Medellín: Comuna 13 & Downtown Graffiti Tour with Metro

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Free cancellationExcellent quality

1/11

Duration4h–4h 30m

GroupUp to 9

LanguagesEN · ES

Mobile ticketAccepted

How a city rewrites itself: Medellín's street art and the escalators that changed everything

You ride the metro and metrocable with a local guide through downtown Medellín and up to Comuna 13, seeing 23 Botero sculptures, the outdoor escalators, and one of Latin America's largest graffiti galleries. Transport, snacks and a guide who lives in the city are included; the pace is steady and the hills are real.

4h–4h 30m

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Downtown and Comuna 13 transformation

Visit Botero Plaza and see 23 artworks
Walk through Medellin's largest graffiti area
Tour innovative infrastructure projects

The Experience

Your local guide meets you in downtown Medellín and the first thing they do is hand you a metro card. No minibus, no separate tickets — you're taking the same train 1.2 million people use every day to get to work. That shift, right there, is the whole point. You're not being shown Medellín; you're moving through it the way locals do, and the guide narrates as you go. Downtown first: Botero Plaza, where 23 sculptures by Fernando Botero sit in the open air, and the guide explains what each one meant when it arrived, what it means now. The plaza fills with office workers and students between 11 and 1, so the timing matters.

Then the train climbs toward Comuna 13, and you switch to the metrocable — the cable car that threads through the hillside neighborhoods. This is where the tour shifts. What was once the most dangerous district in the city is now covered in murals, and your guide, who lives here or nearby, walks you through the famous outdoor escalators, a piece of infrastructure that sounds small until you realize it cut commute times in half and became a symbol of the city deciding to invest in itself instead of abandon it. The graffiti isn't decorative; it's a record of that transformation, and the guide points out which pieces mark which years, which artists, which moments. You'll see one of Latin America's most important street art galleries — not a curated space, but the hillside itself.

The whole thing takes about five to six hours. Your legs will feel it, especially on the hills, and the guide won't slow down for photos — this is a walking tour, not a photo tour. You get a soda and snacks included, which you'll want by the time you're climbing. The metro and metrocable tickets are in your package, so there's no fumbling at machines or asking directions. By the end, you've ridden the same transit system as the city, stood in front of art that wasn't made for tourists, and heard the story from someone who knows it because they live it.

What’s included

Your day includes metro and metrocable tickets, a local guide, soda and snacks. You'll see Botero Plaza downtown, ride public transit through the city, visit the outdoor escalators in Comuna 13, and walk through the graffiti galleries that cover the hillside.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearbyNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditions

Operated by Colombian Ambassadors

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to move through Medellín the way locals do and understand how a neighborhood rebuilt itself — the public transit is what makes it real, and the guide is what makes the history stick.