Why You Should Travel to MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA in 2024! | BEST Things To Do + GUATAPE Tour

Why You Should Travel to MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA in 2024! | BEST Things To Do + GUATAPE Tour

Hello everybody and welcome to Medellin in  Colombia! This is a city with a somewhat   negative reputation especially because of  things that happened in the past. It’s also   a city that’s really trying to change its ways  now in the present and has really come a long  

Way in the last 20 years to the point where  it’s now like a real hot spot for digital   nomads and tourists come from all over the  world. Really excited to explore! We’ve got   a lot to show you today. We’re just going  to be exploring the center of the city and  

Also Comuna 13 which is a really interesting  spot for number of reasons here in Medellin! We began the day in Plaza Cisneros in the  heart of Medellin’s downtown La Candeleria   district. This plaza is now more commonly  known as Parque de las Luces because of the   300 pillars of light that rise up out of the  square creating a sort of sci-fi artificial  

Forest that has become a popular meeting  point and a place to relax. We then made   our way up towards Plaza Botero, stopping at  the impressive National Palace Mall on the way,   before arriving in the plaza named after Fernando  Botero, one of Colombia’s most famous artists,  

Where you can see the ornate Palace of  Culture, some of Botero’s many sculptures   and visit the Museo de Antioquia which houses  plenty of famous artwork by Botero and others. Our next stop was Comuna 13, a community  of closely stacked houses on the western  

Slopes of the city. We took a free  walking tour with Zippy Tours,   whose local tour guides have lived within  the community throughout their lives. We saw some incredible artwork  on our way into the Comuna,   as well as being given a special  performance by a local dance group. Comuna 13 is now a lively bustling community  and one of the most popular tourist hotspots in   the city. As well as the incredible street art  that you’ll find on every spare piece of wall,   there are also countless shops  selling everything from artwork  

To ice creams and a very convenient  escalator system that winds its way   up through the community to save  your legs on the very steep hills. Our tour finished with an invitation into  our guide’s home where she explained a   little more about the violent and  troubled history of the community   and how this dramatic change has come  about. From her home we also got the   most incredible views out over the  community and the rest of Medellin. We rode the escalators back down to  the metro station and then took the   train to the north of the city to  ride the gondola up to Parque Arvi,   a huge and popular park for hiking  and other activities. Unfortunately,  

We only made it halfway up because the gondola  to the park was closed for maintenance. It was   still a cool experience though and one we  recommend adding to your Medellin itinerary. So today we’ve come to the El Poblado district  which is one of the wealthier districts here in   Medellin. I think a lot of digital nomads,  expats and even a lot of tourists stay in   this area which is very nice. You have a  lot of skyscrapers and greenery around,  

A lot of shopping centers and things  like that. Yeah very safe as well. And   this castle behind us makes us feel like we’re  not even in South America anymore. It makes us   feel like we’re back in Europe somewhere seeing  this kind of building! It’s called El Castillo  

Museum and it’s a castle that was built around  the 1930’s based on like French castles in the   Loire Valley. I don’t know if I’m pronouncing  that right! It’s just really surreal to see   it here in the middle of Medellin! It makes you  feel like you’re in a totally different country! We explored the small but beautiful gardens,  meeting some cool characters along the way,   and then were given a guided tour of  the castle itself. We weren’t allowed   to film inside but it was a lot like  walking through a UK stately home so  

Check out our UK Country Houses playlist  if you’d like an idea of what to expect.   The views from the castle balconies  were also well worth the entry fee. You can also come a little bit just outside  of the city center and there’s two really   cool attractions right next to each other. One  is the Botanical Garden which we’re in now,   which is free to enter which is amazing! One  of the first botanical gardens that has been  

Free to enter. So we’re going to wander around  here now and then a little bit later on we’re   also going to go to the Parque Explora,  which is a big interactive exhibition,   almost like an interactive theme park, where  you get lots of different exhibitions that you  

Can experience. I’m excited about that one  because every time we’ve been to something   similar it was really a lot of fun. Yeah like  a museum but for big kids and little kids. I think I already prefer this one to the one  in Bogota I think that’s the one we’ve been   to. Apart from the big greenhouse area  the rest of the botanical garden there   was a bit meh but this one is just so nice.  Feels like we’re back in somewhere like Costa  

Rica or something or in the Amazon jungle!  It’s nice. It’s pretty. Especially for free! Seems like every botanical garden here  has some kind of central structure which   is like the centerpiece. This one has  this awesome like roof. I don’t know   how to describe it. It’s cool yeah like canopy. Next we headed across the road to the Parque  Explora museum. This fun, interactive space is   filled with different exhibitions that play with  your senses and make you feel like a big kid. We   started our tour in the aquarium which was full  of some beautiful and unique fish and amphibians. There was a small dinosaur exhibit outside with   some impressive specimens and  spaces dedicated to sound… …optical illusions… …and movie making, where you could even  create your own movies with hilarious results! Overall Parque Explora is definitely a fun thing  to do, especially on a rainy day in the city. So today we have come to the Piedra de Penal. So  it’s just behind the camera right now but you can   already see behind us that the view is going  to be unbelievable from up there! Yeah we just  

Can’t wait to climb it! I mean there’s 700 steps  all the way to the top so we’ll see how that will   go. I’m sure we’ll be fine but I remember the  first time I’ve seen photos of it on Instagram  

And I genuinely thought this was Photoshopped  because it just looked so unreal that this thing   existed! And now I’m right here so it’s just  unbelievable! There it is. Let’s go climb it! After an exhausting climb up many,  many steps we finally made it to   the top and were treated to some of  the best views in all of Colombia! After soaking up as much of the incredible  view as we could we began our descent. I   love that they have numbers on your way down too.  Should be easier! But it’s not quite 700 steps,   it’s a little bit less unless you go to the top. Wow what an amazing experience! I know it was  crazy! I mean the 700 steps were quite steep but   we went up very quickly actually. We didn’t  even feel it. I’m sure I will feel my legs   tomorrow! Maybe. So it’s a good workout but  if you’re not used to steps or hiking a lot  

Then I think you might struggle a little bit.  Well just take your time, the view is amazing,   every step is worth the effort! Like the view  just gets better and better the higher you go.   That’s actually not included in the price of  the tour so you have to pay an extra 20,000  

Pesos per person to go up but I think it’s worth  every little penny. It’s easily one of the best   views we’ve seen in Colombia and probably one of  the best views we’ve seen on this entire trip.   The landscape here is just incredible! Bucket list  bucket list ticked. Our tour is going to continue  

Soon. We’re going to head to the town of Guatape  which is the closest town to here. Really colorful   and pretty town. Excited about that! We’re going  to have an explore around there and then the final   thing is the boat ride later on which we’re also  really excited about. Looking at this landscape  

It’s going to be so cool to be out on the water.  It just gives you a different perspective. So Guatape was supposedly voted the second most  colorful city in the world about four years ago   and you can see why. It is very colorful.  I love it here it’s really beautiful! But   it’s very it’s also different to like other  colorful cities I think and towns we’ve seen  

Here in South America. Like the style is just a  little bit different a little bit unique. Like   the patterns on the side of the buildings.  It’s beautiful. We’re going to have a good   wander around here show you as much color  and artwork as we can. Take lots of picky’s! We could have walked around Guatape for hours.  Every street and every corner seemed to have   something new and colorful to see and in  hindsight we definitely would have liked   to spend a night there. But after a quick  lunch in town we hopped back in the bus  

And drove a short distance to the dock where  we boarded our boat out onto the waterways The boat ride gave us a chance  to see Piedra del Penal from a   different perspective and highlighted even  further the beauty of this place. It was no   wonder that we also spotted countless huge  mansions dotting the shores and some very  

Luxurious looking boats on the water.  We also got to see Finca la Manuela,   Pablo Escobar’s old lake house, which is now  closed to the public for obvious reasons. A visit to Guatape was the icing on the cake  of what was already an incredible experience   in Medellin. This place quickly became one of our  favorite cities in the world and there was still  

So much that we didn’t get to see or do properly  whilst were there. We can see why it has become so   popular with tourists, expats and digital nomads  alike and can definitely see ourselves spending   some more time here in the future! Thanks for  watching and see you on our next adventure.

Hey everyone! Happy New Year!! Here’s why you should travel to Medellin, Colombia in 2024! We’ll show you some of the best things to do in the city as well as taking you on a tour of nearby Guatape – one of the most beautiful areas in Colombia!

Colombia should be on everyone’s radar in 2024 and Medellin is by far one of its most attractive cities for tourists, expats and digital nomads. We spent a week there and it quickly became one of our favorite cities in the world!

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SONGS USED IN THIS VIDEO:

La Fusion – Bassio
Etiqueta – Bassio
Que (Instrumental Version) – Lu-Ni
Calle Ocho – El Equipo del Norte
It’ll Be Alright (Instrumental Version) – Cody Francis
Best Kept Secret (Instrumental Version) – Roots and Recognition
Video Knights – spring gang
Big Feast – Toby Tranter
El Amorcito – El Equipo del Norte

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ABOUT US:

Hi! We are Kitti and Jon! We are a multinational (Hungarian and British) couple living in Manchester, England and we love to travel, hike and explore both in the UK and abroad! We definitely have the travel bug and have explored many countries on and off together in the 7 years since we met (when our jobs have allowed it!). We decided to finally start filming our adventures and sharing them with you guys!

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00:00 – Intro
00:25 – Welcome to Medellin!
00:55 – Exploring El Centro
01:57 – Comuna 13 Tour (Must Do in Medellin!)
04:02 – Gondola to Parque Arvi (FAIL)
04:41 – El Poblado District (Museo El Castillo)
06:16 – Medellin’s Botanical Garden (Free Entry!)
07:55 – Parque Explora
09:41 – Guatape Day Tour (Must Do in Medellin!)
14:45 – Outro