What is perhaps most interesting about Medellin is that just 20 years ago it was widely considered the drug capital of the world. Thanks to a number of public works projects and the consensus desire among its citizens to be known for something other than drugs, Medellin has been re-branded as “the city of the eternal spring,” a title which certainly does fit its characteristics.
Weather Conditions in Medellin
Although some months carry a greater likelihood of rain, Medellin has an extremely tight range of temperature, so the conditions remain nearly constant year-round. Here is the weather data courtesy of Weatherspark.com:
Key Neighborhoods
While one could probably find gems in many barrios of Medellin, for the sake of the average travel, who has limited time, here are a few of the important ones (more detailed info available in the next post):
La Candelaria – Perhaps the tourist center of Medellin, La Candelaria is home to Plaza Botero, Parque de la Luz, and a number of streets and buildings filled with clothing and trinket shops.
Universidad – While I was unable to find a map that had categorized this neighborhood as Universidad, I heard it referred to that way and it’s understandable given that it’s metro station goes by the same name and the area is home to Universidad de Antioquia. This area is also known for the Medellin Botanical Garden and the Exploration Park (science exhibits), is easily reached by metro and provides a great bit of entertainment for families with children or couples looking for a relaxing park setting.
Prado – This residential neighborhood contains many of the older homes of wealthy citizens, two and three-story ornate mansions with gardens and gates.
El Poblado – Considered the most prestigious residential neighborhood in Medellin, El Poblado is also home to Parque Lleras, a park area teaming with restaurants, bars, and clubs. El Poblado also presents a great opportunity to live like an upper-class Colombian while in Medellin at a price you won’t believe (more below in “Where to Stay in Medellin”).
Hillside Barrios – Generally speaking, the further up the surrounding hillsides you go, the less like you are to feel comfortable as a tourist. While the hillsides are beautiful, simply by lack of proximity to good city jobs, these barrios have a more rough-and-tumble reputation. However, the city of Medellin is making significant efforts to bring opportunity to these areas through cable-cars that tie into the metro system and a strategically placed library (Biblioteca Parque Espana) and both are worth seeing.
Where to Stay in Medellin
You could stay in a hotel in Medellin and be very comfortable for less than $100 a night, but thanks to airbnb.com, you can do so much better. For whatever reason, Colombia is airbnb.com-crazy and there are some tremendous values to be found, both for groups and individuals. For example, here are some photos from our stay in the penthouse suite of a high-rise condo building in the trendy El Poblado neighborhood. The price came to $75 a night for the large studio with full kitchen, two bathrooms, washer/dryer, and doorman service…oh, and the views were okay.
If you do decide to use Airbnb, you’ll also be able to take advantage of local grocery stores, which carry great products at very reasonable prices. One example is Carulla, which happened to be within walking distance of our rental.
Getting around Medellin
As I mentioned earlier, getting around Medellin got a lot easier when the city invested heavily in its transportation system infrastructure, the center of which is a modern, sophisticated light-rail system. You can get to most any neighborhood you would want to visit with a metro ride and a bit of walking, or just take advantage of the plentiful and inexpensive yellow taxis after exiting the metro system. Do be aware that while walking in some neighborhoods, such as El Poblado, you will do some significant uphill (it is a city surrounded by hillsides after all).
Surrounding Areas
Medellin serves as a good jumping off point for a number of other Colombian places of interest, such as the architecturally significant colonial town of Santa Fe and the little city of Jardin, with its iconic town square. It’s even possible to head into the Zona Cafeteria (a countryside coffee plantation mecca) for a quick overnight or longer with a four to five hour bus ride each way.
While in Medellin, my wife and I chose, instead, to visit La Piedra (The Rock) and the charming and colorful town of Guatape. This area is truly stunning, the product of an immense hydro-electric project that powers 30% of Colombia, and La Piedra is a true oddity (more details in a later post within this series).
Traveling to Medellin
Getting to and from Medellin, like most other major cities in Colombia, is about deciding whether to fly or take a bus, and since we booked our domestic flights a few months in advance, the price difference was negligible, making flying the way to go. Nearly all international routes to Medellin lead through Bogota, so be sure that if you’ve booked an Avianca domestic flight to Bogota and plan to connect to another airline for an international flight that you take the shuttle between the two Bogota airports.
I had read that Avianca had its own airport in Bogota and that their would be complications getting to the main Bogota airport for our flight, but in truth, it was fairly simple getting on the shuttle. It still makes sense to leave plenty of time with Avianca domestic flights, as they are almost always late in departing.
One great thing about flying out of Medellin is that, while you will have to catch a longish bus-ride to the airport (which is up above the valley where the city of Medellin is located), the airport itself is a very nice facility, modern and stylish with good food options to pass the time. Here’s a video from the airport food court:
If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:
ITP Travel Report on Colombia, pt. 5: Tayrona National Park
ITP Travel Report on Colombia, pt. 4: Santa Marta
ITP Travel Report on Colombia, pt. 3: Bogota Religious Experiences
ITP Travel Report on Colombia, pt. 2: Bogota
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