Medellin, Colombia, was a trip we had originally planned for 6 days, but flight cancellations and missed connections left us with only 4 days in this beautiful city. Medellin has come a long way from its reputation three decades ago as a hub for narco trafficking. Today, it’s a vibrant city full of culture, innovative cuisine, and a thriving arts scene that brings in tourists, expats, and remote workers from all over the world. Due to a long delay on our American Airlines flight to Miami, we missed our connection to Medellin. The next flight from Miami to Medellin the following morning was fully booked, so American booked us on the evening flight, which arrived in Medellin later that night. This effectively wiped out two days from our original itinerary. It was not ideal, especially after weeks of planning, but it is part of the reality of travel. Delays happen, plans shift, and sometimes you just have to adjust and make the most of the time you have. The crazy part about this ordeal? It wasn’t even the worst part of this trip. A huge oversight on my part wrecked the second half of our itinerary. More on that later.
Day One
Before I get into my itinerary, I want to give a huge shoutout to Byron from TransTours Medellín. I booked him through Viator, and he was extremely responsive and understanding of our situation. I kept him informed with every update American Airlines provided, and he had no problem picking us up the following day. Upon landing in Medellin, we went through a very short line for customs and immigration and were on our way in 5 minutes. Byron was already there to receive us and gave us some insight into Medellín and recommendations. He pointed out the different nighttime views as we drove at a higher elevation, looking down at the city. Our hotel for this stay was Hotel Faranda in the safe and trendy neighborhood of El Poblado. If you’re visiting Medellín, I highly recommend this neighborhood. The hotel itself was beautiful, and the service was top-notch. I will have a separate post on Hotel Faranda. After we got settled in, we ordered dinner and got some much-needed sleep soon thereafter
Day Two
Our second day started with breakfast on the hotel terrace, soaking in the views of Medellín. The views are spectacular, and pictures don’t do it any justice.
Pubelito Paisa
Our first stop for the day was Pueblito Paisa. Pueblito Paisa is a replica of a traditional Antioquian village located atop Cerro Nutibara in Medellín. Designed to showcase the architectural style and cultural feel of the region’s rural towns, it features a central plaza, a small church, colorful storefronts, and artisan shops.
The highlight of Pueblito Paisa is its panoramic viewpoint. From the top of the hill, visitors get sweeping views of Medellín’s skyline and surrounding mountains, making it one of the best spots in the city for photos, especially around sunset. The most convenient way to get here is by Uber or taxi, but you can also book tourist buses and shuttles.
Comuna 13
From Pueblito Paisa, we hailed an Uber and went to the vibrant neighborhood called Comuna 13. Fifteen to twenty years ago, this was one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in South America due to gang violence and drug trafficking. Today, Comuna 13 is a safe neighborhood with a thriving music, arts, and food scene. It is known for several escalators that take people up the hillside neighborhood, showcasing beautiful panoramic views of the city. The graffiti throughout the neighborhood tells stories of its past, honoring those affected by violence while celebrating hope and progress.
While Comuna 13 is one of the most lively places to visit in Medellín, it is best experienced during the day. The neighborhood comes alive with street performances, vibrant murals, and guided tours that showcase its transformation. At night, however, the atmosphere changes a bit, and it is not the kind of place to explore alone, especially for first-time visitors. If you plan to visit in the evening, it is best to go with a local guide and arrange reliable transportation. For most travelers, a daytime visit offers the safest and most rewarding experience. We spent about three hours in the area and concluded our visit about twenty minutes before sunset, and took an Uber back to the hotel.
Tips:
While Comuna 13 is paved, it is mostly a steep uphill walk to reach the escalators and is therefore not stroller-friendly. We pushed our double stroller uphill and certainly got a good leg workout. It’s definitely easier on the way back down, but make sure you use those wheel locks when stopping at cafes or souvenir shops to prevent a runaway stroller situation.
Many people will approach you to be your guide as soon as they sense you are a tourist. If you are just walking around casually, you don’t need a guide. Keep your possessions secured. There are pickpockets that operate as a team in this area since it can occasionally get crowded.
Day Three
Our third day in Medellin was one that my wife and I were very much looking forward to as avid coffee drinkers. We booked a tour with Colombia Coffee Tours through Viator a few weeks prior. The night before our tour, our tour guide, Pablo, messaged me on WhatsApp to confirm our pickup time and hotel location. He arrived at 8am sharp the following day, and we hopped in his car en route to the farm in a suburb called La Estrella.
The benefit of this particular tour is that the farm was only about a 20-minute drive away, allowing us to avoid a long drive out to the countryside. The countryside also has some fantastic coffee tours, but this location is ideal if you are traveling with younger children and don’t want to venture too far from Medellin.
Upon arrival at the farm, we were greeted by Isabela and given a cup of freshly brewed, farm-to-cup Colombian Arabica Coffee. The coffee was so smooth and delicious, and it was a perfect way to start the day.
Isabela and Pablo were excellent guides, and we learned more on this coffee tour than on any other coffee tour we had taken in other countries. We learned about the history of coffee in Colombia, and got to see the different stages of coffee production in action, from planting the seeds, picking out ripe cherries, harvesting, threshing, sun drying, roasting, and tasting the final product to ensure only the highest quality of coffee is shipped for consumption.
The tour was very interactive and hands-on, making it ideal for our kids (ages 3, 5, and 6), who had a great time picking out the ripe “cherries.” Coffee cherries are the fruit that grows on coffee trees, and inside each cherry are the beans we eventually roast and drink as coffee.
Following our time at the farm, Pablo drove us to the Green Hills Coffee Roastery, a short drive away, where he and Isabela resumed the second part of the tour. Green Hills Coffee partners with this tour, allowing guests access to the roasting area and tasting laboratory.
In the taste lab, we sampled different types of coffee and were quizzed on which aromatic notes we could identify after tasting several small cups freshly brewed right in front of us. We also learned about different filtering methods and how each contributes to a distinct coffee experience.
Our kids showed genuine interest in this tour and had a great time. Isabela and Pablo were fantastic guides, and their efforts made this the most insightful coffee tour we have taken.
Day Four
Our last day in Medellin was spent exploring the El Poblado neighborhood and the Santafe Mall, located just a 10-minute walk from Hotel Faranda. The Santafe Mall is a massive shopping center with over 400 stores, 50 dining options, and an atrium that has eye-catching seasonal displays
My wife and I enjoy visiting local malls abroad to get a sense of international fashion trends. Even though both the U.S and Colombia have multinational stores like Zara, the styles can be very different.
The remainder of the day was spent at the hotel’s plunge pool and hot tub for some R&R. We went to sleep early that day since we had an early flight to Aruba the following morning… or so we thought. Unfortunately, that trip never materialized due to a crucial misstep by yours truly. You can read about that post here: Denied Boarding Due to Vaccination Requirements: A Cautionary Tale
Tips:
If you are interested in booking a coffee tour with Isabela and Pablo, message me, and I will forward their information. If you book directly with them rather than through a third-party website, it cuts out the middleman. If you need safe and reliable transportation to and from the airport, I can also provide Byron’s contact information from TransTours.
The Pablo Escobar Conundrum
This is a complicated discussion, but one thing is pretty clear: Pablo Escobar’s legacy is intertwined with Medellin. There is no escaping that, no matter where you go in the city. Whether it’s graffiti art, posters, souvenir shirts, etc. I considered doing the Pablo Escobar tour, but decided against it. I got the vibe that most folks from Medellin are ready to move on from the person who was primarily responsible for the city’s dark and violent past. According to locals, several Pablo Escobar tours end up glorifying him by visiting his burial place and encouraging tourists to leave flowers. Some even speak of him glowingly as a person who helped many of Medellin’s poor. Both things can be true. But there is no disputing the number of innocent folks who lost their lives during the cartel wars. Rather, I would encourage visitors to visit Parque Memoral Inflexion, a memorial for the thousands of victims who lost their lives to narcoterrorism between 1983 and 1994.
Award Redemptions
- From Chicago to Medellin via a connection in Miami, we used 16k miles per person
- We booked Hotel Faranda using Choice Privilege Points at 20k points per night. This was one of my favorite Choice properties I have ever stayed at and one which I recommend to anyone visiting Medellin.
- Our flight from Medellin to Aruba was booked using Chase Ultimate Rewards, redeemed with 92k UR points for all of us (cash price was $1,400, and at that time, Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders could book at a value of 1.5 cents per point). Since this portion of our itinerary was canceled, Copa gave us $1,400 in credit, which had to be used within a year.
- Our flight from Aruba to Chicago was booked on United by transferring Amex Membership Rewards points to Avianca, then booking a nonstop flight using Avianca Lifemiles on United for 15k miles per ticket plus $400 in taxes. Since this portion of our itinerary was also canceled, Avianca informed me that re-depositing my miles would cost $200 per ticket. This did not make financial sense, and I was ready to take the loss (75k total miles and over $400 in taxes). I found a very valuable workaround, which you can read about below.
- Following our denied boarding to Aruba due to the lack of a Yellow Fever Vaccination, I went into scramble mode to get back to the U.S. as soon as possible. Miami had the cheapest airfare redemptions from Medellin, and it ended up working out perfectly since my brother, sister-in-law, and nephews live there, and my mom was staying at his place during that time. My wife had a healthy stash of American miles, and we booked five one-way tickets at 16k miles per ticket for a flight departing in four hours. Accumulating miles in two-player mode (both spouses or significant others) can be very valuable in situations like this. The cash price for that same ticket was $429 a person.
How I got my Avianca Miles Redeposited
Faced with the prospect of losing 75k Avianca miles and $400, I did a quick search on Reddit and found a workaround. If I subscribed to the Avianca LifeMiles Plus basic membership at $50 a month, I would be eligible for a refund of my miles and taxes. The LifeMiles Plus membership has different tiers, and the higher the tier, the more miles are credited to your account each month. The different tiers also have an increasing level of benefits. You have to have the membership for 30 days before the benefits are conveyed, so I subscribed immediately at the basic tier, the lowest tier that allows refunds and miles redeposits without a fee. Once 30 days had elapsed, I called, and the Avianca customer service agent was surprisingly helpful and got the refund process started. In a few days, my 75k miles and $400 in taxes were refunded, and I downgraded my subscription immediately to the lite version, which costs $20 a month (I kept this membership for two months so as not to raise any red flags). So, to recap, I paid $90 to get 75k miles redeposited, received a $400 refund, and earned 4k miles for the subscription.
Miles for places 