Walking around Medellin
Charlie spent one month in Medellin. She lived at Caobo Coliving, learned Spanish with Centro Catalina, danced salsa and explored the city and its surroundings. Here are the things you shouldn’t miss when in Medellin.
Comuna 13
The main reason for Charlie to visit Medellin was street art and the most obvious place to go to for murals is comuna 13. Charlie was a bit surprised by the amount of people and she felt as if she walked into the biggest tourist trap you could find. She did a walking tour which guided her along the quieter paths and provided good information about the history. To see the street art, Charlie returned another day in the morning before all the stalls opened to walk through the area with unclouded views of the stunning murals. You’ll find more about this in her post about street art in Medellin.
Casa Museo de la Memoria
Charlie visited this museum about Colombia’s violent past as part of her Spanish course in Medellin. The content of the museum is very emotional and shows how different groups of the population were affected by the conflict. There is a lot of information in the museum – in Spanish and English – and Charlie recommends getting information about the history first to have at least an overview. She achieved that during a walking tour that was focused on the history of the conflict and the transformation.
Palacio Nacional
The Palacio Nacional in the centre of Medellin is the perfect place if you’re travelling in a group where some are interested in art and others would like to go shopping. In the lower level of the building is a shopping centre while the top floors are an art gallery with temporary exhibitions. The entrance is free.
Once per month, the Noche de Galerias takes place at the Palacio Nacional. The several rooms of the gallery turn into a night club.
Pueblito Paisa
At the top of the hill Cerro Nutibara is a reconstruction of a colonial village, Pueblito Paisa. There you can see how these villages that were built by the Spanish have originally looked and you might also see some representations of Colombian culture, mainly through music. There are regular shows by the so-called trovas, singers that combine traditional sounds with lyrics that describe the moment. There are also souvenir shops, a museum as well as restaurants and cafés.
You could drive all the way up to the village or walk and enjoy views to either side of Medellin. There are also picknick places and playgrounds.
Botanical Garden
The botanical garden of Medellin is free to enter and invites for a stroll. You should bring an ID though that they will register at the entrance. There are several sections in the botanical garden from dense forest to a cactus garden, bamboo walks and a lake where you can see turtles, ducks and iguanas. There’s a café inside the botanical garden too.
Every Sunday, there is a free yoga class in the botanical garden that provides the perfect opportunity for a visit.
Fruit tasting at the market
The main market in Medellin, Plaza Minorista Jose Maria Villa, is open every day of the week from the early hours of the morning until the evening. Most stalls though close by lunch time and it is best to go there in the morning. It is not only a fruits market; you can get there anything from clothes to household items distributed over three floors and 17 different sections.
Charlie wanted to learn more about the different kinds of fruits that are sold there and she booked a guided tour. They tasted around 30 different fruits, some juices as well a cake made of corn (“torta de chocolo”). The guide also talked about Colombian culture, e.g. the meaning of corn and arepas as well as different religions and Afro-Colombian heritage.
A note on safety: It is safe to be inside the market and there are security guards at all entrances. However, the area around the market is one to be careful in as a tourist. It is best to wait inside the market for the Uber and not stand on the street. If you book a guided tour, plan more time to arrive because there can be a heavy traffic in the area around the market.
Learn salsa or bachata
Colombia is known to be a country where salsa defines a part of the culture. If you’re a beginner, you might enjoy the group classes and socials at Dancefree. The socials are for dancers at any level. Charlie took some private classes at a dance school closer to her accommodation, Master Flow Academia de Baile.
If you are already confident on the dance floor, Son Havana and El Tibiri are the places to go for salsa.
Coffee tour
The entire region of Antioquia is known for its coffee farming and you don’t have to leave Medellin to visit a farm. There are multiple tours available. Charlie did a tour to La Sierra which included the cable car ride and a bit of history of the neighbourhood. She learned about the coffee process and even had the chance to do it herself. The group collected coffee cherries and watched the entire process. The coffee tour in Medellin finished with a coffee tasting.
Parque Arvi
If you want to get out of the city and into nature, Parque Arvi is the most convenient way to do so. You can get there conveniently by public transport; scenic views included! You take the metro to Acevedo station and from there two cable cars. The second cable car from Santo Domingo requires you to tap in with your metro card again because there is a special fare for this ride. To avoid delays, you should top up your card earlier in your journey as there could be a long queue at the ticket machine at Santo Domingo.
On the way up, you are rewarded with views over Medellin before you see the dense forest of Parque Arvi. There are murals too that you can spot near the station of Santo Domingo.
At the top, there is a visitor information where you can book guided hikes and there is a market which is usually bigger on the weekends. You can get your souvenirs there as well as some snacks, coffee and a sandwich for the hike in Parque Arvi.
You can walk around Parque Arvi on your own. Charlie booked a guided hike because she also wanted to hear a bit more about the area. They walked along ancient trails and through the forest. She would not have been able to find some of those paths without a guide. They stopped at a lake and a second time at the viewpoint Balcones. That viewpoint can be reached by car too and there is a restaurant.
Viewpoints around Medellin
Medellin is located in a valley, and you can see the mountains from any spot in the city. As such, there are multiple viewpoints available that you could visit. The most popular one is El Picacho. It comes with around 300 steps to walk up from the parking lot.
From there, it is only a short drive to San Felix – another popular viewpoint. There are multiple restaurants along the way too from where you can enjoy the views. In the evenings, there are usually bonfires and, on the weekends, live music. Charlie visited El Picacho and one of the restaurants as part of a guided tour in the evening. They were at El Picacho for the sunset and enjoyed dinner and drinks by the bonfire at La Palma Gastropub.
Visit the villages around Medellin
In the region of Antioquia are a few villages that have kept their colonial character and some of them are considered cultural heritage. The best-known and most visited of them is Guatapé which Charlie visited with some of her colivers from Caobo during her first weekend in Medellin.
The following weekend, they went to Santa Fe and took at tuk tuk to the Puente del Oriente, before returning to Medellin by chiva.
Charlie also did a guided tour to Santa Elena where they visited a silletero farm and she learned about the silletero culture from one of the farmers.
She didn’t have time to visit Jerico but did another guided tour to the towns of Hispania, Andes and Jardin. That seemed like a rushed trip but was enough to get an idea of those places and admire their colonial character. For Jardin, it is recommended to stay at least one night to get to enjoy the surrounding nature as well.
Moravia
Not far from the centre of Medellin is a neighbourhood that transports you in a different Medellin: Some still consider Moravia to be a rough area, but it is a place where you can really see the transformation. Pictures from the not-so-distant past show a mountain of garbage that used to define the area. It has since been turned into a garden project and there are communal efforts to keep gentrification out of Moravia.
Strolling through the quarter, you can admire street art and community gardens. The guide also showed Charlie a community centre and introduced her to the locals that come to learn English, take cooking classes or contribute to the art and the garden projects. It also was the first time ever that Charlie had tears rolling down her cheeks during a walking tour when the guide talked about her childhood and poverty and showed photos of Moravia’s past. All the more inspiring was the encounter with a 13-year-old boy who was practicing his English to become a tour guide when he’s grown up.
Volunteering in a social project
Medellin has no shortage of social projects, and many digital nomads are already getting involved. Charlie accompanied one of the volunteers to the project Sembradores in Comuna 13. She watched them getting an English lesson after football practice. The following weekend, they organised a football tournament to raise funds for a water tank. Charlie and some of the other colivers joined and they fully enjoyed this community driven event.
