Disclaimer: don’t bother with the CENTRE centre of Medellín if you don’t have to – it’s like GTA but less fun and you don’t respawn. But DO take one of the metro cable lines through the city to get stunnin views, namely the Arví line or the Santo Domingo line.

Comuna 13

This is like the Camden of Medellín – a graffiti town up a winding hill with lots of shops, cafés, bars and live street music with improv rappers who take the piss out of you when you walk by – what more could you want.  This neighbourhood is hectic and has beautiful views of Medellín and surrounding communes, with a really interesting transformation after bing hit by criminal groups.

Pueblito Paisa

A small replica of a traditional Antioquian town with a stunning view of the city. Make sure you try a ‘crema’ (it’s like a cross between a lolly and an ice-cream but made with real stuff – coconut is the one). You can get these in pretty much any town though.

Provenza

This is THE party zone, but even if you’re not a partier, it is such a beautiful jungle of an area that’s well worth going to with plenty of restaurants!

San Félix, Bello

This is slightly cooler as it’s much higher up at about a 45min drive from Medellín.  The views from here are obviously beautiful, and if you like paragliding this is a famous spot!

La Vuelta a Oriente (aka the East tour)

This route is a bit tricky if you’re not driving so maybe skip if you’re not.  About an hour’s drive from Medellin, there is a beautiful town called El Retiro (start here), then go 15 mins up the road to a beautiful little waterfall called Tequendamita (seen in the photo here) which has a lovely little restaurant next to it. Then move onto the small town La Ceja, and finish with San Antonio de Pereira which is famous for its desserts (legit too many to list).

Sabaneta

Full of ‘fondas’ (local pubs with food and music) and park squares with doggos all over the shop.  This is about a half an hour drive from Medellín.  You will also find giant buñuelos here the size of your head.

Los Saltos Ecoparque

A few hours’ drive from Medellín is another nature reserve, which has the highest zipline in Colombia over mountains and waterfalls, as well as other activities like aerial hammocks, hiking and waterfall climbs. Highly recommend!!

Parque Arvi

A stunning and massive nature reserve full of wildlife, trails and beautiful lakes. This park is about an hour’s drive from Medellín OR on the Arví metro cable line.  There’s lots of physical activities you can do here including zip lining, hikes and tree climbing. I would highly recommend going zip lining here as it’s SO much fun and the track is literally through the tree tops which gives you stunning views you wouldn’t otherwise get.

Rio Claro

Located near a village called ‘Doradal’, Rio Claro is a beautiful nature reserve where you can go rafting and swim under some beaut waterfalls.

SANTA FÉ DE ANTIOQUIA

This is a beautiful colonial town about 1 hour from Medellín, full of cobbled streets.  There are lots of beautiful parks to visit here, including el Parque de la Chinca and el Parque Principal, and you can visit the Puente Colgante de Occidente (Bridge of the West).  Here you should try the local tamarind sweets which are quite odd ngl.

THINGS YOU NEED TO CONSUME IN THESE ENDZ

• Salpicón – like a fruit salad with cheese and ice cream.
• Guarapo – made from sugarcane juice.
• Oblea with dulce de leche (aka arequipe) and cheese.
• Bandeja Paisa – basically a Colombian fry up.
• Mazamorra – it’s like corn soaked in milk and you add sugarcane to it which sounds vile but it’s delightful.
• Migao – hot chocolate with cheese and bread dunked in? Ridiculous but 10/10.
• Buñuelo – a fried bready ball with cheese mixed into the batter.
• Arepas – basically like bread but made with corn and they come in sooo many varieties. Try arepa de huevo, arepa de queso, and arepa de chócolo and thank me later.
• Pan de bono, pan de queso, pan de yuca, empanadas, pastel de pollo – the best of Colombia’s patisserie.
• ALL the juices! There are literally thousands of fruits in Colombia – try especially guanábana and lulo juice.

EJE CAFETERO

This is the coffee region! Full of mountains and coffee plantations, this whole area is full of nature.  First, choose a city as a base (Armenia, Pereira, etc.). From here, you can then visit a coffee region such as:

• Recuca (I loved this one).
• Salento – from here you can visit an area called Valle de Cocora which is a really cool mountainous area full of the ginormous Quindío palm trees seen in the photo here.
• Parque del Café.
• Termales de Santa Rosa – beautiful outdoor thermal baths.
• More towns include Montenegro, Quimbaya and Finlandia.

There are quite a few different coffee tours you can do over this area (and lots of other places across Colombia).  If you enjoy coffee I would definitely recommend doing at least one; they’re lots of fun and you get to try all the coffee (one tour even gave us cake to go with the coffee – chef’s kiss).

If you’re driving from Medellín towards Eje Cafetero, there are two beautiful towns which you must visit on the way!  These are Jericó and Jardín – both are small and traditional towns with stunnin views.

BOYACÁ

A region full of crazy nature.  Beautiful towns in this region include Villa de Leyva (seen here) and Ráquira. Here you will find Colombia’s largest lake – Lake Tota – and you can visit Parque Nacional El Cucuy which is full of glaciers, peaks and lakes.  Boyacá is also home to the most important (and hilariously underwhelming) bridge in Colombian history.

CALI

This is salsa city!  Full of dance shows, entertainment and Afro-Colombian culture.  Here you can visit the old town of San Antonio, go to a colourful commune called Comuna 20 and take a hike to the three crosses (Las Tres Cruces) for gorgeous views of the city.

CARTAGENA

A beautiful city on the Caribbean coast and a major Spanish settlement site with stunning beaches – you should eat their local dish of fried fish with coconut rice and patacones every minute of every day, and go to a music club called Café Havana which has the best live music in the evenings most days. There are direct short flights to Cartagena from Bogotá or Medellín (amongst other cities). There are lots of small islands around Cartagena, which you can take boats out to as a day trip (i.e. stay based in Cartagena city and spend the day on an island).  Isla Barú has one of the best beaches (Playa Blanca) but if you want to snorkel etc. the Rosario Islands are fab. But there are lots of options so take ya pick!

SAN ANDRÉS Y PROVIDENCIA

Colombian islands North of Cartagena that have the best sea and beaches.  San Andrés is the biggest and most popular island here which are great places for diving and snorkelling.  There are direct short flights to San Andrés island from Cartagena, Medellín, Bogotá (amongst other cities).

 SANTA MARTA

A coastal city in Northern Colombia, with more white sand beaches.  Here you’ll also find Parque Tayrona which is a natural park that looks like a postcard.  In an area called La Ciudad Perdida (the lost city), you can go on hikes and treks through indigenous ruins surrounded by jungle.  Palomino is another beautiful tranquil beach town a few hours from here.

Guajira (seen in the picture here) – a neighbouring city to Santa Marta full of deserts, dunes, beaches and fishing villages of indigenous communities. (The best spots for this are Cabo de la Vela and Punta Gallinas).  There are also a few flamingo sanctuaries in this region. 

 SANTANDER

A department in the Andes mountains full of valleys and mountains.  Places to visit here include:

• City of Bucaramanga.
• Chicamocha canyon (seen here) & the National Park of Chicamocha.
• San Gil – the capital of adventure and extreme sports.
• Barichara – beautiful quaint town.

San Agustín 

A town full of historical and archeological sites in the Andes mountains.  Part of a popular route from San Agustín is Tatacoa desert, which is full of desert labyrinths of different colours.

THE AMAZONS

If you would like to visit a part of the Amazon rainforests, we would recommend you visit the City of Leticia, take tours along the Amazon River and visit ‘The Three Borders’ (Las Tres Fronteras) to experience more indigenous communities.  This is an area of the Amazon rainforest on the borders of Perú, Brazil and Colombia.

 CHOCÓ

Afro-Colombia! Top places include:

• Capurganá (giant turtle sightings!) or Sapzurro – both have lots of nature, and beautiful calm beaches on the Caribbean coast. From either of these towns you can do a short hike or boat ride across the border to Panama which is called El Cruce a la Miel.
• Bahia Solano – Southern Chocó with sea and jungle and frequent whale sightings.

THE EASTERN PLANES (LLANOS ORIENTALES), AKA. ORINOQUÍA

• Casanare – safaris and nature reserves.
• Caño Cristales (La Macarena) – the most insanely beautiful river in the world (seen in the picture here).
• Cerros de Mavecure – 3 mountains home to indigenous sites.

MOUNTAIN HIKING

There are various high-altitude mountain hiking spots in Colombia including lots of snow-topped mountains and volcanos, likeeee:

• Nevado de Santa Isabel.
• Nevado del Tolima.
• Nevado del Ruiz.
• Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
• Nevado del Huila.
• Parque Nacional El Cucuy.

WEATHER IN COLOMBIA

Colombia doesn’t have seasons, but there is HUGE variety in temperature and overall weather depending on where you go. As this is mainly due to the altitude, even within the same city on the same day, driving half an hour can literally be a different climate if it’s half an hour up or down a mountain, so when planning your trip, make sure you check the weather of the actual places you plan on going and pack accordingly!

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When planning your trip, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any questions at all!!  As you can probably see, we absolutely loveeee travelling and are always happy to help!  Below are some pics from our travels.