Guatapé colombia is an Andean resort town in northwest Colombia, just 2 hours east of Medellín. It’s famous for its colorful buildings and La Piedra del Penol, a ginormous granite rock surrounded by the man-made Peñol-Guatapé colombia Reservoir with the most incredible 360 degree views for miles and miles around. The town of Guatape is small and quaint, but has a vibrant culture. Every single wall is painted with bright colors and pictures that depict the ancestral symbols of those who live or own each building.
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Table of Contents
Guatape Colombia History
In the 1900s, the massive 10-million-ton rock was seen by local farmers as a nuisance, a giant version of the rocks that the farmers regularly dug out of their fields. In 1954 a group of friends — supposedly at the urging of a local priest — climbed the rock using a series of boards wedged into a crack. These were the first people known to have climbed El Peñon de Guatapé, which took them five days. In the 1960s, the Colombian government decided to turn the area into a hydro-electricity dam, which helped boost the economy as people started flocking to Guatapé for recreational activities.
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Present Day
Today, Guatapé is considered a vacation destination for Medellin locals and international tourists alike with numerous resorts and vacation homes surrounding the lakes and islands. Boating, fishing, and jet-skiing are extremely popular, but if you’re a true adventure-seeker, you can ascend the 739-step staircase carved into La Piedra (Wikipedia lies saying it’s only 649 steps) for only 18,000 COP ($6.30 USD). At the top of the rock, you’re sitting 7,000 ft above sea level with views unlike anything you’ve seen before.
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Is Guatape Doable in One Day?
People online said it wasn’t possible to do Guatapé on your own in one day, so we set out to prove them wrong. We decided to rent a car since that allowed us to stop and see what we wanted along the way. We left Medellin around 8am, got to La Piedra at 10am. If I were to do this again, I would definitely recommend leaving Medellin by 7am at the latest as there were already a ton of tour buses at the rock by the time we started hiking.
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First we ate brunch at Las Margagitas Restaurant, right at the base of the rock overlooking the lake, in order to fuel for the big climb. The hike took about 30min and we spent at least another 30min admiring the views from the top before descending.
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From there, we drove a short 15min to the vibrant town of Guatapé where we spent a couple hours exploring one colorful street after another, stopping for some sweet treats and coffee.
The third activity (that we unfortunately did not do) that I’d highly recommend is to take a boat tour of the reservoir. There are several ferry companies that pick up in the small marina in Guatapé and cruise around the lake for about an hour. A major point of interest is seeing Pablo Escobar’s burnt down vacation home on one of the islands.
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We ended up leaving Guatapé around 3:30pm to head back to Medellin, which would have left us more than enough time to do the boat tour had we decided. We briefly stopped in the small town of Marinilla on the drive home where we were shocked to see several large modern homes being constructed. We also stopped for dinner at El Llanerito, a very popular barbecue pit stop for locals that often has live music.
Getting There
The more economical option: Take the Medellin Metro to Caribe Station for 2,000 COP. Cross the bridge to the North Bus Terminal. There are several bus companies that make trips to Guatape daily. I recommend Sotrasanvicente. The 2 hour trip costs 13,000 COP (or USD 4.55) one-way. To return to Medellin, wait on the opposite side of the road where the bus dropped you off. The first bus in the morning leaves around 7am, and the last bus leaves from Guatapé around 6:30pm.
The more convenient option: Take a day tour with Toucan Tours for 79,000 COP ($28) from Medellin. Food and La Piedra climb are not included, but you don’t have to deal with the hassle of finding your way from bus to bus.
The more daring and time-flexible option: Rent a car and drive yourself – this was the option we chose. I’m not going to lie and say we didn’t have any close encounters getting in an accident, but for those of you who know what driving in India or China is like, this would be a piece of cake! We happened across a tiny car rental company TuRoll in El Poblado, Medellin (where we were staying) whom offered us a rental car for $30 for the day. The best part about renting a car in Colombia is that you don’t have to fill up the tank before returning!
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This is an awesome post. I’ve never heard of this place but it looks stunning… your pictures and your article are fantastic and very insightful. I think I’ll haveto add this place to my travel bucket list…
This sounds amazing! What a hidden gem!!
I can’t wait to see if I can make a trip here happen. I love the look of El Llanerito and would never want to leave it.
The place looks amazing! I especially liked the La Piedra rock.. looks huge! I can feel my fear of heights is already kicking in 😀
These pictures are fantastic and this place looks amazing. I want to visit for myself!
Omg , This place looks so beautiful , I wish i could visit someday . Thnaks for sharing
Oh my goodness!! That rock or mountain with the stairs in it. How amazing. Very colorful part of the world.
What a wonderful place! WOuld love to visit it one day!
I like the look of Guatapé, with so many colorful buildings. The views from the top of the rock are amazing! How was the hike up though? I usually get vertigo and avoid climbing such tall structures if I can clearly see how high it is when I look down 🙂
I love this post. Most importantly i love that gigantic rock. The city looks beautiful also
Wow what a Stunning View! I fall in love with this place! Would love to go there some time. Adding this to my bucket list. All the pictures are beautiful!
What a wonderful experience. My friend’s husband is from Colombia, but I’m not sure if he’s been here before. Will have to share this post with her and him to confirm.
Wow what a beautiful place to visit. So much green and great architecture. Great for picture taking. Would love to visit there one day. Going to browse around your blog some more now. 😉
I am loving these pictures! I’d love to visit sometime, the weather looks amazing. Thanks for sharing.
Columbia is on my bucket list for sure! Your post and photos just reminded me how badly I need and want to go. Thank you
Oh my gosh! So many beautiful landscapes! Who knew?!
Wonderful picks for paying a visit to. Thank you.
Oh my gosh look at all the beautiful colors! I love how vibrant and open the area is!
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these pictures don’t even do the town justice. It’s even more spectacular in real life
I love the bright colors on the buildings. The stairs on the rock would be a great workout for sure.
Wow, this place doesn’t even look real! I love the vibrant colors on the buildings, and the scenery is just gorgeous.
what a stunning location. Plus it seems to offer so much. True confession I had not heard about this spot but now it is on my radar
Oh wow, that looks like a beautiful place! I would love to go to a place like that, see what there is too see! Thanks for sharing!
I love this trip of yours the colorful architecture and arial views are just simply take my breath away. I wish we could visit this place someday we are into traveling as well but right now due to our job we only taking trips to US.
Those stairs up the side of that rock are so very sensational. I don’t know how I would fair climbing all of that however!
All of these colorful buildings are so amazing! I never really knew all the history either so this was such an interesting read.
These pictures are so vibrant! Colombia is a bucket list trip for me. After seeing this amazing post, I’ll need to move it up a little higher.
Now that looks like a really amazing adventure! I would really enjoy some time in Guatape!
I’m obsessed with all of the colors! All of the architecture is stunning, plus the natural environment is gorgeous. Definite bucket list destination.
Very Nice Post, I learned a lot through it. Thanks for posting.