The 9 Best Walking Tours to Take in Medellín

The undisputed champion of the Medellín free walking tours, the Real City Tours’ Free Walking Tour is the most popular one in the city – and with good reason. As the company has informative, engaging guides, a tried-and-tested route through downtown Medellín, and great customer service, you can practically guarantee a good experience. Covering the entire modern history of Medellín, the tours are informative and fascinating, and well worth a good tip.

Operated by Toucan Cafe & Tours, the Big 50 Medellín Walking Tour purports to be an antidote to walking tours with 20-plus people being shepherded around by a guide. Their walking tour, which is based on 50 intriguing facets of life in Medellín, aims to give guests the true local experience in a more intimately sized group. With loads of information, food and drink, and small group sizes, the Big 50 Medellín Walking Tour is perfect for anyone looking for a more in-depth look at the city.

This unique and engaging tour explores how street art and local community projects have transformed the formerly no-go Comuna 13 neighbourhood of Medellín. With passionate guides, many of them from the area itself, and a real commitment to exploding the myths surrounding Medellín’s poorer district, the tour is a must for anyone with an interest in art, social projects, and exploring a different side of the city.

Another Real City Tours initiative, the Exotic Fruits Tour is the best walking tour in Medellín for any foodie travellers, or for anyone wanting to get to grips with the incredible wealth of delicious fruits that Colombia has to offer. Operating from Monday to Saturday at 9:45 am and lasting up to three hours, the tour visits one of Medellín’s main markets and gives you the chance to sample loads of local fruits and juices. Look out for the delicious granadillas!

An excursion on foot through Medellín’s most densely populated barrio, this tour by Real City Tours is a glimpse into the various ways in which the city’s poorest and most deprived neighbourhoods have been transformed through both social and innovative architectural projects.

Bloom Travel Experiences offers a variety of excellent Medellín excursions, including a graffiti walking tour in Comuna 13, historical tours through downtown Medellín and – probably their most unique and fascinating option – a walking tour to see the city’s world-famous Christmas lights, which includes street food and local coffee.

Paisa Tours Medellín offers a walking/metro excursion that takes in the most important cultural and historical parts of the city and ends with a lovely hike along the trails of Arvi Park, a stunning natural park located on the hillsides outside Medellín. The trek passes through a delightful forest full of local flora and fauna and is a perfect way to end a tour of the city.

Medellin is a city built within a tropical rainforest. It’s the perfect place to set off for a tropical adventure. For those looking for a place to cool off from the intense city heat, follow your tour guides through meandering secret routes to hidden waterfalls. Hiking through nature is a deeply healing experience that connects with the pacha mama (nature). Enter the world of pumas, ocelots, opossums, orchids and birds, especially the colombian native cacique candela and many other species.

Immerse yourself in the world of Colombian coffee on this small-group tour from Medellin. Closer to nature and just outside the city, take in the beauty of the surroundings; private transport it taken care off. Once arrived, walk around smelling the coffee.Learn about the process of coffee-making at an organic coffee farm, from bean to cup, and taste some samples of the different brews on offer.

Go deeper than the Netflix series ever could and learn all there is to know about the rise and fall of Colombias most notorious drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. During this 8-hour excursion to his former hangouts in Medellín, see the lavish high-rise complex where Escobar once rubbed-shoulders with Colombia’s elite. Then learn about the mysterious circumstances of December 1993, when this elusive criminal finally met his end. Finish your Escobar-themed trip at his grave site located in Barrio Pablo Escobar, the community he founded.