Visiting Guatapé, Colombia

Guatapé is a small town located a couple of hours east of Medellín. It is known for its colorful buildings and beautiful surrounding lakes. I came here to get out of the city for a bit, and it was such a refreshing change! I highly recommend taking a trip to Guatapé if you are staying in Medellín.

Here are some tips on what to do while visiting the lovely town of Guatapé, Colombia.

How to get to Guatapé

To get to Guatapé from Medellín via public transportation, simply take a bus from Terminal Norte.

From within Medellín, Terminal Norte can be reached via the metro system. Once inside the terminal, look for ticket booth #14: Sotrasanvicente & Guatapé La Piedra. A bus ticket should cost around $5 USD. Buses leave roughly every hour during the day.

What to do in Guatapé town center

Probably the first thing you’ll notice in Guatapé is its famous wall frescoes, which can be seen on the lower parts of most of the street-facing walls in the town. These frescoes range from classic designs to more modern takes – definitely spend some time walking around and taking in this local tradition!

Other popular activities in Guatapé include browsing the many small shops, sitting down for some coffee or a meal in one of its picturesque squares, and going for a scenic boat tour of the surrounding lakes.

A tip: the weekends get pretty busy here, so I would recommend a weekday trip if you can swing it!

One of my favorite spots was sitting on the upper balcony at La Plazoleta, a local coffee shop overlooking one of the main squares in Guatapé (down the road from the umbrella street in the photo above)! This was a great spot for a latte and some people-watching!

Visiting El Peñón de Guatapé

Guatapé is also known for being the home of El Peñón, a huge rock that you can climb for panoramic views of the surrounding area.

El Peñón towers 200 meters over the rest of the countryside. You have to climb over 700 steps to reach the top, where you’ll be rewarded with a stunning 360-degree view of the gorgeous aqua-colored lakes stretching out in all directions.

If you’re tired after the long climb, there are actually a couple of drink and snack bars at the top where you can relax and take a break (I’m a big fan of the coconut lemonade!).

El Peñón is just a 15-minute tuk-tuk ride from the town center of Guatapé, and definitely worth the trip! There was an entrance fee to climb the rock, and it came out to about $5 USD.

Fun fact: Crazily enough, all the lakes you can see from the top of El Peñón are technically man-made and spread over the land after a nearby river was dammed.

Where to stay in Guatapé

I was on a backpacker budget for this trip. I stayed in both La Casona Hostel and Lake View Hostel for less than $10 USD per night while I was here, and loved both of them! 

My dorm in La Casona Hostel was in what felt like a mini apartment, which had a homey feel and made it easy to make friends! This hostel was right next to the main town square and was a perfect home base for exploring the town.

Lake View Hostel was more on the edge of town (but still easy walking distance to the center). The upstairs area had a lovely water view and was quiet during the day, with plenty of places to get some work done – great for digital nomads!

Although I stayed in the dorms here, they also offer private rooms with beautiful views of the lake that gives the hostel its name. They also have a Thai restaurant on the top floor. Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed the night I stayed at the hostel, but I heard very good things about it from other travelers!

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I hope that you found this post helpful in planning your visit to Guatapé, Colombia! It is such a beautiful little town, and I would have loved to stay longer here if I could have. I’m sure that you will fall in love with this small town in Colombia just as quickly as I did!

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