Guatapé, Colombia – what to visit

Hey hey! Today’s post will be dedicated to my second stop in Colombia – Guatapé and what to visit while there. When in Medellín you must dedicate a day to visit this area, it is really amazing! I received good recommendations for the place from a global trotter friend of mine and we included it in our plan. And we didn’t regret.

Guatapé is 90km outside of Medellín and it takes around 2h to get there. We decided to use the public transport to reach it. You can take the bus from the bus station, there are two things worth visiting there – the town itself and La piedra del Peñol, a volcanic rock surrounded by big river with tens of picturesque small islands in the middle of it. My recommendation is to visit the rock first and then to go to the city as it could be quite hot and crowded there.

We took the first bus at 5.30 in the morning (better to buy the tickets a day in advance, because the buses are really small and they connect Medellín with all the neighborhoods and villages on the way to Guatapé). The price is 13 000 pesos one way and you can buy it from gate number 14. The funny thing about these buses is that they almost never stop even though people go in and out. The bus just slows down and people run and jump inside. So hilarious!

Two hours later we got there. The bus leaves you at a gas station close to the rock and you have to climb some stairs before reaching La piedra. There also Jeeps offering a ride, but it is kind of another tourist trap for lazy people. La piedra del Peñol was created by volcano eruption and it is a really mesmerizing creation of the nature. It has 659 stairs to the top of the rock. It opens at 8 a.m. and as you can imagine we were the first ones there. This helped us to have a private experience and to have the opportunity to take tons of pictures without annoying tourists walking around. Also you can sit and just observe – I could do this for hours!

This is definitely the most beautiful view I have seen in my life. The entrance is 18 000 pesos. It is exhausting climbing all the stairs, but so rewarding in the end! On the top there is a small coffee place where you can buy drinks and snacks, but as it was early in the morning, was a bit chilly and windy for us.

On the other hand, downstairs there are several restaurants where you can sit and enjoy the amazing panoramic view with a drink. There we first tasted Limonada de coco – a coconut milkshake made with real coconuts cut in tiny pieces, it became my favorite drink in Colombia! Inside the lake/river on one of the islands you can see Pablo Escobar’s villa where he was killed.

Next we headed to Guatapé. Just go down to the gas station and stop one of the passing buses. The ticket is 2000 pesos and it takes 15-20 minutes to the village.

When we arrived we all were speechless by the cuteness of this place! It is so colorful and vibrant! Every single house is painted in a different color with a lot of ornaments and cartoons. The initial symbol was flower, but today you can see plenty different pictures, some of them are even indicating what is the house about – souvenir shop, bakery, restaurant, etc. Colorful tuc-tucs are crossing the narrow streets which makes it even more magical. Interesting spots are:

• The cathedral – La iglesia de nuesta señora del Carmen, located in one of the main squares.
• The square with the big silver fish .

The whole village is so so cute the you can just walk around and take pictures of every single house. It is quite small though so you need no more than two hours to cover everything. Then you can pick a restaurant or a cute coffee place and enjoy the day.

When we were there my sister and I were approached by some local people who were filming a commercial for the city and asked us to participate. So flattering 😁 Our tight schedule didn’t allow us to spend more time there so I guess I will leave becoming a Colombian celebrity for my next visit. 😁😁😁

To go back to Medellín we took the bus again, I will advise you to book it in advance (1-2h at least), because the spots are limited.

Two hours later we were in Medellín. If you missed my first post about Medellin you can read it here.

Our next stop was Tayrona national park – the eco village that we have selected for our beach vacation. But more details you can read in my next post.

See you soon when Travelista goes to…