This week on the blog I’m featuring another great guest post written by a couple of travelers. They are Carla and Oliver and together they run Exciting Adventure. This couple left their lives in Berlin to travel and explore the world. They became nomads by doing so and now they’re on their way to become digital nomads. You can follow their journey on their blog, where they give out useful tips so that you can do the same. It is their belief that everyone should do what they love, and for them it is easier to do so as digital nomads. I am thrilled to have Carla and Oliver share with you some unique and beautiful places to see in Colombia.
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Unique and Beautiful Places To See In Colombia
Discover The Beautiful City Of Medellin And The Colourful Guatapé
Colombia has turned in the last years into a very common destination for holidays. There are many great and unique places to see in Colombia. With modern cities like Medellin and Bogotá, or beaches like the ones in San Andrés more and more people have decided to visit the country. That’s why, after spending three months in Ecuador, we also decided to give the country a shot. That, and knowing Medellin is one of the cities with most digital nomads, we thought it would be a great environment. Since we spend most of our time in Medellin and surroundings, today we are going to give you an insight to Medellin and Guatapé, a colorful town close to the city.
What Makes Medellin So Special
Medellin is the second biggest city in Colombia and probably one of the most common destinations. The city has grown over the last years and has become more modern and safe. We were very impressed how well developed the city has turned out to be. With areas like El Poblado or Laureles, that are very safe, you can walk around and enjoy the city without worrying too much. I think this is a very important factor, which has made the city grow over the last years. Also, some big investments from other countries in buildings have given the city a nicer landscape. Now tourists can enjoy a higher standard in housing options.
Perfect City For Digital Nomads
Medellin is not only modern and safe, but it also has the best weather. The city with the eternal spring offers great weather all year around. It is cheaper than many places in South America, and of course Europe or the USA. This makes it very attractive for people working online. With a huge amount of co-working spaces and cafes for digital nomads, it is the perfect environment for people working online. And that is probably what we like most about the city.
Places To See In Colombia – What To Do In Medellin?
Medellin is not only known for great parties, but there are many other fun things you can do here. From day trips to other beautiful towns around the city to the city itself. Visit the city center, very different from Laureles or El Poblado, one of the two areas you will probably be staying. Here you can go to Plaza Botero, Plaza Cisnero, Parque Simon Bolivar and so much more. You can visit the Pueblito Paisa, a reproduction of the traditional Paisa towns. Then we recommend you spend a day in Parque Explora, an interactive museum for science and technology.
You can also take a tour in the Comuna 13 and enjoy the street art. Another option to enjoy a beautiful view of the city is to take the cable cars and enjoy the views of the city from above. You will see that Medellin despite being a huge city is extremely green. Medellin has also become very known due to the Netflix series Narcos. So if you are into that part of history you can always take the Pablo Escobar tour.
If you are into nature you can go to the Botanical Park or to the Arvi regional park. Both options are a great way to spend the day in the green. And when it comes to day trips, one of the most beautiful ones is probably Guatapé, which we are going to talk about now.
Places To See In Colombia – Let’s Go To Guatapé
Guatapé is a small town located about 80 km from Medellin. You can recognize it by the colorful houses and a 200-meter rock located 5 minutes away. It is a great place to enjoy a day trip or weekend trip from Medellin. You can do it on a tour, but we recommend doing it on your own. It is very easy to get there by bus and you can enjoy it at your own pace. You can take buses in the Estación del Norte in Medellin that will bring you to the town.
Once in town, you can enjoy the beauty it has to offer. Every house has colorful tiles in the lower part of the facade. The bright colors give the town a very special look. Some of the facades have dimensioned images that tell stories about the town, the shops or the beliefs. So once in town the best thing to do is to walk around enjoying every single house and corner, because there is beauty hidden everywhere.
Colorful Town By The Water
Today Guatapé is located by the water, but it wasn’t always like that. It is located by a reservoir that was built in the 1970’s. This was a huge project by the Medellin government to build a hydro-electric dam. Now it is one of the most important electric production centers in the country. In order to do so the town, El Peñol was moved so that the whole area could be flooded. This project left the area with a beautiful view that can be enjoyed from some places in the area. They will say that it is the most beautiful view in the world.
So, with a bit of historical background, nowadays you are able to enjoy a lot of water activities in Guatapé and its surroundings. From jet ski rental, water ski or just enjoy a boat tour through the reservoir, there are many things to do.
Places To See In Colombia – The Beautiful View From El Peñol
One of the best places to see in Colombia is the beautiful view from El Peñol. El Peñol is a 200-meter granite monolith located outside of Guatapé. This huge rock rises from the bottom of the reservoir and can be seen from the whole area. You can reach the top of this rock by a set of 740 steps. From up there you can enjoy the beautiful view of the reservoir. At the bottom, you can find some shops and restaurants. In order to climb up the rock you will have to pay an entrance fee, that will cost you 18,000 pesos. This, if you ask us, is quite overpriced, but once you are there the view is worth it.
If you are coming from Medellin you can just ask the bus driver to stop at the rock. If not, from Guatapé you can reach it easily with the tuk-tuks that will leave you right there at the entrance. To go back to Medellin we recommend buying the bus ticket as you get there. Sometimes they can fill up very fast, specially if you go during the weekend.
We hope you enjoyed this insight to Colombia. We are very happy that we decided to come here and want to come back to discover more places from this country. So if you are planning a holiday, we recommend keeping Colombia in mind. You can usually find very affordable prices. Now it’s time for you to come and enjoy the people, the culture and unique places to see in Colombia.
End of Guest PostGuest Posting On The Savvy Dreamer
Thank you so much Carla and Oliver for this wonderful post. I’ve never been to South America and Colombia sounds so beautiful.
Would you like to guest post on The Savvy Dreamer? We’re always open to collaborating with other fellow amazing writers. Get in touch with us via the Contact Form. Want to check out another great travel guest post? My friend Leslie Marciniak wrote about her amazing trip to Egypt. It’s given me a serious case of wanderlust. Read it here!
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Amazing, the beautiful colours are so entrancing, I kept staring for about five minutes!
I know right. It’s one of those unique places. I’d love to visit one day.
I love travelling! In fact, I love it so much, travelling is one of the reasons I started a blog. Added Colombia to my travel bucket list! 🙂
That’s amazing Urika. I hope you’ll get to go there.
Such a good travel post! Can’t wait to visit Colombia x
Thanks. I hope you do.
I love traveling but we mostly stick to the US. After reading your post i really want to ad Columbia to our list.
Oh that sounds great. Hope you’ll get to go sometime.
Some great suggestions. Colombia is high up on my bucket list right now. It is still relatively off the tourist trail, but things are changing quickly and people are discovering that it is stunning and safer than you’d think. I hadn’t come across El Peñol before, looks amazing and what a climb!
Oh that sounds great. It’s awesome to discover these places that are not that frequented. I hope you’ll get to go soon Matt.
I wanted to visit Colombia, maybe soon. This will be my reference of the places to see there. Love the view of El Peñol.
Amazing. I hope you will be able to go soon Laurence. Thanks for bookmarking the post 🙂
Colombia is definitely on my bucket list. Great info, thanks for that! 740 steps sounds a little scary but I think I would be crazy enough to try that out. Looks very cool!
I know right? 740 steps seems like a lot. But a good workout 🙂
I have never been to Colombia. Hear many good and bad tho. Is it really dangerous as people say? Do you think I can go there as solo female traveler?
Well according to Carla and Oliver Medellin is a very safe city and great for digital nomads so you should be fine there as a solo traveler. As with any place such as this as long as you stay away from shady areas at night you should be fine.
Exactly, Medellin and Bogotá have very safe areas. And I think overall the country is becoming safer, specially the touristic places. Of course you need to take care like in any South American country or anywhere you go. But you will be fine!
Thanks for confirming this guys. And again thanks for a great guest post 🙂
It was too dangerous 25 years ago. Our Country is unique, exotic, different and with a lot of gorgeous places to visit. You can travel 3 months here and you should return to know more places. There are plans for every body, young people, families, old people. each es, jungles, Bic cities, Colonial towns, Colorful towns, rivers, mountains, snow, Deserts, Coffee zone, Amazonas, Caribe Andes and Pacific Ocean.
You can see our country in my site in Pinterest:
Colombia exotic and unique country
That’s great to hear Ana. I hope I get to see it one day. Thanks for checking out my blog ❤️
Wow you really portray the vibrancy and life of so well. The colours are just incredible and make me realise how visually boring my town really is ?? this is somewhere I need to experience xx
Oh how sweet of you to say. My town seems a bit drab in comparison as well. At least now with this terrible weather and everything being brown. It’s better in the summer.
Looks really colourful and exotic. Reminds me a lot of India 🙂 I have heard a lot about Latin American countries from friends who have visited, and Colombia is certainly worth a try.
Absolutely. I haven’t traveled to any Latin American countries either but definitely worth a visit.
Looks good, keep up the good work!
Thanks so much. And thank you for visiting my blog. Cheers ?
I was in Bogotá a few months ago and would have loved to go to Medellin! That rock locks like it’s been laced up—gorgeous!
That’s exactly what I thought when I saw it. Like it’s been laced up. I like how we think alike 🙂
Colombia is on my bucket list! Will def. have to check out these places when I go! Love your pics btw!
Oh I hope you get to go. Thanks for checking out the post.
Wow, I didn’t know that Colombia has all these stunning gems. I would love to stay Medellin since it is safe and has a good weather. I also love the fact that it has co working space around. Thank you so much for sharing this with us.
You’re welcome. It definitely is worth checking out.
I looooove the look and feel of your blog. But more importantly, Colombia! It’s so gorgeous I can’t imagine that it’s real. It looks like a movie! I’ve got to put it on my bucket list now.
Oh thank you so much for such a great compliment. Really appreciate it love.