Exploring Medellin: A 3-Day Itinerary for the Ultimate Colombian Experience

Day 1:

Explore Medellin

We arrived to Medellin around two in the afternoon, and shortly after dropping off our bags at the Airbnb overlooking downtown and the stadium. We quickly changed outfits and went out for a walk at Parque Natural Cerro el Volador.

When we first arrived at the entrance of the park, we were given a time limit since the park closed in an hour from our arrival time. So we felt a little bit rushed, but realized once we were up top that many families had still been enjoying the park and the sunshine. The flowers, the views and the fresh air after five days in Cartagena we're amazing!

Parque Natural Cerro el Volador

Day 2:

Comuna 13 graffiti and street food (3-4 hours)

Day two we had a jampacked schedule, since there was so much that we wanted to see in Medellin. We took a walking tour through TripAdvisor that not only taught us the history, the heartache, the art, and the rebirth of this area, but also had stops along the way for traditional Colombian food.

Our tour guide explained how dangerous this area had been not too long ago, and expressed his past in the gangs of Columbia. But then decided that he needed to make a change with others in his company. Him and friends now lead amazing tours that give travelers a insight how much can happen when a whole community works together.

Street Food

During this tour, we grabbed some bunuelos from the street vendor along with empanadas and arepas. We also got to try some local craft coffee, as well as craft beer. Lastly, we got to try a Colombian childhood staple of frozen passion fruit popsicles (paletas de maracuya).

One of the really neat things about Comuna 13 were the solar powered escalators. These were added to the area in 2011 to aid the residents in making it up 384 meters elevation. Medellin truly reminded me of Chicago, but in the mountains. The rapid development, gentrification and constant changes and increased public transportation. The people of Colombia are working so hard to see the change of their country and are so proud of their beautiful cities.

Then we took an Uber to another part of town to grab food and drinks at AlambiQue. This restaurant was absolutely stunning filled with greenery. We really loved the atmosphere and the food and drinks were delicious. We highly recommend the lulo sour, gurapo with lulo and mint and any of the juices, for food the buneulo basket and the choclo and three pork cake.

Then headed to Barrica Cerveceria for a few local beers.

Before heading to a rooftop for another look over the city as the sunset on another beautiful day in Medellin.

Then we ended the night at Colombia Craft Brewing Company. We both really liked the Australian IPA and then the bartender actually mixed a few beers together to let us try some hybrids.

Day 3:

Exotic Fruit Tour - through Airbnb experience, we booked an exotic fruit tour with a local guide named Daniel. It just ended up being the two of us and turned out to be such a magical experience. We got up early to go to the local market, where we were introduced to many new fruits and were taught how to eat them, we learned about their benefits and recipes. We tried all kinds of amazing and exotic fruits such as pitaya, corozo, feijoa and borojo, mangosteen, multiple varieties of passion fruit and dragon fruit along with many others! We finished right before lunch time and stopped at one last vendor who made a traditional limeade with fresh sugar cane juice called karimbu juice (it's to die for!!)

Jardin Botanica Medellin- The Botanic Garden was much smaller than I anticipated but was a beautiful place to sit and relax before our next walking tour later that afternoon. We saw tons of very large iguanas and enjoyed watching as they tried to take part in people's picnics. We also enjoyed a light lunch at In Situ.

Our next adventure was a free walking tour through Real City Tours to learn more about Medellin's history and development. Again, I cannot encourage you enough when traveling to a new city to look up any of the walking tours. It's a great way to learn so many interesting facts about the city and recommendations of the locals favorite activities.

On this tour you learn about Medellin's downtown (El Centro). You explore the historic districts and get first hand stories about the city, explanations of important events and urban legends all told by a local. This also gave us the opportunity to see some of Medellin's most popular parks, squares and streets. Remember these tours are free but are hosted by a local who shares their passion for the city for tips.

Plaza Botero - On of the stops on this tour was Botero Square. Here you will see 23 sculptures by Colombian sculptor Fernando Botero his pieces are known for their exaggerated volume, their voluptuousness, their big-boned bravado; some might say they’re just plain fat. Medellín installed these sculptures between the Palacio de Cultura Uribe Uribe and the Museo de Antioquia in 2002 as part of an urban renewal program. All the pieces were donated by Fernando Botero himself. Don't worry if you can't make it to Plaza Botero, you'll see his work very proudly displayed all throughout Colombia.

Overall, Medellin was a pure delight. We both stated that we would be back in a heartbeat. We ended the night celebrating in the streets with the locals. While we were there , Medellin was playing Bogota in a futbol match so the streets we packed with fans. The energy and excitement was amazing, so we grabbed some arepas from a street vendor and watched as people sported their teams jerseys and danced their way to the stadium. We had an early flight the next morning so we did make our way back to the Air BnB kind of early, but had a great view of the stadium and the fireworks.