Medellin is the most striking Colombian city to visit. Once the most dangerous city in the world — Pablo Escobar's Medellin cartel ran it through the late 1980s — it has transformed itself more dramatically than almost any other place on the continent. The cable cars that climb from the metro stations up the valley walls to the once-forgotten barrios are a civic symbol, but the real change is in the street: Paisas, as locals call themselves, have thrown themselves at the project of reinvention.
The city sits in a narrow valley in the Andes at 1,500 metres, which gives it the mild year-round climate that earned it the nickname La Ciudad de la Eterna Primavera — the City of Eternal Spring. Average temperatures hover around 22°C, and it rarely gets hot or cold. You will not need either sunscreen or a coat most days.
Downtown is dense and chaotic, anchored by Plaza Botero — twenty-three bronze sculptures of deliberately rotund figures donated by the painter Fernando Botero, Medellin's most famous son. The Museo de Antioquia on the same square holds the bulk of his painted work, and the rest of El Centro rewards a guided walk past the Catedral Metropolitana — one of the largest brick buildings in the world — and the needle-shaped Edificio Coltejer. North of there, in the reinvented barrio of Comuna 13, the graffitied outdoor escalators that carry residents up the hillside are one of the best urban walks in Latin America.
El Poblado is where most travellers stay and drink — a leafy district full of cafes, good restaurants, and the bar-strip of Parque Lleras and the more design-conscious Provenza a few blocks north. Longer-stay visitors increasingly choose flatter, more local-feeling Laureles instead. For a slower pace, take the Metrocable up to Santo Domingo Savio for the views — Mazzanti's Biblioteca España cubes still loom on the ridge — then on to Parque Arví, a cloud-forest reserve that starts at the top of the cable car line. The Museo Casa de la Memoria is the place to confront the city's recent history; the Feria de las Flores in August is the most exuberant reason to time a visit.
Destinations
The valley around Medellin holds several worthwhile day trips — see Day Trips.