Guatape and El Peñol Day-Trip from Medellin
Description
Head two hours east of Medellin to discover the charm of Guatape town. Your day trip will be filled with cobble-stoned streets, colorful facades, a huge natural rock and beautiful landscapes.
Tour Options
Itinerary
This tour will take you to one of Colombia’s must-see attractions: the massive rock La Piedra de Guatapé, also known as El Peñol or simply La Piedra (The Stone). Merely a one-and-a-half hour drive east of Medellín, the rock is located right next to the Peñol-Guatapé Dam, near the border of the towns Guatapé and El Peñol. You’ll be breathless after climbing up the 649 stairs – not only because of the hike but also the astonishing view!
As soon as you get off the bus, you are ready to start the hike up to the top of La Piedra, where you’ll have time to relax and marvel at the panoramic view over the beautiful lake and its magnificent surroundings. Back at the bottom, you’ll have a closer look at the environment and capture its beauty from different perspectives. You will also get to hear the story about the letters G and U imprinted on the north side of the rock, telling us about two cities claiming El Peñol as their own. The next part of our tour includes visiting the gorgeous colorful town of Guatapé. Walking down the cobblestone streets of the laid-back village you’ll admire the decorative panels at the base of the houses. In Guatapé you’ll also get a delicious meal in one of the nicest traditional restaurants with the best local ingredients. After a good hike, and a walk through the town of Guatapé, you’ll return to the bus and will be on your way back to Medellín.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Pick up service from Medellín Hotels /Accommodations. Please enter your pick up details. * Note: pick-up from other towns have an additional cost (including but not limited to Envigado, Bello, Itagüí, Rionegro). Please contact us to arrange it.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- We recommend wearing comfortable clothes ans shoes as well as sunscreen and a cap or hat.
- Changes on the tour may occur due to external factors. These changes will be notified to you with anticipation.
Reviews(20)
Excellent private trip to Guatape and El Peñol. Doriel was our tour guide, he was amazing, very informative and attentive throughout the whole trip. He gave ha enough time for all the experience. The boat ride in the lake was a big plus, a better perspective of the stone. Lunch at Guatapé was incredible and the city was beautiful and magical. Doriel made this trip a wonderful experience. Ask for him, very knowledgeable!!!!! Gracias por una experiencia inolvidable!!!!
We are thrilled to hear that your trip to Guatapé and El Peñol was an unforgettable experience. Doriel is truly a star—his deep knowledge, attentiveness, and perfect pacing are exactly what make our private journeys so special. We're so glad you loved the boat ride perspective of the monolithic stone and that incredible local lunch in the colorful streets of Guatapé. Your high recommendation and praise for Doriel mean the world to us, and we will make sure he gets this glowing shout-out. Whenever you're ready for another magical adventure in Colombia, you know where to find us
You must go down 2!!! Super awesome experience doing this tour, the guide was super informative and made out tour fun, highly recommend
Thank you x2 for joining us on the Private Guatape and El Penol Day-Trip! 🙌 We're thrilled you had an amazing time with our informative and fun guide. Your recommendation means the world to us. 🌟 Looking forward to more adventures together! 🌎🚀
Thought the company that employs our guide (Impulse Travel) didn’t confirm the guide would be arriving the next day after I provided our pickup address and requested confirmation, our guide and driver did show up as scheduled. Oscar, our guide) was very knowledgeable of the area we passed through on the way to Guatapé. We made a brief stop in El Penon to visit a very ornate church with its exterior built to look like Guatapé. Then we visited the rock and climbed all 675 steps to the top. The views from there are amazing. After we left the area around the rock, we visited the quaint town of Guatape admiring the zocalos and ate a delicious lunch of fresh caught fish. I highly recommend our guide but don’t recommend Impulse Travel.
I used Impulse Travel for all the activities I did during my 4 day trip to Medellin. Felipe coordinated the entire itinerary and made a few changes to accommodate the conditions in Medellin. Day 1: Coffee Tour. It was just amazing. I am a coffee lover and really enjoyed every aspect of the tour. We ended the tour at a roastery and coffee shop - Urbania. At Ubania had one of the best coffee I have tried during the trip. Day 1 a: City tour with Diana. We started with a lunch at "In Situ" at the botanical gardens. Diana knew I was vegetarian and took good care of my dietary requirements. Diana knew Medellin very well and spoke very good English. We went from lunch to Plaza Botero and walked around the city. We tried some local delicacies and fruits. Day 2: Pablo Who Tour and Comuna 13 trip. Ruben was the guide for day. We started the day at Mira Flores and took the Cable Car up the hill. Ruben talked about how the city had transformed itself over the years. We then went to the Memorial Museum (Museo Casa de la Memoria) and the museum guide and Ruben walked me through each of the exhibits. Lunch was at Govinda's and we had some amazing vegetarian food. After lunch we drove to Comuna 13. Comuna 13 was one of the most dangerous place in the world in the 1980's to early 2000. The transformation is very visible and we had someone who had lived there tell us the story. Day 3: Guatape and El Penol. Diana was the guide for the day. Diana did an amazing job both sharing the history, culture and food. We started really early as it was a weekend and expected to get really crowded. We stooped on the way to have some delicious Colombian breakfast - Pan de Queso, Arepa de chocolo and Torta de chocolo. We reached El Penol at about 9:00 AM and it was already getting crowded. We climbed up the 740 steps. The views from the top were STUNNING. They had some green mangoes with lemon at the top. Just what was needed after a long climb. We walked down and drove to the lake took a quick 1 hour boat ride. The views were amazing. Diana shared the legend of the blue dragon during the boat ride. The legend of the blue dragon. A priest over 100 years ago claimed that the city of Guatape would be swallowed by blue dragon. In 1960 the Colombian government decided to build a dam. They flooded this city and moved the residents. After the flooding when people looked at the satellite picture were shocked by what they saw. The boat ride ended with a walk around Guatape and the must take picture of the street with umbrellas. We wrapped up around 12 and drove to Bosko hotel for a lunch. The drive back to Medellin took about 2 hours. All in all the trip planned by Felipe and supported by Diana and Ruben were just amazing. I thank Diana for all the stories and sharing amazing locations, food and culture with me.
The whole excursion I recommend the stone is beautiful ,visit Guatape I recommend it 100 baseboards the village is beautiful , cheer up and see you will love .......
Such a great day! We had an amazing guide who taught us lots about the area, took us for coffee and an amazing lunch. We learnt and saw much more of the area than I was expecting. The view from the top will not disappoint and wasn't as difficult as I thought to reach the top! Enjoy a michelada before you head down. Would highly recommend. Even just the drive to and from Guatape is stunning.
Super fun day trip to guatape done with several stops. Enthusiastic guide Jesus knows how to talk everything together and is full of good tips.
2 hrs from Medellin but worth the drive the mountain gives the most panoramic view of the reservoir and surrounding area. 705 steps to the top are not for the feinthearted Guatapé is totally delightful- a picture postcard town with enchanting pictures of every shop. Take a tuk tuk round to get the best of your visit
a colorfull attraction and nice details of the so called ‘socalo’ of the houses. you can shop for memorabilia inluding the ‘el peñol’ stone in miniature.
Hi Guatapé is so beautiful! Full of colors, handcrafts, great food and awesome people. Is definitely a must when visiting Colombia and specifically in Medellín being so close. You not only get a great little town, but a breathtaking view at the top of El Peñol. Hopefully you can come back. - Daniela O.
Quatape is a small town, about two hours drive from Medellín. Getting out of the city is a hassle. El Peñol region is known for its agriculture. The beautiful green landscape of El Penol is remarkable. There are two destinations: El Peñol boulder and Guatapé town. El Peñol boulder is a spectacular monolith of 220 m high rock with a built-in 740 steps to reach the top. I went up in less than 15 minutes. The view from its summit is wonderful. You can see Guatapé reservoir, an artificial water reservoir built for energy production in the country. Guatapé town, on the shores of the reservoir, is one of the most picturesque places in Colombia.
Hi Jawa, Thank you very much for your comments. You are right, Guatapé and El Peñol is an excellent choice if you want to get away from the city's noise and stress. Guatapé and its colors are simply beautiful and the view from the top of El Peñol rock is breathtaking. We hope you can visit us again soon! Kind regards, Paula Duarte
