Guatape Lakes outside of Medellin

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
7
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
3
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
3
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
2
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
2
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
6
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
45 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
402nd/457
Bottom 20%
continent
South America
country
Colombia
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$60 (typically $30 - $80)
Time of year visited
March
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Cliffs Lakes Local villages
All Tags
Islands Jungle
Wow Factor
Two scores: first is the wow factor which ranges from ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️, and a separate category for the truly "gash". The second is the more analytical travel experience score, which considers 6 varied criteria to give an overall score out of 100.
⭐

Summary

The Guatape Lakes are a nice day trip to take from Medellin – views from the top of the 220m (720 feet) tall La Piedra are cool and the walk around the colourful town of Guatape is nice.  But I’d challenge a lot I’ve read about this being a “must see”.

I found so much in Colombia way ahead of it. In particular, Hiking the Lost City Trek, Cartagena Old Town, Valley de Cocora and Salento,  Tayrona National Park and  Medellin.  The Guatape Lakes are a nice day trip if you have a spare day, but don’t prioritise over these.

 

Lake and island view from the top of La Piedra, Guatape Lakes outside of Medellin

Highlights

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#1 The views of all the lakes and islands from the top of La Piedra

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#2 Scaling the daunting steps for great views of the surrounding area

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#3 Chilling out having lunch in the small colourful town of Guatape

Travel Tips

Getting there and around – the bus from Medellin leaves from the Bus Terminal at Caribe Metro Station, takes around 2 hours there, 2 hours back (so make sure you get a seat!).  It’ll drop you off at La Piedra, where many on the bus will also get off.  I’d suggest leaving early from Medellin so that you can climb the rock before it gets super hot and can aim for lunch / late lunch in Guatape town.  Getting from La Piedra to Guatape town is easy as there are loads of tuk tuk style vehicle there to take you and you can buy your return ticket back to Medellin from Gauatpe town (the town itself is very small, so can easily find the bus station).

Walks – when on top of La Piedra, have a look around to see where you fancy walking down to the lakes.  We ended up wandering into one of the nice hotels nearby and found some beautiful grass areas to chill out on.

For how Guatape can fit into a bigger 3 week trip to see the highlights of Colombia,  see 3 weeks in Colombia.

What to prioritise in Colombia

Colombia has some real wow experiences.  For a first time visitor it can be a little overwhelming as to what to prioritise and simply because the country takes such a long times to travel around. See the 3 week itinerary for Colombia for how to do this, but if time is restricted the below is how I would think about priorities and how the Guatape Lakes fit in:

 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Hiking the Lost City Trek
A challenging multi-day trek through dense Colombian jungle, but rewarded by insane mountain views and majestic levels of remote ruins of Ciudad Perdida. Adventure and isolation and a mega wow. Hiking the Lost City Trek.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Salento and the Valley de Cocora 
Mountainous coffee country with picture-perfect colourful hilltop towns and a wonderful walk through a valley with the world’s tallest palm trees. Walking the Valley de Cocora, visiting the humming birds and soaking up Salento.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Cartegena
One of the best old towns in all of Latin America with incredible bar and restaurant scene.  Crowds take the shine off a little but still a country highlight. Soaking up the Cartagena Old Town.

 

⭐️⭐️ Medellin
The street art, the changing neighbourhoods, the museums, the great bar and restaurant scene – all worth seeing, but the highlight is the cable cars.  Not just over the differing neighbourhoods clinging precariously to the steep sides, but also up over the city valley sides and into the lush green forests where the city is completely forgotten.  Couple of days in Medellin riding the cable cars.

⭐️⭐️ Tayrona National Park 
Small flat walks through jungle and boulders to find stunning beaches.  We found the the chilled out beach hotels just the the east end of the park so nice we extended by 4 nights. Tayrona National Park and staying in a bit of paradise nearby.

 

⭐️ The Guatape Lakes 
Nice day trip to take from Medellin – views from the top of the 220m (720 feet) tall La Piedra are amazing and the walk around the colourful town of Guatape is nice.  But I’d challenge a lot I’ve read about this being a “must see”.

⭐️ Bogota 
I wasn’t the biggest fan of Bogota – there are better places to spend your time and we never really felt 100% safe. High chance though you’ll fly in and so do a half day cycling tour, play Tejo and to head up on the cable car to Monserrate.  Cycling and taking the cable car in Bogota.

Experiences nearby

Wow Factor Score Two scores: first is the wow factor which ranges from ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️, and a separate category for the truly "gash". The second is the more analytical travel experience score, which considers 6 varied criteria to give an overall score out of 100. LowHigh
  • Elite, unmissable
  • World-class, downsides
  • Meets the Wow Factor
  • Worth it
  • Meh
  • Gash

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Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences - from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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