3 Day Medellín Itinerary: The One I’d Actually Follow

Wondering how to spend the most epic 3 day Medellín itinerary? You’re in the right place.

I spent an entire month in Colombia and Medellín was by far my favourite city out of everywhere I visited in South America. I’d actually say it hits my top five cities in the entire world.

I’m not a city person at all, but I ended up extending my stay here.

I loved the Comuna 13 area, rooftop restaurants like Piso 10 and Palma Pitón, and lounging by rooftop pools overlooking the city’s insane landscape, and more.

Wondering what to do in Medellín in 3 days? This Medellín itinerary is completely well-rounded so you get:

• Busy sightseeing days in the downtown core
• Museum recommendations like Museo de Antioquia
• Food tasting opportunities like exotic fruit tastings
• History in Comuna 13
• A potential day trip option to Guatapé

And more!

By the end of this Medellín, Colombia itinerary, you’ll have a full three-day plan, plus two optional swap-day ideas if my initial recommendations don’t suit your fancy.

Day 1: El Poblado, Downtown, and Comuna 13

Day 1 of this Medellín 3 day itinerary is the busiest of the three. It’s three separate legs of the city, connected by Uber, ending back where you started, so plan your time accordingly.

Morning: El Poblado

Start the day with some breakfast at Hija Mia NOMADA. It was one of my favourite breakfast restaurants in all of Medellín.

The ambience is chic, there’s a nice corner patio overlooking the tree-lined street. And the food was so good I ended up eating there twice.

Wandering after breakfast

After breakfast, spend the rest of the morning wandering El Poblado on foot.

This is the neighborhood I based myself in and it’s where the “City of Eternal Spring” nickname really earns itself. There are plants and vines breaking through the sidewalks, trees growing over the streets. It has that jungle-meets-city feeling.

Browse the shops and boutiques while you’re at it, stopping for a coffee at one of the many cafés along the way. The trendiest stores are in this neighbourhood.

For the full rundown on where to stay and why El Poblado works as a base, see this guide here.

Read Next: Where to Stay in Medellin – My Top Picks

Late Morning: Sample Exotic Fruits at Mayorista Central Market

Next, head to the largest produce market in Medellín. It literally has thousands of stalls, with rows upon rows of weird and new fruits to try.

Colombia has over 400 varieties of native fruits, ranging from sweet to sour, spiky to smooth. Some you won’t even know how to eat just by looking at it.

Spend an hour or two doing your own DIY fruit tasting.

The vendors will be calling out for you to try samples. Try whatever looks unique to you, ask the vendor what it is (and use your Google Translate to hear more about it).

You’ll see squishy pink guayaba, uchuva berries, sour curuba, and the giant guanabana, which is famous for being really spiky and sour.

⭐ Make sure you try granadilla — it was my favourite.

If you’d rather have a guide walk you through it, you can also book one through a local tour operator like this one.

An alternative is a broader food tour like this one that includes empanadas, which turn out to be nothing like Argentinian empanadas. Colombian ones are fried, made with a corn-based dough, and typically filled with potato and meat.

You’ll also try bandeja paisa, the classic Colombian platter.

⭐ Check out the exotic fruit tour with a local in Medellin

Afternoon Into Evening: Comuna 13

📍 A separate part of the city from El Poblado, so plan for a real Uber ride each way

To me, a walking tour in Comuna 13 is an absolute must-do in Medellín, Colombia.

I highly recommend doing it during the afternoon. Book the 4:00 to 4:30 p.m. slot if the operator offers it. The 4 p.m. tour was perfect timing, with the sun setting around 6:15.

It meant that I got to see it all in the daylight but towards the end of the tour, as it wrapped up around 6:30, we got to see it all lit up at night.

Why You Should Care About Comuna 13

Comuna 13 used to be one of the most dangerous parts of the city. Seeing it now, stacked up the hillside like a favela and covered in some of the best street art in South America, tells you a lot about how far Medellín has come.

There are hip hop street dancers, music playing, kids coming up to you rapping with a boombox, an outdoor escalator, and some of the best street art you’ll see anywhere in the world.

I did this graffiti tour, which took us through the entire Comuna 13 barrio and gave us a full overview of the history of the neighbourhood. We even got to sample some street food.

Stick around after the tour to shop. I ended up shopping for souvenirs, like cute shirts, bucket hats, and local crafts.

This was hands-down my favourite thing I did in Medellín.

⭐ Check out the Comuna 13 Street Art tour I did and loved

Evening: Dinner at Piso 10

For your last stop of the day, go to Piso 10 Roof Top, a rooftop restaurant on the tenth floor with some of the best views in the city.

This was on my bucket list before I even landed in Medellín, and it completely lived up to the hype. The food is good, the view of the lit-up city at night is stunning, and even the bathroom is worth a photo (which I never thought I’d say).

I went alone on a Saturday night and didn’t need a reservation, but if you’re a group of two or more, book ahead to guarantee a table.

Even if you already had dinner in Comuna 13, it’s worth stopping by just for drinks.

Day 2: Downtown History, a Museum, and a Slow Afternoon

Morning: Downtown Walking Tour

For your second morning of this 3 day Medellín itinerary, take the metro from El Poblado to the downtown area for a free Medellín walking tour.

I actually loved the views of the city from the metro on this ride. It’s also super easy with no transfers.

Now you might be wondering why I recommended two different walking tours in a single trip. Comuna 13 and downtown are honestly completely different sides of Medellín.

I really do think having a guided walking tour of both provides a well-rounded vision of what the city has to offer and the history of it all.

The downtown tour gave me more of a modern-city, local-life view, with historical context along the way through statues and monuments.

Some of the best stops of the tour include:

• Plaza Botero — funny-looking bronze sculptures by the famous Colombian artist Fernando Botero.
• Pedestrian streets Calle Junín and Carabobo Street
• Plaza San Antonio — where you can see a Botero statue that was damaged during cartel violence.

⭐ Check out the walking tour of downtown Medellin

Midday: Museum Choice

From here, choose between the Museum of Antioquia or Museo Casa de la Memoria.

The Museum of Antioquia is an art museum. It has both historical and modern art from famous Colombian artists. There are more Fernando Botero works in there.

Or, the Museo Casa de la Memoria is all about the cartel violence and what made the city so dangerous between the late 80s and early 2000s. It’s a memorial-type museum to all the victims and is free to visit.

Afternoon: Rooftop Pool

After a busy start to the day, find a rooftop pool to relax at. This was shockingly my favourite activity that I did in Medellín because the city skyline is just so stunning.

I was staying at Los Patios, a hostel in El Poblado, and they actually have a rooftop pool included in their stay.

I highly recommend booking your accommodation in Medellín to prioritize having one of these rooftop pools, and I do actually highly recommend Los Patios. If your hotel doesn’t have one, there are a few throughout the city that you can pay admission to spend the day at.

Some of the best rooftop pools in Medellín:

• Envy Rooftop Bar and Pool
• Masaya Medellín
• The Charlee

Evening: Salsa Class

Wrap the day with an evening salsa class.

Dancing in general is a huge part of Colombian culture. Salsa and bachata classes are super common in Medellín.

I did one at my hostel, Los Patios, and loved it. It somehow turned into a full rooftop dance party by the end.

🤩 Check out: this salsa experience/nightlife tour is hosted by a local dancer who takes you on a tour of the best local dance spots to learn how to salsa and try it out in the real world.

Day 3: Adventure Day and One Last Night Out

Morning to Afternoon: Paragliding or ATV Tour

Day 3 of this 3 day Medellín itinerary is the adventure day.

Another surprise I got from Medellín was that it has this fun adventurous side too. They have paragliding around the mountains over the city, and wild ATV tours around Medellín’s three mountains.

📍 Paragliding launches from San Felix, roughly 40 minutes outside the city

You fly tandem, so you’re with an experienced instructor. You can check out the tour option here.

The ATV option runs through Guarne and the surrounding countryside, covering forest trails, rivers, and scenic viewpoints.

Late Afternoon: Optional Metrocable to Parque Arví

If you’ve got time left in the day, I also heard really great things about taking the Metrocable up to Parque Arví.

It’s meant to be super peaceful in the park with nice views. And it’s removed enough from the city that there are no crowds.

You need to get a separate ticket from the regular metro fare. You can still load it onto the same metro card you got for the train earlier.

You can find the current rate at metrodemedellin.gov.co before you go.

Read Next: I have a more thorough travel guide on how to get around Medellín here.

Evening: Last Night Out

Close out your three days with a final night of salsa dancing, followed by a party bus that typically departs around midnight.

This is a real late finish, so plan your next day (or your flight home) accordingly.

⭐ Safety tip: keep a close eye on your drink and your phone. One girl in my hostel dorm got her phone stolen from her purse at the night club she went to. She didn’t have a backup so had no way to get money out to go home. Scary!

Bonus: Palma Pitón Sunday Brunch

If you happen to be in Medellín on a Sunday morning I highly recommend doing brunch at Palma Pitón. It’s this iconic rooftop garden patio with real birds chirping in the plants nearby.

It’s also known for its beautiful pink spiral staircase lined with exotic plants. And the brunch was actually delicious too. The portions were a bit small but it was quiet, lovely, and one of my favourite Medellín experiences.

It’s also in El Poblado on top of the Somos Bold Hotel, so really close if you’re staying in that area.

I went right at opening on a Sunday with a reservation and it wasn’t busy at all, though that was shoulder season. I’d expect it to need a reservation further in advance during peak travel months.

Optional Swap-Day: Guatapé

If you want an alternative to any of the three days above, Guatapé is a really popular day trip from Medellín.

Every single one of my hostel mates went on this day trip and loved it. They all talked super fondly of the giant rock you get to take 740 steps to the top of, rewarded by beautiful views over the surrounding water.

I regretted not going on this trip. I had already extended my time in Medellín.

⭐ Check out: the day trip to Guatape from Medellin

Is 3 Days in Medellín, Colombia Enough?

So, how many days do you need in Medellín? Three days is enough to cover the core highlights of this epic city.

My own trip stretched to about four days because I loved the city so much, but I also worked during the day for 2 of those days. So 3 full days should totally cut it.

If you want the fuller “how many days do you actually need” reasoning, that lives over in my complete travel guide for Medellin.

Next Step: Figure Out Where to Stay

Now that you’ve got this Medellín itinerary mapped out, the next thing to sort is where you’ll base yourself for these three days.

I stayed at Los Patios in El Poblado for my entire trip and would happily do it again. For the full comparison of neighborhoods and properties, you can find them here!

And if you’re planning more time in Colombia, check out my other travel guides for ideas.

Happy adventuring!