Comuna 13 (San Javier)
The open-air escalators of San Javier lifted an entire neighbourhood, and with it a scene of mural painting, hip-hop and guides born there.
Antioquia
Medellín
Medellín occupies a narrow valley between two arms of the cordillera Central, at around 1,500 metres, where the thermometer barely moves from 22°C all year. It is a vertical city, of cables climbing the mountain and neighbourhoods that learned to reinvent themselves in full view of everyone.
Why go
What makes this destination unique
No other Colombian city has rewritten its own story with such candour. Here urban planning became politics: a metro the city looks after as something of its own, cables that carry you to cloud forest, public escalators on a hillside that twenty years ago could not be crossed. Around it, the Antioquian countryside — flowers, coffee, reservoirs — begins forty minutes from the hotel.
- When to goDecember–March and June–August are dry; April–May and October–November, wet. In early August the Feria de las Flores culminates in the Desfile de Silleteros, the flower-bearers' parade; in December the alumbrados, the lights along the river, are switched on.
- Getting thereYou fly into José María Córdova airport (MDE), at Rionegro; from Bogotá, barely an hour. The Túnel de Oriente brings the transfer to El Poblado down to around forty minutes.
What to see
What you should not miss
Metrocable Line L and Parque Arví
From the metro to the cable car and from the cable car to cloud forest: half an hour of ascent to trails and old cobbled tracks above the city.
Museo de Antioquia and Plaza Botero
Facing the old Palacio Municipal, Fernando Botero's bronzes occupy the square; inside, the collection the artist himself gave to the city of his birth.
Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín (MAMM)
In Ciudad del Río, inside the old Talleres Robledo, the MAMM brings together contemporary Colombian art, repertory cinema and a terrace looking over the valley.
Guatapé and the Piedra del Peñol
Two hours to the east, a granite monolith rises above a reservoir of endless inlets; below, the town carries its painted zócalos — panelled house fronts — one by one.
Santa Elena and the silletero farms
In the corregimiento of Santa Elena, silletero families, the flower-bearers, grow the blooms for the August parade and receive visitors on their farms all year.
Where to stay
Hotels we recommend
A selection of houses with character. We work with others too: tell us what you are looking for and we will propose the one that fits.
Signature boutique in Astorga, El Poblado
Elcielo Hotel
From the group of chef Juan Manuel Barrientos: few rooms, its own spa and the restaurant Elcielo in the same house.
Design hotel in Provenza
The Click Clack Hotel Medellín
Contemporary architecture, planting on every level and several restaurants of its own, two blocks from the heart of Provenza.
Town hotel beside the Parque Lleras
Marquee Hotel Medellín
Forty-two rooms, a terrace with a pool above El Poblado and an Italian kitchen read in a local key.
Boutique house with garden in El Poblado
Patio del Mundo
Two restored houses, a tropical garden and a domestic scale that works well for long stays and for couples.
Grand classic hotel on the Las Palmas hillside
InterContinental Medellín
The city's classic: mature gardens, two pools and distance from the noise of lower El Poblado.
Where to eat
The destination's table
The kitchens worth a reservation. We take care of the booking and the transfer.
Contemporary Colombian
Carmen
Opened in 2008 by Carmen Ángel and Rob Pevitts; Colombian produce, three separate spaces and a choice of tasting menu or à la carte.
Sensory tasting menu
Elcielo
Juan Manuel Barrientos's project: a long sequence of moments that plays on memory, smell and touch.
Asian with Colombian produce
Moshi
From the same group as Carmen: an omakase counter and Japanese technique applied to fish from the Pacific and the Caribbean.
Produce-led bistro
Sambombi Bistró Local
A menu that changes every week according to what smallholders bring in; it appears on the extended list of Latin America's 50 Best.
Traditional Antioquian
Hatoviejo
Since 1982, the reference for bandeja paisa — the loaded mountain platter — and the dishes of the highlands; several branches in the city.
Does this destination interest you? We build it into a tailor-made route.
Request a proposalHotel and restaurant information is for reference and is confirmed at the time of booking. The recommendations do not imply any commercial relationship with the establishments mentioned.
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