Guatape Tour
The Guatapé tour is one of the most popular tours in Medellín. It is known for its colorful houses and zocalos and for the monolithic 200 meter (656 foot) tall rock known as El Peñol.
Once a farming town relying mainly on livestock, agriculture, and mining, Guatapé underwent dramatic changes when Empresas Públicas de Medellín built a hydro-electric dam just outside the city in the 1970’s. Now Guatapé’s main revenue comes in the form of tourism for its colorful houses, its large fresh-water reservoir and marina, and the enormous rock, El Peñol that dominates the landscape. El Peñol is a monolithic rock that towers more than 650 feet (200 meters) above the landscape of Guatapé. You can reach the top of this national monument by climbing the 740 stairs that have been wedged into the side of the rock.
SOME FACTS ABOUT EL PEÑOL:
- The rock was first “officially” climbed in 1954 by Luis Villegas, Pedro Nel Ramirez and Ramón Diaz – it took them five days
- The rock is privately owned
- In 2019 the cost to “climb” the rock is $18.000 COP which is a fee that is not covered by most tours (it is covered in ours)
- The rock is approximately 200 meters tall
- There are 740 steps to the top
- There are no elevators, so all food and drink are carried up the rock manually.
- There is an outer staircase for going up and an inner staircase for going down (not inside the rock, just inside the other staircase)
ITINERARY:
- 7:10AM – MANILA STUDENTS – Meet at Parque Poblado) – Estadio students see below for pick-up location and time.
- 7:20AM – Board the bus when it arrives and head-out on the tour.
7:40 AM – ESTADIO STUDENTS – Meet at the SouthEast corner of the Estadio Metro Station – Manila students see above for pick-up location and time.
7:45 AM – Board the bus when it arrives and head-out on the tour. - 9:00AM (approximately) – Stop of at the small town of Marinilla for breakfast (included).
- 9:45AM (approximately) – After breakfast, travel to Guatapé to see the new city and the old city, then travel to the rock, El Peñol, for a couple hours. The $18.000 COP climb fee is included in our tour.
- 12:30PM (approximately) – Once finished at El Peñól, the tour heads over to the a restaurant on the malecón for lunch – meal is included
- 2:00PM (approximately) – After lunch the group boards a boat for a tour of Guatapé lake
- 3:00PM (approximately) – Once the boat docks the group heads up the hill for a tour of the colorful streets of Guatapé where you will learn the history of the zocalos.
- 4:30PM (approximately) – After a bit of free time the group will meet at the church for a return bus ride to Medellin usually returning around 6:00 pm-7:00 pm depending on traffic.
