Following our weekend in Bogotá we flew straight to Medellín with Avianca, the national airlines. While it’s technically possible to drive to Medellín, all guides and locals suggested flying.
We landed in Medellin and took a quick, cheap Uber to the hotel. We were staying at the Marriott Medellin which is located in the El Poblado district. According to most people we spoke with, this is a common district in which most tourists stay.
The hotel was good, nothing special and felt more like a business hotel. The pool was tiny – if you’re looking for a decent place to swim and relax – look elsewhere.
There were a small number of restaurants near by, but most of the restaurants we wanted to try were a longer 15min walk away. The district is quite hilly so not appropriate to walk around in sandals.
Walking tour – recommended
Similar to our plans in Bogota, we were keen to explore the city and signed up for a free city walking tour. We’ve done similar walking tours all over the world and find them a fun way to meet people, see the city and hear about the local history. We booked a slot on the Real City Tours website and were confirmed quickly on the morning tour.
We’d highly recommend the Real City Tour – it was great to see the city and get an introduction to the city’s tram system. We also used it to get some ideas on where to eat and what else to see.
Graffiti tour – recommended
Next up was a city street art tour. We used the Comuna 13 Tour company to get a group tour of the neighborhood. There’s a lot of walking on this tour – be sure to wear appropriate footwear and make sure you have sunscreen – the tour is very exposed to the sun.
The sights of the tour were excellent – we enjoyed the artwork and getting to see some of the views of the city from the cable cars. The history of the cable cars and how they’ve transformed Medellin was interesting.
Medellin Restaurant recommendation – Colosal
On the advice of the hotel, we grabbed a last minute reservation at the Colosal restaurant – a relatively expensive restaurant by Colombian standards, but one that offers superb views of the city. We had no problem getting an Uber to and from the restaurant which is up some very twisty roads.
