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24 hours in Medellin as a local (2024 itinerary)
So you only have 24 hours in Medellin...
(or maybe more)
No matter if you only have one, two or three days to explore the city, in this guide you will have an full itinerary to discover the city with local lenses and have a spon of taste of Medellin local traditions:
This guide is based on a full-day tour, assuming you arrived in the city the night before and are traveling again the next day. That’s 24 hours of pure discovery, so we’ll start the morning looking for a place to have breakfast.
1. Starting the day: breakfast Time
If you’re staying in El Poblado, I recommend heading to the Manila neighborhood, where you’ll find several options for a good coffee along with brunch. There are good options like Ojalá Brunch, Clemente, Le Brunch Nairobi, or Hija Mía Coffee.
If you’re looking for something quick, affordable, but traditional and delicious, I recommend trying a ‘arepa de chócolo’ (a sweet corn arepa with white cheese and dulce de leche on top) at CHACHAS, a chain of arepa stores found throughout the city. For less than 3 dollars, you can try one of these and continue on your way.
If you’re staying in Laureles or nearby neighborhoods, we recommend Le Brunch or Naturalia, or for quick options, check out La Miguería bakery, which sells delicious sweet and savory pastries. Other cafes we recommend in that area are Santa Leña and AL ALMA Café, for simple breakfast options to energize and continue with the route.
The Historic Center:
If you’re in Manila, you can walk a couple of blocks down to the El Poblado metro station, mark it on Google Maps, and you’ll see it’s a straight 10-minute walk. Buy a metro ticket at the booths where you see Metro personnel and head north (there are only two options: North or South).
The ticket will cost approximately 70 cents. On this line, you should get off at the Parque Berrio station.
If, on the other hand, you’re staying in the Laureles neighborhood, it’s best to take an Uber to the center, which, depending on the time and day, may cost approximately 4-6 dollars (unless you’re close to the Atanasio Girardot Stadium), in which case you can take the metro there in the east direction to the San Antonio Station, where you’ll transfer to Line A heading north to the Parque Berrio Station.
Once you arrive at Parque de Berrio, you’ll walk 200 meters to reach Plaza Botero.
2. Plaza Botero
Be careful with your belongings, as pickpockets are common in this area. Here, you can admire the famous sculptures by the artist Fernando Botero, the most famous painter-sculptor from Colombia and worldwide.
So, take a stroll among his famous “chubby” sculptures, which represent the artist’s style, and you’ll see a building of black and white squares of immense beauty. Approach its entrance to enjoy the Rafael Uribe Uribe Palace of Culture.
Here, you can quickly go through the history and architecture of Medellín through its works and photographs. If museums aren’t your thing, take a couple of photos (and take advantage of the free entrance) and head across to the iconic Museum of Antioquia, where you’ll find the most famous works by Botero and other Colombian artists, as well as numerous art exhibitions to learn about the culture of Medellín. Entry costs about 8 dollars, and the average visit can last 1 to 2 hours.
3. National Palace: gallery art and local vibes
If art isn’t your thing, you can skip it and continue the tour. If you’re not yet tired of art, our next destination will be The National Palace, a historic building in the city and just a 5-minute walk from the Museum of Antioquia (280 meters). In the National Palace, you can enjoy the beautiful architecture of the place and access the new galleries that have transformed this space into a place for art. Take the chance to eat a delicious mango on the street (but be careful with the lemonades and drinks they sell there; sometimes the water is not of the best quality, and you can get stomach sick). By this time, it’s probably noon, and if your stomach is growling, it’s time for lunch.
4. Lunch time
Here, I bring you two options. The first is to walk another 2 blocks (3 minutes) to Junín Street, where you can find traditional city restaurants like Pizzería Centro or Salón Versalles and try a typical dish like the Bandeja Paisa. Here you’ll see locals having lunch while continuing their work shift. Another more gourmet option will require you to walk approximately 10 minutes (1.2 km) to the Salón Centro restaurant, an author’s cuisine restaurant located in the center that is receiving the best reviews from food experts.
Once you finish your lunch, I recommend you check out Salón Malaga, a traditional place in the city where locals dance tango in the afternoons and evenings. A proof of authenticity that is hard to find in the tourism world (Note: if you chose the Salón Centro option, you’ll be two blocks away from the little plaza of Florez; take a stroll to get to know the local flower industry, and I assure you that you’ll get lost in its smells, colors, and varieties!
5. Comuna 13 grafiti tour
It’s time to change areas, and here we’ll head to the popular Comuna 13: take the opportunity to get to know the Metrocable (this cable car system allows residents to go up to their homes located on the slopes) and for this, you’ll need to reach the San Javier station.
To get to this station, you’ll first need to find the San Antonio station and take the line that, passing by the stadium, goes in the east-west direction to the San Javier neighborhood, where you can take the metrocable to Comuna 13.
Here, it’s most advisable to take a bilingual tour, which can range from 20 to 50 dollars per person if you take it right there. Here enters the art of negotiating, and depending on the number of your group, you can arrive at a more convenient price (check out our tour to Comuna 13 with private transport and an expert bilingual guide from the area).
This tour will take you through the alleys full of murals and graffiti of a neighborhood that 24 years ago suffered the pains of war and was a symbol of weapons, blood, and fear. But for about 15 years now, this neighborhood has traded its weapons for art, and its bullets for dance, and now it rebuilds itself around tourism and culture.
This tour will take about 2 hours and (I clarify you can do it without having to hire any tour, but you won’t learn much since there are no signs or billboards that can guide you on the subject).
When you’re there, don’t forget to try the famous paletas (water-based ice creams with flavors like sour mango) or the famous micheladas (beer with salt, lemon and soda & sometings fruits).
At this step, I assure you, you’ll already be tired, and the afternoon will be about to fall… so we’ll head to the hotel (with an optional stop at El Pueblito Paisa)
Optional (quicky visit to Pueblito Paisa)
El Pueblito Paisa it is a replica of a traditional Antioquian village on top of a medium-sized hill near Laureles, which, while not essential, can be an interesting option if you don’t have the opportunity to visit any town in Colombia. If, on the contrary, you’ve already visited other places like Salento, Guatapé, Jardin, Barichara, Villa de Leyva, or Santa Fé de Antioquia, I recommend you skip this point.
6. Dinner and nightlife
After changing at the hotel, if you’re one of those who changes outfits for the night, we’ll go to dinner. Here, my recommendation, according to your gastronomic tastes, is to head to some option in the Provenza neighborhood.
There are dozens of options for all budgets, but if you want a peculiar gastronomic experience, you could try going to La Chagra, Amazonian flavors, where you can have a menu with products from the Amazon, from native fish to worms prepared with the highest culinary techniques.
Other famous places are OCI.MED for international cuisine, Romero if you like pizza, La Causa, Panka, Rocoto, if you’re into Nikei cuisine, or Resumen, El Cielo or Carmen, if you are more into fancy dinner and author cousine.
If you want something more casual but with atmosphere, we recommend the Taquería El Altar, or Renata’s tacos, near the Viscaya Shopping Center.
Once we’ve had dinner, and if we still have energy, it’s time to experience Medellín’s nightlife. Here, depending on your tastes and moods, you can find different offerings, so I’ll start from a standard to find a place to have a few beers. If you want to listen to local music, in this case, I’ll recommend La Oculta, located in all of Provenza. If you’re more into Rock, I recommend BBC (Bogotá Beer Company) in the upper part of Provenza, or in Manila, the Foxy restaurant. If you want a cool bar with an international vibe, I recommend Café Dragon near Parque del Poblado.
