Medellin is a great city to stay, but for me it was another big city with hip people and cute cafes. It was good for 2 days. I had to look around and see what else is there to do, and I stumbled upon Guatape Colombia. A small town two hours away from Medellin, you will meet this beautiful and colorful town. To get here is pretty simple and here is all the details you need to go to Guatape Colombia from Medellin.
If you are impressed with this, Colombia also offers an amazing nature in La Guajira and San Blas islands which I both fell in love with. If you are interested in either of the tour, you can click here for more information.
THINGS TO DO IN GUATAPÉ
Climb Up the EL PEÑOL
After an hour and half bus ride, you see a huge rock mountain with steps that leads to heaven. I’m joking. This huge rock has about 740 steps to climb up. You get to the top and see the beautiful scenery of Guatape and the small islands around there. It is really a hardcore step because of the steepness and if you go during the day, you will be swamped by the tourists. I think the tour buses arrive around 11:00AM – 12:00PM. So better go before all the tourists arrive.
You can watch my full guide on video if you are not a reading type. It has all the description and details you need.
How to Get to Guatape Colombia
If you are more of a group tour or private tour person, you can always book through Viator or Get Your Guide. It is convenient but will have to pay a little extra for the guide and help. Below are the tours from Viator that were recommended. And I wished I have done the drone tour as well.
By the way, let’s get back to how to get to Guatape!
In Medellin, make your way to the Terminal del Norte. You can get here by taking the subway blue line A. Get off at Caribe station.
Buses from Medellin to Guatapé cost $13,500 COP. It says it takes about 1.5 hours to get to Guatape, but for me it took around 2 hours. Find your ticket at window 9 or 14. After buying the ticket, make sure to tell the bus driver you want to get off at El Penol. Or you will end up in the town.
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You can go to the town first and then go to the rock, but it only makes sense to go to the rock and go to the town. If you accidentally end up in the town, you can always ask the tuk-tuks to take you there. It takes about 10 minutes and should pay 10,000 COP.
Cost
Entrance is 18,000 COP per person. Too much to just climb up a rock, but you can’t come to Guatapé and not do it!
Guatape Colombia and Chill in the Town
Once I arrived in the town, I became a huge fan of Guatape. You will only find decorations like colorful Zocalos (which I am not sure what it means) in Guatapé and, you feel like you are tripping.
You can stay overnight as there are enough hostels in town, but for me it seemed like a few hour spending town. After climbing up the mountain, it was about 10:30AM when I arrived in the town. I just walked around the town for few hours, took some pictures and came back home.
You should stop by at the Plaza de Zocalos where all the tourists flocks to take a picture. Of I did as well. lol.
Walking around watching the people is something I love, and here it felt like I was experiencing some real Colombian local life.
Guatape can be easily done by yourself or by a tour which don’t cost a lot. But there are a lot more than just Guatape in Colombia and if you are looking to create an itinerary that fits your travel style and taste, please contact us.
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