Private Medellin City Tour with Metrocable and Comuna 13

Pueblito Paisa on Nutibara Hill

Nutibara Hill is one of the few hills in the middle of Medellin that has kept its natural vegetation, and on its summit stands Pueblito Paisa, a faithful replica of a traditional Antioquian township built in the 1970s. Around a small cobbled square you find the whitewashed church, the town hall, the barbershop, the school and the colonial houses with wooden balconies painted in bright colours that once defined every village of the region. Our guide explains how these mountain towns shaped the paisa culture of coffee, trade and hospitality that still marks the city today.

The real reason to come up early in the morning is the viewpoint: from the terrace the whole Aburrá Valley opens up, with the river, the metro line and the neighbourhoods climbing the slopes on both sides. It is the best place to understand the geography of Medellin before you ride the Metrocable, and you have about forty minutes here for the village, the viewpoint and the craft stalls.

The Metrocable of Medellin

Medellin was the first city in the world to connect cable cars to a mass-transit metro system, and the Metrocable changed the life of the neighbourhoods on the steep eastern and western slopes. The first line opened in 2004, and since then the gondolas have carried residents up and down hills that used to mean a long walk or an hour in a bus. On this private Medellin city tour the Metrocable ticket is included, so you simply walk through the turnstiles with your guide and board a cabin.

The ride itself is one of the great views of the city: thousands of brick houses, football pitches, schools and tiny shops pass beneath your feet while the valley floor and the modern towers of the centre shrink behind you. Your guide uses the time to explain how transport, libraries and public spaces became the tools of the city's transformation. The round trip takes roughly half an hour depending on the line used that day.

Comuna 13 (San Javier)

Comuna 13 sits on the western hills of Medellin and for years it was the most troubled district in the country, caught between armed groups and the large security operations of the early 2000s. Today it is a symbol of change. In 2011 the city built a set of outdoor escalators, almost four hundred metres long in six sections, that replaced a climb of hundreds of steps for the people living on the steepest part of the hill. Along the way the walls became canvases, and the murals you see tell the history of the neighbourhood, its victims, its music and its hopes.

A Comuna 13 tour with a guide is very different from wandering alone: you learn what each mural means, meet local artists and dancers, and see the viewpoints over the city from the top terraces. The lanes are steep and busy, so comfortable shoes matter. Expect about an hour and a half here, with time for photos and a snack from the local stalls.

Botero Plaza and the city centre

Botero Plaza is the open-air sculpture garden of downtown Medellin: twenty-three monumental bronze figures, donated to the city by the sculptor whose name it carries, stand on plinths across the square in front of the black-and-white Gothic-revival Palace of Culture and the Museum of Antioquia. Voluminous horses, hands, cats and reclining figures invite you to walk around them, and the square is one of the most photographed places in the city.

Your guide explains the sculptor's style and the history of the buildings around the plaza, and if your group wishes there is time to browse the museum shop or the nearby pedestrian streets. From here the tour continues to Parques del Río, the linear park built over the sunken riverside highway, where lawns, gardens and cycle paths have given the city back its river. It is a relaxed final stop before the drive to your hotel.