Guatapé and La Piedra del Peñol
A day trip from Medellín
It is a popular destination and there are a lot of different tours on offer to Guatapé. Charlie and some of her housemates at the coliving in Medellín however, wanted to find out how it would be to go there by public transport. And, it is easier than it seems at first.
How to get to Guatapé
From the coliving in Laureles, they took an Uber to the bus station Terminal del Norte. They bought their tickets at one of the counters inside the station and caught the bus to Guatapé just 20 minutes later. The price was COP 25.000 (approximately GBP 5) per person. What they hadn’t realised was that there was a seat number printed on the ticket and Colombians do care about that.
It took about 2.5 hours to arrive at the bottom of La Piedra del Peñol. It is only 80 km, however, there was quite a bit of traffic, and the last bit of the journey goes through winding roads in between mountains and lakes. The views during the bus ride are already worth the trip.
La Piedra del Peñol
It is a 220m high monolithic rock near the town of Guatapé. From the top, there is an amazing view of the mountains and lakes of the region of Antioquia. The only way up though is by taking the 708 steps and by paying the entrance fee of COP 35.000 (approximately GBP 7.50). It took Charlie and the others around 20 minutes to the top and they rewarded themselves with an ice cream.
There is a spacious parking lot at the bottom of the rock too if you arrive by car. Since Charlie and the others had come by bus, they continued their journey by public transport. The way to get to the town of Guatapé was by Tuktuk. There are a few of them waiting near the parking lot. They can take up to three passengers, and the price was COP 25.000 (approximately GBP 5) and it took about 10 minutes.
They got dropped off at the entrance of a colourful alley that was decorated with flowers.
Guatapé
The town is known for its colourful colonial-style architecture and Charlie was impressed by how well maintained all the facades were. They weren’t only colourful but looked as if they had been freshly painted. Strolling through the streets and smaller alleys, there seemed to be no end and every house shines brighter than the previous one. The murals and colours are accompanied by relief paintings that are almost like sculptures, and every house follows a different theme.
There are small cafés, restaurants, souvenir shops and boutiques for all kinds of arts and crafts.
Charlie and the others walked down to the lake as they were interested in a boat tour. They didn’t know if they could get one spontaneously and it turned out to be easier than expected. They spoke to one of the vendors at the lake and could choose between a shared, larger boat or a smaller, private charter. They went for the private charter and paid COP 250.000 (approximately GBP 50) for an hour-long ride.
The captain asked them whether they wanted to get all the information about the houses around the lake or simply enjoy the time on the water. They all agreed that they just wanted to chill in the sun and asked the captain to turn the music up.
Return to Medellin
Getting the return bus was as easy as the way out had been in the morning. They simply walked to the counter at the bus station (which is directly opposite the boat marina) and got tickets for the bus 20 minutes later. There were taxi drivers available too who offered rides to Medellin too.
PS: Cash only
It is important to know that most payments throughout the day had to be made in cash, even for the bus ticket and the boat. The entrance fee to the Piedra del Peñol can be paid by card, however, there was a queue. At the cash counter, there was none.
