Colombia: The Friendly Destination

We stayed at a Marriot the first 2 nights and the last night we stayed at the Charlee. Both hotels were in the El Poblado area, which I highly recommend. The Charlee was the best hotel we stayed at our entire trip, it was very upscale and right in all the action of the El Poblado area. I would have stayed there the entire time if we did not get to stay at Marriot for free because of points.

Here is a list of things we did in Medellin, with the rating in paranthesis (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the highly recommended activity)

• Guatape (4) - This was a beautiful drive and a great view, but we wish we instead hired a driver instead of taking an organized bus tour. The large tour group was just too big. I would recommend staying overnight in the city. It was quaint and you can do things like kayaking and paddle boarding.
• City Walking Tour (1) - We did a tour of Medellin, but it was not the best. We learned a lot about the history, but the sights themselves were poorly chosen - things that were not interesting, like the inside of a shopping mall or a government building. It was also very crowded the whole time.
• Comuna 13 Graffiti tour (5) - This was the best tour of a really interesting neighborhood that was totally transformed with art. It was my favorite activity of the whole trip.
• Cable Ride (4)  - Medellin has a really interesting transportation system. In the valley, there is a metro. But the metro connects to the hillsides via cable cars, and it is a really interesting experience to ride.
• Botanical Gardens (4) - Medellin has beautiful botanical gardens that are worth checking out in off time.