This post was originally published on A Globe Well Travelled in 2017. The content has been revised and updated with fresh information.
Guatapé is quite possibly the most colourful town on the planet.
Nestled in the Colombian countryside, this small town is a popular day trip from Medellin, and it’s easy to see why – the vibrant houses are absolutely adorable and the gorgeous scenery is guaranteed to make you swoon.
I remember seeing a photo of Guatapé somewhere on the internet, and being so awed that I immediately added it into my list of places to go in Colombia. How could I resist a trip to such a photogenic spot? I could practically feel my camera itching to jump out of my bag and get snapping.
I had the chance to visit the town of Guatapé on my trip to Colombia in 2017, and I can confirm that it is just as pretty in real life as it appears in photos. If you’re planning a trip to this picturesque Colombian destination and want to know what to expect, here’s my full review on a day tour to Guatapé from Medellin.
Quick summary:
In this post, I share what it’s like to visit Guatapé and El Peñol on a guided day tour from Medellín — including what’s in the itinerary, tips from my experience, and why it’s an easy way to explore the Colombian countryside.
Recommended tour:
🚍 Full-Day Group Tour to Guatapé + El Peñol — Includes hotel pickup in Medellín, breakfast and lunch, a boat ride on the reservoir, and a short walking tour of town.
Guatapé day trip from Medellin:
🚍 I booked our Guatapé day trip with Tours Guatapé, and I thought it was great value. You can reserve your spot online any time up until the day before the tour.
This particular tour was a large group tour on a full size bus. While I generally prefer more intimate, smaller group tours, I actually didn’t mind the group size in this case as the tour was reasonably priced and included breakfast and lunch. I definitely thought it was excellent value for money.
The bus tour had a wide variety of people of all ages, including plenty of younger travellers. I think older people tend not to travel to Colombia because of the historical reputation of it being a “dangerous” place (BTW – it’s not!). There were plenty of other people around our age taking the tour – we enjoyed chatting to a bunch of Americans in their 20s and 30s over breakfast.
Travel from Medellin to Guatapé is around 2 hours drive each way. The tour departs at about 8-8:30AM and arrives back in the city at about 7-7:30PM. There were a few people on our tour who had organised other activities or flights in the evening after the tour, which I wouldn’t recommend as you’ll probably be exhausted and the timing is only an estimate – it might arrive later if the bus hits traffic.
El Peñol + Guatapé day tour itinerary:
We hopped on the bus at Poblado, and the driver took us to El Centro to pick up some more passengers before we began our day trip.
The bus stopped in two locations on the way to Guatapé – a roadside restaurant where we had arepas (sort of like a savoury pancake topped with cheese) and hot chocolate for breakfast, then a historical town called Marinilla. The town was pretty, but to be honest I was too excited for El Peñol and Guatapé to pay much attention.
El Peñol is a giant rock (apparently it’s the third largest rock in the world, though I have no idea if that’s true!) which you can climb for spectacular views of the Colombian countryside. One thing to note is that the cost for climbing the rock (18,000 pesos per person, about $6 USD) is paid on arrival, and is not included in the tour cost.
The stairs that take you up El Peñol are fairly tough, but with enough breaks, nearly everyone can make it to the top. It’s worth the effort, as the views of the surrounding hills and lake are amazing!
Fun fact: The lake is actually man-made. Back in the 70s, a river was dammed to create a reservoir, and the resulting hydroelectric plant now creates more than 30% of Colombia’s energy.
After descending the 740 steps of El Peñol, our tour group met in the restaurant at the base of the rock. Some people might consider the food a little bland as we were served a traditional Colombian dish of rice, salad, and meat (or beans for us vegetarians), but I thought it was great. Local food is a way better option than the deep-fried crap that you get at most tourist hotspots around the world.
After lunch, it was time to explore the town of Guatapé. This town is 100% adorable! Every house has a decorated facade (which is called a zócalo) along the base of the building. These zócalos are painted with bright colours and patterns to help bring tourism to the area, and to reflect the cultural importance of the family living inside.
Our guide took us on a fairly short walking tour of the town, then we made our way down to the waterfront for a boat ride on the lake. I was excited that the boat ride was included on our tour, but actually it turned out to be rather underwhelming after the grandeur of El Peñol. The views were just okay, and we all had to wear uncomfortable and unattractive life jackets, even though the boat was huge (though we did float past a partially submerged boat on the lake, so I guess it was justified?).
With our feet back on dry land, we were given some free time to explore the town. Rob and I stopped for coffee on a balcony facing Zócalo Square. There was a local band playing atmospheric music nearby, which made the moment absolutely perfect. I couldn’t have asked for a more relaxing way to end our busy day of sightseeing.
At 5PM, we hopped back on the bus for the 2 hour drive back to Medellin. By the time we arrived back in Poblado, we’d been day-tripping for a solid 12 hours.
I really enjoyed the Guatapé day tour. It was definitely worth putting aside time to visit the countryside during our stay in Medellin.
Taking the tour also meant the day trip was totally stress-free. As I don’t speak much Spanish (ok, basically none!), I appreciated that I didn’t have to figure out the logistics of getting a public bus to Guatapé from Medellin.
If you speak some Spanish then you could probably figure out how to do Guatapé independently, but if you’re looking for an easy way to see Guatapé in a day, this tour is a great way to go about it!
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