Guatape: The best day trip in Colombia

Guatape: The best day trip in Colombia

in Guatape you can expect a picturesque and charming city with colorful streets and quiet places, while La Piedra del Penol offers the best views of the country

When I travel a country for the first time, I first scan a travel guide and look for a few highlights or must-see. This can be dangerous because they often expose themselves to the author's subjective grace.

When I searched the Colombian highlights of our travel guide for the first time, I saw colonial cities, national parks and coffee plantations. After a month in Colombia, I can certainly say that the best day I had there is hardly mentioned in the travel guides.

If you are in Colombia, I strongly recommend that you take the time to visit Guatape and La Piedra del Penol. In Guatape you can expect a picturesque and charming city with colorful streets and quiet places, while La Piedra del Penol offers some of the best views of the country.

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The modern and trendy medelline has honestly earned its place in the travel guides. In recent years, the proud city of Paisa has changed from the world's murder capital to a vibrant, flowering city with an interesting cultural scene. We spent a few days there before we decided on a day trip to Guatape due to a recommendation.

GUATAPE is a small and sleepy peasant town about two hours east of Medellin. The city borders on a large reservoir that was created by a dam at the end of the 1960s.

Many of the city buildings are decorated in color and decorated with murals of local culture (or sometimes only their favorite football team). There are many pretty places such as the Plaza Simón Bolívar, where they sit back and enjoy a delicious food and a cool beer and see the world passing by.

There are many accommodation options if you want to transform your day trip into a long weekend. It looks exactly like the type of city in which a few days can easily become a week, and so on ...

Despite the charm of Guatape, it is La Piedra del Penol that represents the real attraction for locals and international tourists alike. The 200 -meter -high summit "of the rock", which resembles Rio de Janeiro's sugar hat, offers an excellent view of the unique landscape. However, these views are not easy. There are 740 steps on the winding stone staircase and the scorching Colombian sun does not detract from this.

When you are at the bottom, it looks like the ominous serpentine staircase lasts for hours, but as soon as you start, the steps just fall away - don't worry, not literally; You are really very sure! They are also numbered every 100 steps, so I promised KIA every 100 a break to help with breakage!

above there are a few cafes and snack bars that offer cold drinks and ice to cool them down before taking the last steps to the 360-degree expression platform. The extensive panoramic view of the emerald green peninsulas is really fascinating and unique in the area - there is nothing comparable in Colombia.

We spent a good hour up there just to enjoy the landscape before we put a short break for ice cream. When we asked the poor seller whether she climbed the stairs to work every day, she smiled wrong and said yes. Ouch. With this in mind, we complained far less on the way back.

How do I get from Medellín to Guatape

go from the northern bus terminal (Terminal del Norte) to the ticket counters 9 or 12, where the buses descend every half hour and reach Guatape two hours later. We first visited the city (just because we forgot to tell the driver that he should put us in La Piedra), but I think it is better to create the climb first, enjoy the view and then reward Guatape with a good food and a cold drink.

If you are within sight of La Piedra, keep an eye out for the Zeuss filling station on the right side, which is next to the entrance to La Piedra (and of course ask the driver to stop you at La Piedra).

GUATAPE is about 3 km from La Piedra and there are many means of TUK-TUK-style transport means that bring you to the city. Nevertheless, we walked the relatively calm road between the two and found them uncomplicated. The last bus leaves Guatape around 6:00 p.m. and also stops in La Piedra so that you can pick it up in both places.

Lonely Planet South America contains a comprehensive travel guide for the country, ideal for those who want to explore the most important sights and take less busy roads.
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