Located amidst a unique landscape consisting of farmland, forests and emerald green waterways, Guatape is one of Colombia’s most beautiful destinations.
The incredible scenery, which was man-made as the result of flooding for a dam in the 1970’s, can be observed from the famous standalone rock – El Peñol – where thousands of tourists flock every year.
That’s not to mention Guatape itself; a vibrant, charming town awash with colour and character.
It’s easy to visit this incredible part of Antioquia from the buzz and drama of Medellín, the vast urban metropolis squeezed tight into the Aburrá valley. Alternatively, it is also an inviting getaway for a multi-day stay.
The beauty of this country is in its variety. From the rural villages of the coffee region to the huge cities alive with energy, there’s plenty to see when backpacking in Colombia.
Here is my step-by-step guide on how to get to Guatape and El Peñol by bus from Medellín.
Many travellers stay at hostels in the backpacker friendly neighbourhood of Poblado. One hostel I can highly recommend and in fact, ended up staying at for five nights, was Los Patios. It’s popular with backpackers and has an incredible rooftop from which you can survey Medellín. The staff were also very helpful when I enquired about how to get to Guatape.
In order to get to Terminal Norte from Poblado, make your way down to Poblado Metro Station. It’s relatively easy to find, especially with a useful offline maps app such as Maps.Me.
Upon reaching the station, jump on the Blue Line (A) Niquia from Poblado to Caribe. The duration of the journey is around 22 minutes although you can take a taxi if you wish.
To use Medellín’s metro system, you need to purchase a travel card at the kiosk. This is then swiped on the ticket barrier which electronically deduces the cost of your trip.
If you need to top up your funds, I’d highly recommend avoiding this during busy times of the day such as the morning and evening rush hour.
The queues were huge stretching out of the station and will only eat into time you could be spending in Guatape.
My advice is to ensure you have sufficient funds the day before if possible.
Upon disembarking the metro at Caribe station, take the exit on the left-hand side and over the bridge to Terminal Norte. You’ll arrive on the top floor of the station which mainly consists of vendors selling refreshments and other items. It’s on the ground floor where you can source your ticket.
Take the stairs or the escalator down to the bottom floor where you’ll immediately notice the buzz of the station as bus companies call out their routes. Each company operates from a branded ticket booth and use rolling digital screens to advertise the destinations they cover.
For Guatape, we purchased our tickets from Booth 14 with a company called Sotrasanvicente & Guatape La Piedra. As of March 2020, tickets cost $15,000 COP (£3.31/$4.19 USD) one-way.
I became well acquainted with Colombian stations, having travelled on buses throughout the country on journeys lasting up to ten hours. It is fair to say that there’s no shortage of refreshments, with many small coffee shops and stallholders on-hand. Just don’t expect an abundance of healthy choices.
As one of the main transport hubs for the country’s second largest city, Terminal Norte had considerably more options. In general you’ll find a lot of food is snack-based such as crisps, chocolate and biscuits. Alternatively, there are often fried options available such as empanadas. Tasty but not so good for the waist line!
There are a couple of things to be aware of in order to make your journey as smooth and relaxing as possible.
In Colombia, bus users are allocated a seat which eliminates the classic scramble for the best spot. Oh and by the way, remember when you wanted the backseat when you were a kid? Avoid that at all costs if possible. I had some very uncomfortable journeys across the Colombian Andes being thrown around on the backseat for hours on end – with no seatbelt.
Fortunately, you can avoid this by arriving early and buying your ticket. We found they were generally filled from the front first.
Second of all, the ticket. If, like me, you’re not fluent in Spanish it would be worth familiarising yourself with a few words. Being a Spanish speaking country in Latin America, this is the language in which all tickets are printed. When in the station, the “rampa” number means gate and upon boarding the bus, you’ll want to look at the “puesto”, meaning seat.
It took a couple of journeys for me to get used to this. I could be found staring at the departure boards with a confused look on more than one occasion.
On the bus to Guatape and indeed anywhere else in Colombia, you’ll notice street sellers board every so often. They’ll usually spend a couple of minutes selling their wares before hopping off a mile down the road. The drivers don’t seem to mind and I never saw any issues throughout my time travelling through the country. It’s obviously a way of life and the locals regularly purchase crisps, drinks and other snacks from the vendors.
Initially, they tend to make their way up the bus handing out their items. For those taking their first journey on a bus in South America, it could initially appear that they’re part of the bus company and handing out free refreshments. This isn’t the case. They’re handing out the items they’re selling for people to look at and on their way back down the aisle, will either sell them or take them back. If you’ve got no interest in even looking at what they’re trying to sell, a polite smile and “no” will always suffice.
On this occasion, we even had a gentleman come on board to play live music before doffing his cap along the bus for tips. Don’t feel obliged that you have to give any money, or buy any items, if you don’t want to.
The final point is one of security. Throughout my entire time in Colombia, I never encountered any issues on public transport. However, I was vigilant at all times. I’m sure that if you’ve recently started to plan a trip across South America, you’ll have read about safety on buses.
Opportunistic thieves have been known to steal belongings from unsuspecting travellers, therefore you should NEVER leave your valuables and day bag unattended. This includes putting it on the seat or in the rack above your head. Even though it might be uncomfortable, keep it on your lap because it’s not worth the risk.
If you’re travelling to Guatape or elsewhere with all your belongings, you’d be forgiven for reading this and wondering about how you store your large backpack. I initially had the same concerns. However, on the majority of occasions when putting my large backpack in the hold of the bus, I was given a ticket that matched to the corresponding tag strapped onto my bag. It worked fine the whole way through.
Like anywhere, the majority of users are law-abiding people going about their own business. On many occasions I enjoyed conversation with a number of locals interested about my experience in their country. They were keen to hear about where I’d been and my perception of the people I’d met. When confused about the gate number, one lady was very helpful when I asked how to get to Guatape. Even so, it’s still worth being aware at all times.
The stop for El Peñol is about ten minutes prior to Guatape town centre, therefore it pays to mention to the driver that you will be getting off here. Being such a popular tourist attraction, the chances are that there will be other travellers on the bus departing at this point too.
We wanted to visit Guatape after finishing El Peñol, so we returned to this point and jumped on the bus into town when it stopped to drop off more visitors. This only cost us $2,000 COP (£0.43p/$0.54 USD) and you get dropped off in the centre of town opposite the company office.
When you’re ready to leave Guatape, return to this office to purchase your ticket back to Medellín. This will be the same price as what you paid to arrive here.
If you enjoyed “How to get to Guatape & El Peñol from Medellin”, why not try the next article. It’s an in-depth review of El Peñol in more detail.
Read more… El Peñol: A Stairway To Heaven
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