8 Days of Adventure from Medellin

Day 1: Arrival in Medellin

You will be picked-up at Medellín’s José María Córdoba International Airport. Enjoy an hour-long drive into the impressive Medellín Valley. Spend the night at a boutique hotel located in the heart of Medellín’s hippest and cosmopolitan neighbourhood: El Poblado. Welcome to Colombia!

Meet your local guide for the afternoon and  explore the safe and walkable neighborhood. Let him show you the way this city works, the good places to eat, rest, and dance.

Day 2: Coffee Farm

After breakfast at your hotel, meet your guide for a scenic drive through the Andean mountains of Colombia’s coffee region. After driving for 1.5 hours, arrive at our traditional coffee farm. Explore the plantation with a coffee grower and partake in a hands-on learning experience of the process from planting to roasting. You will learn how coffee is linked to every Colombian family and how its history is a source of pride for Antioqueños.

Return to the Hacienda for a delicious Colombian lunch. Spend the rest of the afternoon by the private swimming pool or arrange to go horseback riding in the nearby mountains. By late afternoon, return to your hotel in the Poblado neighborhood of Medellín.

Day 3: Hiking or Paragliding 

After breakfast at your hotel, go on a tandem paragliding flight, or enjoy an intermediate hike:

To Paraglide:

Your guide will meet you at your hotel at 9:00 a.m. to drive 20 minutes from Medellín to the small town of San Felix, settled on a mountainside overlooking the entire city of Medellin. Take a tandem paragliding flight over a waterfall and the city of Medellín with a highly experienced paragliding instructor. Depending on weather conditions, you’ll enjoy a 20-minute minimum flight and land within a designated area. Enjoy a direct pick-up from the landing strip to return to your hotel in Poblado by lunch.

In the afternoon, enjoy free time to relax or explore Medellin with advice from your expert guides.

To Hike:

Meet your guide at your hotel after breakfast and drive 2 hours to the town village of Belmira, a Spanish-style town located at an altitude of 2,500 m. From the Belmira, embark on your intermediate day hike and climb nearly 700 meters in elevation. As you hike, encounter rare and strange endemic plants that can only be found in one of Colombia’s rarest ecosystems: the Páramo. Páramo deserts exist only in high alpine zones just above the forest line and below the permanent snow-line. According to scientists, they are “evolutionary hot spots” with some of the fastest evolving plant and bird species in the world. There are mountainsides of cacti circling alpine lakes, coral-like plants growing from marshes, and blossoming flowers on succulent plants.

Once you reach the mountain top, enjoy a picnic lunch while you soak in the natural beauty of the mountain range. After your hike, drive two hours back to Medellín and return to your hotel by 8 p.m.

Day 4: Medellin City Tour

Your walking city tour of Medellín starts with a visit to the illustrious Jardin Botanico, (botanical garden). The garden thrives in a city already lush with diverse flora. Next, stroll through the iconic collection of bronze sculptures at Plaza Botero and then board Medellin’s ultramodern Metro system, one of the best in the world. The network includes the world’s first gondola designed for public transport. Not only does the ‘MetroCable’ enable mass transportation over the mountainous terrain but also provides for stunning views.

Take the Metro to San Javier where you will visit the Comuna 13 community art project. Once the most dangerous neighborhood in Medellin, it is now experiencing an incredible transformation. After an installation of a series of escalators, the community responded with a massive mural project that now covers many of the walls in the neighborhood.  

Return to Poblado by a guided metro tour. Enjoy a relaxed evening and stay overnight at your boutique hotel.

Day 5: Whitewater Rafting

After breakfast at your hotel, meet your professional guides and safety kayaker at 8 a.m. Start a scenic drive for 1.5 hours east and enter the jungle of the Samana region. Colombian rivers are unique ways to experience the country’s biodiversity and local communities and this day trip takes you to the Río Calderas, a tributary of the mighty Rio Samana!

Begin an adventurous descent on class 3-3+ intermediate whitewater in the mountainous jungle canyons.  Enjoy relaxing on a secluded beach with a freshly prepared picnic lunch. Unwind with the sounds of birds and learn about the incredible biodiversity. 

After lunch, the river picks up! Enjoy tall waves, and thrilling drops! No previous experience is required, yet even experts will get a kick out of these rapids! Whitewater rafting is a full-body physical activity.  You will be paddling actively, raising your heartbeat, and potentially swimming in fast-moving water!

After the river, enjoy a cold drink and head back to Medellin for the evening! 

Day 6: Relaxing in Medellin

After your adventurous day on the river, enjoy a relaxing day in Medellín. We have many suggestions for how you can recharge today including pleasant walks in nearby parks in Envigado, or a visit to Medellín’s Parque Arví. Straight from the city’s metro, you can hop on the cable car that brings you up the slopes of the city to a beautiful nature preserve with walking trails. Enjoy incredible views of the city of Medellín, or explore Santa Elena, a rural town close to Medellín famous for its flower growing tradition.

Day 7: Guatape

Meet your guide in the hotel lobby to begin a 2-hour drive to the iconic sites of El Penol and Guatapé. Take a walking tour through the countryside for 2 hours as you learn about the original town of Guatapé and the armed conflict surrounding the building of the dam that was renamed to Guatapé Lake. Take the road less traveled to gain an insider’s perspective on the real story of Guatapé as few tourists do and learn about local efforts to pressure the government to address the reservoir’s encroaching blue-green algae.

As you walk towards the town of El Penol, take in stunning vistas of the dazzling granite La Piedra Rock. Climb the 700 steps of El Penol Rock to admire the classic view of the Guatape Lake reservoir.  Return to relax in Guatape, the most colorful town in Colombia, and admire the town’s beautiful artwork along the lower half of its buildings. The town is known as the most colorful in all of Colombia. Enjoy a typical dish of freshwater fish, or other local delicacies. Return to your hotel in Poblado, Medellín by 7 p.m.

Day 8: Airport Transfer - Departure

Depart from your hotel in Poblado and drive the 50 minutes from the Medellin valley to arrive at Medellín’s José María Córdoba International Airport for your flight. Thank you for visiting!

End of Tour

Food and Accommodation

• 7 nights at Sites 45 Hotel or request custom hotel option (based on availability, similar quality, and value hotels may be used)
• Water
• Breakfasts
• Lunch on days 2, 3 and 5 * please notify us of any special dietary requirements. 
• Our guides offer lunch and dinner recommendations based on your preference and budget

• All accommodation as listed
• Airport pickup and drop-off
• Professional bilingual driver for in-country travel
• Meals and drinks as listed above
• Expert bilingual adventure and cultural guides (languages: Spanish, French, English)

• Tips
• Visas
• Travel and medical insurance
• Flights
• Personal items such as sunscreen, insect repellant, clothing, etc