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If you are traveling to Colombia and are doing your research about which places you should visit, then you have probably stumbled upon Guatapé at some point during your research. It is absolutely beautiful and should definitely be included in any Colombia itinerary.
Guatapé is located just a 2-3 hour bus ride away from Medellín. It is famous for the massive Rock El Peñol from where you can have a dashing view as well as a bunch of colourful houses all around. Some people choose to travel to Guatapé for a couple of days but if you are short on time and do not want to miss out on it you can also visit the town on a day trip.
There are a lot of great day trips from Medellín but if you are rather spending more time in Colombia’s capital, then there are also a lot of incredible day trips from Bogotá.
When I was in Medellín I was taking Spanish classes during the week so I did not have too much time to leave the city for longer. That is why I opted for a day trip to Guatapé from Medellín. If you do, too, then this is what you can expect from it.
Price for the Day Trip to Guatapé
I booked my tour at the Spanish school over Toucan tours. But don’t worry if you are not a student at Toucan Spanish school, the tours are for everyone. I paid around 90.000 Pesos (€23.40).
Starting Point
The busses left from Parque El Poblado where we met at around 7:30 which is in the heart of El Poblado neighbourhood and easily reachable by foot if you are staying in the Poblado area. After we also picked up some passengers from the centre.
What to bring to Guatapé
- sun screen
- water
- comfortable shoes
- motion sickness pills for the bus
- camera
- money for the entrance to the rock and for snacks
First stop: El Peñol
I believe usually the first stop of the tour is Guatapé centre, however, we started out with El Peñol instead. Mostly, because it was a holiday when I went so they were afraid that the road would be blocked on the way back.
Climbing up the rock includes a total of 700 steps. There is a resting point in between and medical assistance if people feel like they don’t make it up at once. The price to climb the rock is 18.000 pesos (not included in the trip). Other than the incredible view, you will find souvenir stores, snacks and drinks up at the top as well as an additional viewing platform.
Second stop: Guatapé
After meeting back up at the bus after everyone came back from climbing the rock, we went to the centre of Guatapé. There, we firstly started off with a short walking tour with our guide. Our tour guide gave us a little 20 minute walking tour around the city and explained some of its history. I happened to be there on a holiday as well so all the houses put out flags to celebrate.
After, you will have lunch of which you can choose between fish, chicken and Bandeja Paisa, the traditional Colombian dish. The food was great and I would definitely recommend trying Bandeja Paisa, however, it’s quite a lot of meat. And similarly to most places in Colombia, the portions were massive.
Finally, we had about an hour to walk around Guatapé by ourselves before heading back to the bus. I have never seen a city this colourful. I absolutely loved Guatapé and would definitely go back for longer if I had the time.
Draiving back to Medellín from Guatapé
Apparently there would have been another small stop on the way back which we had to miss out on because we ended up in traffic for a couple of hours. Due to the holiday there were a couple of decorated trucks that were honking along the highway so at some point our whole group just walked along the highway in the dark. In Colombia.
Because walking in this case was faster than taking the bus so we ended up at the nearest town getting snacks and watching the “parade” before the bus picked us up. It was quite the interesting experience.
Usually you are supposed to get back to Medellín at around 7pm. For my tour it was around 9:30pm though thanks to the traffic.
Was the day trip to Guatapé from Medellín worth it?
Overall, the day trip to Guatapé from Medellín s a great way to see Guatapé in a short amount of time. However, if you have the time, this town would definitely be worth staying at a couple more days. Like most tours it does feel quite rushed.
Have you been to Guatapé or would like to go? Let me know in the comments.
Talk to you soon x
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