We went to Guatapé on a day trip from Medellín and it has become one of the favourite villages we have visited. You can only feel happy when walking through the colourful streets admiring the facades of buildings covered in bright colours and images. Many of which allude to what service or product the building provides i.e. tools, restaurant, clothes etc. Its such a quaint and cute town.

How to get to Guatapé

There are many tours to Guatapé for approx. 80,000COP but it is very easily done on your own and cheaper. It is as simple as getting off at the Caribe stop at the metro, cross the pedestrianised bridge into the bus terminal – North Terminal, and checking the signs of bus providers for Guatapé, El Peñol or La Piedra. Tickets can be bought from counter 12 – Sotrasanvicente. We ended up getting a taxi which was 16,oooCOP vs 13,000COP for the bus and we got there at least a half hour before the bus. Our first stop was La Piedra.

Walking shot!

La Piedra

La Piedra, also known as El Peñon de Guatapé, is a gigantic rock you can climb which is over 700 feet high. There are 740 steps to the top and it provides panoramic views over the sunken lands. It cost 18,000COP to climb. Unfortunately the last 80 or so steps were not open to the public but it didn’t really matter as the view at 649 steps was perfect.

La Piedra from the distance

The view from the top

Guatapé Town

Afterwards we got a taxi to Guatapé for 12,000COP. You can wait on the road for the bus but there were taxis ready and available so we went with that option.

Colour is everywhere in Guatape

We walked around admiring the buildings, enjoyed a few beers and lunch, checked out a viewpoint of the rock and visited a cute little café above the colourful steps which had really good coffee.

So colourful!

After 4 hours or so we got the bus back to Medellín. There was a taxi option for 17,000COP but we went with the bus as time was not an issue.

Check this fountain out!

Some tips

  • Book your bus ticket back to Medellín when you arrive in Guatapé.
  • Go early in the morning to avoid crowds at La Piedra (we arrived at the rock at half 9) and go there first then to the village of Guatapé.

We loved this building!

Other things to do in Guatapé

There are boat tours and ziplining options in Guatapé if you have more time there. Its a town you could easily spent a night or two in.

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[…] are Guatapé, Santa Fe de Antioquia and Jardín. We decided to go to Guatapé. Click here to read about it. As we had another 6 weeks left in Colombia and countless more colonial towns […]