Journey:

The longest journey so far (almost 12 hours I think in the end) but in the nicest bus so far too. The bus had wifi, seats with lots of legroom, and even some snacks. I don’t think you get buses this nice in Europe. The price was hefty at 86,000 COP pp (and of course an extra 50,000 for the surfboard – sigh.)

We were dropped off at the Medellin North Bus Terminal in the evening and we faced the task of trying to get a taxi, which should have been simple. But no, this was virtually impossible. There were so many people and so few taxis, and also no queueing system (confusing for a Brit as we love to form orderly queues) but eventually (half an hour later) we were picked up and taken to our hostel.

Accommodation:

Galeria Estacion Hostel. Our first disappointing hostel of the trip. Several of the staff were quite unfriendly and most only spoke Spanish, (although there were a couple of exceptions to this.) The room was absolutely tiny, and consisted of just a mattress on the floor, which was maybe supposed to look ‘minimalist’ and ‘arty,’ however just looked like they couldn’t be bothered. Another issue was that the breakfast portion was absolutely tiny (maybe suitable for a bird.)

However, there were some positives, like the location, very close to El Poblado metro station. Also, the wifi was good (although didn’t work at all on the last day.) Overall though, there are so many hostels in Medellin I would stay elsewhere next time.

Sights:

San Javier Cable Car

At the end of one of the metro lines is San Javier Station. We got off here and rode the cable car from this stop up into the hills of Medellin, for views over the whole city. The cable car goes over some of the poorer areas of the city, and so gave us the opportunity to see some of the favelas. This was definitely a little sad to see. The tourist areas tend to be the more wealthy areas, so you generally don’t see much of the poverty, thus the views from the cable car gave a different insight into the city.

Botanical gardens

Some beautiful gardens located right next to the University (just get off at the Universidad metro station and you can’t miss it – Medellin’s metro station makes travelling around the city really easy and cheap.) Medellin has lots of green spaces and this one is really nice to walk around for an hour or two (I’m now an old person who enjoys pretty gardens and walking.) Check out the butterfly house – it’s amazing.

Museo El Castillo

Not exactly a castle, but a house built in 1930 by a wealthy Medellin landowner. The house looks like a fairy princess castle (only way I can describe it) complete with red turrets. Apparently, it was based on the castles of the Loire Valley in France.

The gardens surrounding the building are very pretty, but the real attraction lies within the castle itself. The house has been preserved in its original state, the furniture, ornaments, clothing are originals from when the family lived in the house. It was a very interesting trip (history nerd alert) and not at all touristy, there were very few people there. Not overly expensive either at 12,000 COP pp.

Parque Berrio

We got off the metro station at Parque Berrio, which was basically the central area of the city, as there are a few places of interest here.

Firstly, there’s the Basilica de la Candeleria, the oldest church in Medellin. It’s a white church overlooking the central square in Parque Berrio. Not much more to be said about it really, but if you like churches and cathedrals it’s worth a look.

Then a little further down the street is the Plazoleta de las Esculturas, a public space in front of the Museo de Antioquia, housing 23 big sculptures made out of bronze. These aren’t just your average statues, they’re all ‘gordas’ or fat statues basically, and for some reason this makes statues far more interesting as they’re a little more quirky than normal.

Cerro Nutibara

Just outside the city centre is a hill, on top of which sits a mini town and a very impressive view of the city. At first we were stupid enough to think the view from the car park was the ‘good view’ we had heard about and were not too impressed. Fortunately, we found the real ‘good view’ which was indeed a good view.

Pablo Escobar Tour

This was our favourite activity in Medellin. I mean even if you’re not big Narcos fans (but why aren’t you – seriously) it’s an interesting insight into Medellin’s very recent history. We went with Paiso Road Tours, which is the official Pablo Escobar tour, and costs a rather large 65,000 COP each, but worth it.

Firstly, we were taken to Monaco building, the building Pablo and his family were in when the Cali Cartel bombed the apartment.

We then took a trip far up into the surrounding hills (and I mean very far up) to see the location of La Catedral, Pablo’s ‘prison,’ which is now a homeless shelter.

Finally, we went to the grave of Pablo Escobar. All in a van driven by none other than one of Pablo’s drivers (who answered our many questions very happily, and only looked mildly terrifying.)

The Medellin Cartel and the ensuing war with the government and the Cali Cartel caused absolute chaos and terror to this city, (watch narcos – do it) and to see how much the city has changed in just 20 years or so is amazing. It’s one of the cleanest, most modern cities we visited in Colombia, with its own very convenient and easy metro (a rarity in South America.) This tour was great in giving us more of an insight into Medellin’s bloody history.

Food:

I’m sure there are good areas for eating traditional Colombian food in Medellin but we didn’t really manage to find them. We’ve learnt that if you can find traditional Colombian food it’s a lot cheaper (you can get a big meal and drink for 10,000 COP or under – about $5.)

The area we were staying in was quite expensive but had a range of international cuisines, (Italian, Asian, American and so on.) We had burgers for one of our meals and the amount of different burgers you could choose from made a book (not kidding – it wasn’t a menu, it was an actual book.) Also, there were a range of cafes selling really good cake. Normally, Colombian bakeries have a wide range of sweet treats which tend to be a little disappointing but the cakes in Medellin were really good (expensive, but I’m willing to pay for good cake.)

Summary:

Medellin was a surprise. We weren’t expecting to like the city as much as we did. We hadn’t been expecting too much due to its very recent devastating history but it was modern, clean and had lots of beautiful parks. It could easily have been a city in a more developed country, yet still had the character of a Colombian city. It’s definitely one of my favourite places so far.