Medellin is one of my favourite cities that I’ve visited in the world.

Taking in the view of Medellin from Envigado.

It’s actually a city I can see myself living in for an extended period of time and is definitely a city I see myself returning to again and again.

Now that I have visited Medellin twice and Colombia three times, I’d like to share with you my top 10 of Medellin as well as a brief list of suggestions that include both places I visited and wished I visited.

The beautiful Energy Living Building. We booked an Airbnb in this building.

Let’s start off with where you should stay.

Where you stay will really depend on your budget. You could choose an Airbnb, hostel or a five star hotel. Given the prices in Colombia, even a five star hotel won’t break the bank so it’s a great destination to opt for nicer amenities in your accommodations.

Both times, we went for an Airbnb. Both were in the El Poblado region but one was significantly better (I did not like our first Airbnb) and also slightly more expensive.

Hanging out on our floor at the Energy Living Building. One of the best Airbnb experiences I’ve had!

However, because my first trip was split among two people whereas my second was among four, the per person total was very similar.

The Airbnb I did like was in the energy living building. It’s in close proximity to the happening area of parque lleras and is just a beautifully designed building in general.

Now, let’s look at the things you need to do when you’re in Medellin.

1. Free Walking Tour in Medellin

One of the Botero sculptures we came across during our free walking tour with Real City Tours.

The first thing I would say to ensure you do is a free walking tour. There are a few free walking tour companies in Medellin but the one I did was with Real City Tours. We did this walking tour on our last day in Medellin during my first visit and it was incredible. I learned so much about the history, culture and transformation of Medellin, that it gave me a whole new level of appreciation for the city. My only regret was not booking it earlier in my trip so I would have had the context of Medellin’s history when I was walking around. I did this tour a second time and let’s just say it’s a fairly scripted tour (though they say it’s not) but everyone who was on the trip with me thoroughly enjoyed it.

Real City Tours does a wonderful job of wrapping up the tour and tying it to these two sculptures. Highly recommend this tour!

The system for booking these tours is a little weird so make sure you go on their website exactly when openings for your date come up because the space fill up fairly quickly.

One thing to note is that although this walking tour is free, your tour guide gets paid based on your tips so be prepared with some cash to tip. Our guide suggested we tip her between $10-15 USD.

2. Tour of Comuna 13

The signs of hope are so beautifully depicted in the art found here.

On my first trip we booked a Comuna 13 tour with Casa Kolacho through Toucan Spanish School and it was an incredible experience.

The tour started at Toucan Spanish school in El Poblado where you then take public transportation to Comuna 13 and are given an in-depth guided tour about the various beautiful graffiti artwork throughout the Comuna and their significance. You will also learn about the specific transformation of this Comuna. The tour finally ends with you being able to create a little bit of your own graffiti at Casa Kolacho.

Some or the beautiful artwork found in Comuna 13.

This tour costed us about $30 Canadian.

There are also free walking graffiti tours as well that you could try out but I cannot speak to them as I haven’t done them.

Your view after ascending the innovative moving escalators in Comuna 13.

3. La Piedra del Peñol/El Peñon de Guatape and Guatape

You’ve probably seen this massive rock with a staircase built into the side and it’s stunning views multiple times on instagram.

A very interesting and almost extraterrestrial looking rock.

La piedra del peñol or El Peñon de Guatape (depending on who you ask) is a must visit in Medellin. It is located about (1-2 hours) from the city and depending on the tour your choose can be 8-12 hours long.

I ended up visiting the rock twice as I could not let my friends miss this spectacular view so I had the opportunity to experience this wonder with two different tours.

The first time around I booked a tour through Viator for approximately $40 Canadian. This tour was a total of 12 hours in length and included a large bus with a group of approximately 50 people. I am not a fan of large tours so this was a downside for me but if you are looking to save money this would be the best value for your money.

The view from the top of the rock is quite spectacular! This is from my first trip to Medellin.

The tour included:

- bus transportation

-breakfast (which was not that appetizing in my opinion)

- visiting a town on the way to the rock (this was okay as well)

- visiting el piedra (entrance fee was NOT included)

-lunch (which also in my opinion was mediocre)

- visiting the town of Guatape and;

- a boat ride on the river (again, mediocre)

The second time around we booked a tour with Landventure Travel. Though we paid more (about $83 per person with a group of four), it was worth the money.

Brought my best friend Misha, her husband and my fiancé with me for my second time visiting Medellin.

We had private transportation to the rock and a really great tour guide named Alejo. We got picked up around 9:30 am, stopped by a cute town on our there for coffee and great conversations and then headed over to the rock.

Alejo gave us some free time to climb and hangout at the top of the rock and when we returned he took us to the colourful town of Guatape. There we enjoyed a personal tour from Alejo as well as a wonderful lunch. My fiancé and I still rave at how good the veggie burger was there and who ate more of it. I’ll admit it, I did. It was just too good!

Strolling along the streets of the very colourful town of Guatape.

Our flight back to Cartagena was on the same day as our tour and Landventure Travel readjusted our tour times so that they could drop us off to the airport following our tour. This saved us a little bit of money as an average uber to the airport from El Poblado ends up being about $25-$30 Canadian and is 30 or more minutes in length.

4. Paragliding in Medellin

I had a very interesting experience Paragliding in Medellin. I did this on my first trip to Medellin and only said no to it a second time because I experienced terrible motion sickness (I threw up in the air) that put me out of commission for 3-4 hours.

A shot I captured while paragliding and also what might have triggered my motion sickness.

Do I regret it? Absolutely not. It was such a beautiful view and relaxing experience. I made the mistake of eating before hand, taking my puffer and looking at my phone when trying to take a picture. I would highly recommend NOT doing those things.

We met our tour guide at Aurora cable car metro station (if I remember correctly) and then he took us further up from there.

I was super anxious when I first saw where I would be paragliding but it ended up being a very calm and peaceful experience!

The tour we did was through Paragliding Medellin with Ruben and we paid about 210,000 COP once we got there.

I would highly recommend it!

5. Taking a Metro Cable to see the view of Medellin

Though there are various routes you can take in terms of the metro cable as this is legitimate public transportation that Paisas use on a regular basis, the most commonly suggested route to take is to head up towards Acevedo station.

Our view when riding the cable cars in the evening.

If you continue on this route, you can also make your way up to Parque Arvi which is also said to be beautiful. Both times I didn’t get a chance to go there but I’m sure I’ll end up there eventually!

6. Go out in Parque Lleras

Visiting Parque Lleras in El Poblado Thursday-Saturday almost guarantees you a great night.

One of the many lively restaurant on Calle 35. Great cheese quesadillas here! Terrible photo quality, I know!

I found that Calle 35 was my favourite street in Parque Lleras and I kept finding myself returning to Park 35 - a really cool bar where a lot of tourists hang out. We also really liked going out at Vintrash.

7. Visit Jardin (three hours from Medellin)

The breathtaking view on route to Jardín.

We did this incredible excursion to Jardin with Landventure Travel (@landventuretravel) the second time around when I visited Medellin and it was one of the highlights of my second trip!

It would have easily been my first, but my fiancé actually proposed to me on the trip so of course, there’s nothing that can top that!

My very real but dramatic reaction to Armin proposing to me right outside of Medellin.

Our trip to Jardin was led by one of the most knowledgeable and overall cool tour guides named Juan. He educated us on everything from Colombian history to architecture to the materials used to make some of the buildings we had visited.

The interior of this church in Jardín was so beautiful!

The excursion consisted of private travel to and from Jardin which is a total of about six hours in the car, visiting the town of Jardin, horseback riding with the most stunning and scenic view (this was an add-on), a traditional Colombian breakfast and lunch all while being taught the art of coffee.

Trying some remarkable coffee in the central square in Jardin.

The tour doesn’t normally come with breakfast (which by the way was my favourite breakfast on our trip) but because we booked two separate excursions with Landventure, Andres (the amazing owner of Landventure) included it for us!

Enjoying a vegetarian version of a traditional Colombian lunch at a local coffee farmer’s finca.

All in all, this excursion was incredible and I highly recommend it if you have enough time in Medellin!

8. Go Horseback riding in the Colombian Countryside (even if it’s not in Jardin)

Horseback riding with my best friends was an incredible experience.

Now, this can be done in various destinations in Colombia including Jardin (where we did it) and Salento (where I did it for the first time in Colombia) and in Santa Elena in Medellin.

It’s been a memorable experience for me every time and I thoroughly enjoy the connection you make with your horse. Would highly highly recommend it.

9. Eat at Crepes and Waffles

Now I know what you’re going to say. Why am I eating crepes in colombia? This isn’t Paris!

But trust me crepes and waffles is very Colombian. It’s a chain restaurant that can be found in almost every big city in Colombia and serves both sweet and savoury crepes among other things.

An example of something that is not a crepe at crepes and waffles.

Though it wasn’t the best place I ate at in Colombia, it’s always been consistently good to me and left me satisfied. I’m also has a very extensive menu making it perfect if you have picky eaters in the group.

I would say, do it at least once!

10. Take time to explore Medellin (Play it by ear)

There’s so much to explore in Medellin. Enjoy it how you want to!

There are so many layers to this incredible city. I would suggest taking the time to explore Medellin based on your interests. Whether it’s exploring another town in the region, checking out the salsa scene or partaking in bargaining at be local shopping area, there’s something for everyone.

So make sure you set aside some free time to explore Medellin according to your interests!

So there we have it.

Those are my top 10 things to do in Medellin. I’ve also included a list of some other places to see and visit that I haven’t necessarily seen or gone to but have heard good things.

1. Pueblito Paisa

2. Museo Castillo

3. Eat at Mercado del Rio

4. Santa Fe Mall (if you like shopping like me)

5. Museo de Antioquia

6. Parque Arvi

7. Visiting Santa Fe de Antioquia

8. Rafael Uribe Palace of Culture

9.Take a Salsa Class

10. Do an exotic fruits tour