their moving encounters of the conflict in Medellín. Its open everyday except Mondays. Tues- Fri 9am – 6pm and from 10am- 4pm on weekends.

5. Eat your way around Mercado del Río: I could have spend all day eating around the market. They have every type of food under one roof, even an avocado restaurant. It’s a bit pricer than other areas to eat but worth it.

6. See Medellín from above and wander around Arvi Park. From Medellín you can take the gondola to Santa Domingo Station and see the city from above. The views are incredible! From here you can pay $12,000 COP return to get another cable car to Arvi Park which is 30km from Medellín. Only a few minutes in a cable car you are completely in the countryside surrounded by trees and mountains and nothing else. There are hikes to do here. It’s chilly up here to bring a jumper.

7. Soak up the atmosphere at a football match. Unfortunately there wasn’t a match on during our couple of days in the city but from what I’ve seen second hand and heard, they are brilliant. Absolutely crazy and a must go even if you’re not a football fan.

Where to stay

Black sheep hostel– lovely hostel run by an Aussie with new dorms and bathrooms. Really spacious dorms, good kitchen, laundry and chill out area to watch TV. Costs €12 a night.

We visited Los Patios Boutique hostel which is lovely and good central location. It has a gym, good social activities everyday, a bar crawl on Fridays and good kitchen. It’s very pricey for a hostel though at €17 a night for a dorm but definition of flashbacker comfort.

Where to eat

There are so many good places to eat in Medellín, I wanted to stay longer purely to get to try out more places. Here are some of the places we ate:

• Bao Bei: unreal Asian fusion food. The flavours were amazing and its pretty good value. It opens at 6.30 pm and there are two sittings. It’s full by 6.35 pm so get there early, people start queueing and putting their names down on a list from 6pm.

• Mundoverde– this place does poke bowls, salad bowls, stir frys and great desserts. One of the few places I’ve found in Colombia you can make your own salad and sit in a nice restaurant to eat it.

• Mercado del Río: all types of food under one roof. The Indian and crepes looked good, as does lavocadoderia.

The Kebab House: Quick, cheap and delicious falafel salads, wraps and other lebanese cuisine. Eight of us went out to eat one evening as we had ordered, eaten and paid in under minutes. The meal cost about €6.

Around Medellín

Guatapé is a little resort village about a 2 hour drive or bus ride from Medellín and is best known for its colourful buildings and the vast man made reservoir it sits by, the Peñol-Guatapé Reservoir. Before hitting the town you will see La Piedra del
Peñol, or the rock of Guatapé. It’s about a 45 min walk or 10 min bus ride from the entrance of El Peñol to Guatapé.

You don’t need to go on a tour, just take the bus from Medellín which takes 2 hours and ask the driver to let you off at la piedra. Don’t mind the tuk tuk drivers telling you it’s a really long walk to the rock, it’s not, it’s about ten minutes. The real climbing starts once you’ve paid the entrance fee of $18,000 COP and are faced with 720 steps ahead of you.

They say the view is the best in the world, it’s definitely not but it’s up there and fairly impressive.

We got some mango and a mango beer at the top before heading down to get the bus to Guatapé. You can definitely spend a night here but we didn’t feel the need to, a day is perfect for wandering around, taking photos and sampling the food but if you have time, it’s a gorgeous town to spend more time in. Book your bus back to Medellin as soon as you arrive in the town as the last bus is at 6pm and they book out.

You are spoilt for choice with so many good places to eat here. Cinnamon buns seem to be a delicacy here. We had lunch in Namaste, a vegan and veggie restaurant that was recommended to us in the tourist information center.

Ideally I would spend a week in this incredible city but we had booked flight to Bogota and were pushed for time. Anywhere between 4-7 days is sufficient to see the cities major sights, visit Guatape, go to a football match, walk the legs off yourself doing walking tours, eat all the food, see the city from a gondola and sample the night life.

Thanks for reading!