Are you planning a trip to Colombia?

Struggling to figure out what to do in Medellin?

In this Colombia Travel Guide, I’m going to share with you the ten most popular Medellin tours that you should consider doing. I did nine of these tours during my three trips to the city in 2024. In this post, I’ll let you know which ones are worth it and which ones aren’t. Hopefully, these tips will help save you time and money as you plan your Medellin itinerary.

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About Tours in Medellin

Medellin isn’t one of those destinations where you spend much time museum-hopping or wandering around the city on your own, taking in the city’s pretty buildings. It’s a city with many tours led by Colombians who love their city and want to share it with foreign tourists. They’re passionate about dispelling the myths about Medellin’s violent reputation and telling you about its transformation. It’s hard not to be infected by their enthusiasm!

Here are my recommendations for the ten best tours in Medellin:

1.    Walking Tour of Medellin

The first thing to do in Medellin is a walking tour of the city’s oldest part, the downtown area. These tours usually give you a good overview of the city’s history and tips on what to see, where to eat, and how to stay safe.

Booking a walking tour in Medellin is easy. You can arrange it through your accommodation, popular booking sites like Get Your Guide, Free Tours.com, or Guru Walks, or a reputable tour company like Real City Tours and Beyond Colombia.

During my stay in Medellin, I did two walking tours. The first, organized by my hostel, Los Patios, was disappointing. Our guide, Juan, lacked enthusiasm, was dull, and rarely interacted with the group.

However, the second walking tour was a completely different experience. Led by Julio from Real City Tours, it was, maybe, the best tour I did in Colombia. Julio was professional, patient, friendly, and incredibly knowledgeable. His storytelling skills were so engaging that he could have made the phone book an exciting read. 

Real City Tours offers a variety of tour times to accommodate different schedules. They have tours at 10:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. from Monday to Saturday and a single tour at 10:00 a.m. on Sundays. Tours are supposed to last 3.5 hours; mine was for nearly four hours.

These walking tours are usually tip-based. The average tip is COP$50,000 (US$12). Alternatively, you can book through Get Your Guide and pay upfront. At less than US$10, it turns out to be cheaper.

2. Comuna 13 Tour

One of the most famous tours in Medellin is the Comuna 13 Tour. Once a neighborhood marred by the civil war and Pablo Escobar’s reign, Comuna 13 has undergone a remarkable transformation. From being the most dangerous barrio in Medellin, it has become a tourist hub (also a tourist trap), clinging to the mountain slopes in the city’s eastern part. Instead of criminals, guns, and drugs, you’ll find street performers, street art, and street food. The views of the city below are unforgettable. It’s a great way to learn about Medellin’s past and current transformation. 

The problem with booking a Comuna 13 tour is that there are so many tours that it’s hard to pick one. A warning from my experience: Not all are good. You can find tours through your hotel or hostel, booking sites like Get Your Guide and Viator, tip-based platforms like Free Tours and Guru Walks, independent tour guides, and established tour companies. Alternatively, you can find a guide by just winging it and showing up at Comuna 13.

The key to choosing a memorable tour is a guide who actually lived in the barrio during its most violent period. They can share tragic stories of what life was like then and even take you to their homes. Unfortunately, I went on this sanitized tour with a guide who lacked this personal connection to Comuna 13. It was pretty dull and didn’t have the emotional or intellectual impact a better tour can give you.

Another traveler I met at my hostel loved her tour and visited a couple of homes away from the hordes of Comuna 13 tourists. My guide, Julio, from the Free Walking Tour, does a tour that takes you to his former home and off the beaten tourist trail. I’ve met several people who took his tour, and all raved about it. Contact him via WhatsApp #: +57 300 2024148.

Whichever tour you do, avoid the weekends, when it gets extremely crowded.

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3. Barrio Transformations Tour

I recommend skipping the Comuna 13 tour and doing the less touristy Barrio Transformations Tour of Comuna 4 instead. This tour through Real City Tours was one of the best things I did in Colombia. Book early because it’s only offered three times a week (Tu,  Th, and Sa), and it’s so popular that it sells out fast.

On this tour, you visit an off-the-beaten-path barrio called Moravia to learn about its transformation from a garbage dump (literally) into a thriving and peaceful community. The guide, Milo, was passionate, patient, and professional. My tour was accompanied by a community leader whose family made a living picking through garbage at the landfill. I learned more about the city on this tour than any other Medellin tour.

This is the tour for those who want to really learn about Medellin and Colombians. I can’t recommend it enough—do it!

The tour costs COP$100,000 (US$30) and lasts around four hours. You can book through Real City Tours or Get Your Guide.

4. Pablo Escobar Tour

The most controversial tour in Medellin is the Pablo Escobar Tour. Some travel bloggers warn against taking the tour, saying that you’re supporting the glorification of a man who wreaked havoc on the country and caused the death of over 40,000 Colombians.

My experience with the Pablo Escobar Tour was quite different. The tour, led by the passionate, patient, and knowledgeable guide, Daniel, did not glorify the Escobar. Instead, he focused on how much Escobar harmed Colombia and how many lives he took.  Daniel made it clear that Escobar was not a hero but a sociopath.

The tour involved four stops: (1) Inflexion Memorial Park (the site of Escobar’s former home and now a park dedicated to the victims of the drug war. (2) La Catedral (the former prison of Pablo Escobar); (3) a football field Escobar built (4) Escobar’s grave.

It’s essential to be cautious when choosing a Pablo Escobar tour. According to Daniel, some may claim to take you to the place where Escobar died, but this is a lie. The actual site no longer exists. These tours are simply trying to save money on gas by not taking you to his prison. Be wary of such misleading information and choose your tour wisely.

I highly recommend the tour I took with Get Your Guide. It was EXCELLENT! I paid COP$120,000 (US$40).

5. Exotic Fruit Tour

Colombia is the country with the second-largest variety of fruit in the world. Therefore, you should not leave it without taking a fruit tour. Luckily, Medellin has a pretty good one. Bogota has another fruit tour that I’ve heard good things about.

The Exotic Fruit Tour I did was a small, intimate experience with just six of us and our guide, Diana. We explored the Minorista Market, Medellin’s second biggest food market, sampling over ten fruits. We tried algarroba, chontaduro, zapotes, tomate de abril, uchuvas (gooseberries), granadilla, maracuya (passion fruit), pitaya (dragon fruit), mangosteens, and guava. At the end of the tour, each person got to order a free fruit drink.

Don’t skip this tour if you’re an adventurous eater and love trying new foods. It’s only 2.5 hours long—a perfect way to fill a morning in Medellin.

I booked the tour through Get Your Guide, paying US$28.

6. Colombian Food Tour

While Colombian cuisine may not be as globally renowned as others, it boasts delicious dishes and drinks you must try. To fully experience the country’s food scene, start your Colombia travels with a food tour. I did a food tour in Medellin and two in Bogota.

My Medellin food tour was with Real City Tours. Our guide, Diana, took eight of us on a delicious tour of Laureles, one of Medellin’s most fun and fascinating neighborhoods. While we ate, we learned a lot about Laureles.

The tour started with a stop to eat Salpicon, a fruit salad with cheese and ice cream. Then, we had one of the tastiest meals of the day: an array of meats, including chicharron and sausages, cheeses, arepas, and grilled vegetables. This was followed by a stop at one of the coolest bars in the neighborhood to try aguardiente, Colombia’s iconic liquor. The tour ended with some Caribbean snacks called Carimañolas and a popular candy called Bocadillo.

While the Medellin tour was enjoyable, I’ve had better food tours, such as this one in Quito and this food tour in Oaxaca. The food was delicious, but we didn’t get to sample as many dishes as I had hoped. If you’re planning to visit Bogota, I highly recommend this food tour instead, which offers more traditional dishes and more valuable culinary tips for eating in Colombia.

I booked through Get Your Guide,  paying US$31.

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7. El Poblado Tour

Most travelers to Medellin stay in El Poblado, the wealthiest neighborhood in the city. It’s also known for having some of the best restaurants, cafes, bars, parks, and street art in the city. To make the most of your stay in El Poblado, start with a guided tour of the neighborhood.

I took a three-hour walking tour of El Poblado with Beyond Colombia, a reputable tour operator with a strong presence in Medellin, Bogota, and Cartagena. My guide took our small group of five people to two easy-to-miss parks, a rooftop bar with stunning views of the city, cool murals, the bar and club area of La Provenza, and a restaurant for one of Colombia’s most popular foods: buñuelos. There were many places we visited that I never would have visited on my own.

My 3-hour tour was tip-based. The average tip is COP$50,000 (US$12). I recommend doing the walking tour in the afternoon because that’s when El Poblado really comes alive!

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8. Football Tour

Football is a big part of Colombian culture, so even if you’re not into the sport (I’m not), attending a football match at the stadium is a must-do in Medellin. The home team is Atlética Nacional, and they play at the Atanasio Girardot Stadium near the Laureles neighborhood.

There are so many football tours to choose from, though. The quality of the guide can significantly affect how much fun you have. I went with my hostel, Los Patios, but unfortunately the guide wasn’t good.

My tour started at Los Patios Hostel, where we were given free Atlética Nacional jerseys. We were supposed to get our faces painted with the team colors, but our guide didn’t do it. Then, we drove in a car to a bar near the stadium to have a pre-game drink before heading early to the stadium. My tour group was small, with only five people. The guide was unenthusiastic and wasn’t interested in interacting with us. He also wasn’t a fan of the Medellin team and spent most of his time on his phone, not paying attention to the game. When I asked him what the crowds were chanting, he could barely muster the energy to tell me! I still had fun but would have had a better experience with a different guide.

I recommend doing this tour that some people in my hostel did instead. It leaves from Viajero Hostel in El Poblado. They were next to us at the stadium. There must have been over 20 to 30 people on their tour. Like us, they wore the team jerseys, but unlike us, their faces were painted with the team colors. Their guide was enthusiastic. He was really into the game, cheering and chanting with the crowd. He wasn’t on the phone like my guide. Instead, he interacted with the people on the tour and taught them the chants. They seemed to be having a more enjoyable experience than my tour group.

I paid COP$220,000 (US$55) for my tour. Booking football tours through Get Your Guide is slightly less expensive.

9. Guatapé Tour

Want to get outside of Medellin and see Colombia’s countryside and cute towns? Head to Guatapé!  A two-hour drive from Medellin, this adorable little town of 6,000 sits on the shore of an artificial lake. It’s famous for its pretty white adobe homes with their colorfully painted doors and window frames.

The easiest and most relaxing way to tour Guatapé is with an organized tour. There are tons to choose from. You can book through your hotel or hostel (often more expensive) or book online through Get Your Guide or Viator. Most tours follow the same itinerary:

·       Time on your own to walk around the town.

·       A climb up 800 steps to the top of a large granite rock called Piedra El Penol (beautiful panoramic views!).

·       A boat ride on the lake.

If you’re more adventurous or just want to go at your own pace, you can do what I did and go by yourself. Buses depart frequently from the Medellin bus terminal throughout the day. A one-way fare is COP$20,000 (US$5). You can easily return to Medellin on the same day.

Tours are relatively inexpensive—around US$36 and last for over ten hours. Expect to leave early in the morning. This tour gets good reviews. They’ll pick you up at your hotel if you’re staying in El Poblado or Laureles.

10. Coffee Tour

Colombia is the third-biggest coffee producer in the world after Brazil and Vietnam, but it produces better quality coffee than those two countries. Therefore, going on a coffee tour in Colombia is a must! For those who can’t make it to the coffee region, you can easily do a coffee tour close to Medellin.

Like all Medellin tours on this list, booking a tour is a breeze. You can book a tour through your accommodations or a booking site like Get Your Guide or Viator. I met two travelers who did a coffee tour through Los Patios Hostel, and they LOVED it!

I booked my tour through Get Your Guide. Overall, it was an interesting tour with good coffee and good food. We traveled through the beautiful countryside to a farm about an hour from Medellin. While touring the farm, we learned about the different types of coffee and the process of growing coffee. The tour’s highlight was when we got to pick the coffee cherries from the plants!  At the end, we did a coffee tasting.

My tour lasted six hours and cost US$55.

Best Places to Stay in Medellin: Stay in either El Poblado or Laureles neighborhoods. I liked my stays at both Los Patios AND Masaya Hostel. They have both upscale private rooms and comfortable dorm rooms. If you’re looking for an AMAZING boutique hotel, try Sui Boutique Hotel.

Final Thoughts: Best Medellin Tours

If you’re not able to do all ten tours in Medellin, here are the ones I recommend prioritizing:

• Walking Tour with Real City Tours
• Exotic Fruit Tour
• Comuna 13 Tour or Barrio Transformations Tour
• Guatape Tour
• Coffee Tour (only if you’re not visiting the coffee region of Colombia)

If you’re visiting Bogota, I would do this Bogota Food Tour instead.

Any questions about these tours? Drop me a message in the Comment Section below!

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Thanks for reading!