MEDELLIN, Colombia Travel guide. Is it Safe? What to do in 24 hours.

In this blog, we will discuss our feelings of safety while making our way around the city! To start things off we took public transportation using both the metro and cable cars (which are integrated into the public transportation system) to reach Arví Park. Later we went on a street art tour of what used to be one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in the world.

Transportation

We came to Medellin, Colombia and we had such an amazing time. Then, we decided to make our way a little bit out of the city and visit a well known park. We had to take public transport to reach our destination. First, we took a train and a couple of metro cables which gave us some epic views over the city. The metro was the busiest one we've ever been on considering it was midday. Second, metro cables are like cable cars but are part of their public transportation (how amazing is that?!). Since this city is built in the mountains and the main part of the city is like the lower valley portion. Also, there are towns and little communities sweeping around the mountains. The fact of bringing cable cars into public transportation was a part of developing the city and getting people involved in the community. It's much easier now for them to reach the main city.

Amazing Views

The cable car ride was so cool. We got to see these amazing neighbourhoods. We could not believe how big the city is. You get this great view of all these old houses some of them are colourful, others are made of bricks. During the ride, we went from being right in the middle of the city to its inner center, to being in farmland. We made our way up to the top. Medellin is the second biggest city in all of Colombia and it is located in the Aburrá Valley. This latter is the central region of the Andes Mountain and there are 2.5 million people within the city.

Parque Arvi

We arrived at Arvi Park. However, we were a little confused and a bit lost trying to figure out which path to take. We went to the information desk and we thought they'd give us a map, but they said there isn’t one. It is just on a wall to take a photo of and that was the instructions that we got. Since not many people speak English here, we should have made a better plan. After a while, we finally found the park area. It was really quiet and lovely. The river was rushing beside us and beautiful trails and a bridge. We were glad that we kept on going. The place was lovely. If you plan to come here make sure to bring a sweater and bug spray. Overall, this place is very quiet and it is a nice escape from the city.

Comuna 13 Walking Tour

We came back to the city to the west side of Medellin. We decided to go on a walking tour to explore the city and to hear a little bit about this area and its history. The main reason that this country was so dangerous back in the 80s and the 90s is because of Pablo Escobar. It was considered one of the most violent cities in the world due to the rate of crimes, violence and drugs. The neighbourhood we were touring Comuna 13 was once a very poor community, Escobar would hire young men from here to kill police officers. Also, the location of this community is in the mountains, so it was hard for law enforcement to get in but easy to get drugs into the community. The street art that you find in this area is representative of the story of the community. You may see illustrations of family, violence and hope.

City Transformation

The city turned around in the early 2000s about 15-20 years ago. Now, it is considered very safe and it is one of the go-to destinations for tourists in South America. In the early 2000s, the government started to put money into developing the communities specifically this one. In general, it appears in the escalators, cable cars, libraries and working on cultural things by inviting artists in. More importantly, the Colombian people are truly very nice. Plus, the walking tour was amazing and eye opening. We got to hear all the horror stories of people who grow up here and how it is changed. The story is about how they fought and got their country back. It was very touching.

We recommend that you put Colombia on your list of future destinations. It is a beautiful and a definitely a safe city to visit.

Watch the full video:

Heading to Colombia? Do you have your travel Insurance?

You should never travel without having travel insurance. You never know what could happen and it’s best to be prepared. We always travel with SafetyWing and we highly recommend it. It’s very easy to set up and is great for both short and long trips.