One of the most popular and highly rated day-trips from Medellin is visiting Piedra del Peñol (Penol Rock) and the town of Guatape. We took this tour with our kids when they were 7 and 9 years old. It can definitely be done with kids, and I would recommend it.

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What Is Peñol Rock?

Piedra del Peñol is a very large rock that sticks up from out of nowhere and is surrounded by waterways. These waterways weren’t always a part of the landscape but were created when they put in a hydroelectric dam that flooded the area. Devil’s Tower is the closest comparison that we’ve seen before, in regards to Peñol Rock. It is just a big rock protruding to great heights from an otherwise relatively flat landscape. 

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Why Visit Guatape?

The town of Guatape is located about 4-5 kilometers from the rock and is a colorful and beautiful community. It is a great town to walk around, learn some of its history and enjoy the painted streets

Tour Options To Guatape

There are many tour options to consider when you book a day-trip from Medellin to Guatape and Peñol. You can easily find a tour on Viator or Get Your Guide. These are both great companies to work with. I would suggest shopping around and finding the tour that works best for you.

We wanted a private tour, so we booked through Airbnb experiences. We’ve had pretty good luck with these offerings and appreciate that locals guide us because they are familiar with the area and history. It is much better, in our opinion, than striking up conversations with other English speaking tourists that think they know everything.

A bonus that we have come to enjoy on day trips that leave whatever city we are in, is the convenience of our tour guide picking us up from our Airbnb. With a full day of activity, restless kids, and a lot of unknowns, this convenience is worth the extra money. However, if are looking to save money, there are so many other options.

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Piedra del Peñol

Our guide picked us up at 7am to drive a little over an hour and half to get to Peñol and to beat the crowds. Before arriving at our destination, we stopped at a little roadside restaurant to get some delicious hot chocolate and cheese bread to fuel us for the beginning of our day. It was amazing! 

Piedra del Peñol is a touristy location for sure, but the view from the top is worth it. There are 707 stairs (they are numbered) to the top of the rock. Upon gazing up at the rock, Levi guessed that it would take 3 hours to get to the top. He was not excited. On the contrary, our guide told us that if you started and didn’t stop it would take about 9 minutes. Levi (all of us, really) was shocked and we didn’t believe him for a second. We were all pleasantly surprised when we made it to the top in about 15 minutes. This makes it very doable with kids of all ages. Younger ones just might take a little longer.

The rock is privately owned and over the years the owners have built out staircases. Our guide, Sergio, told us that when he was a kid, that the stairs were wooden. These days, there are two separate concrete stairways; one to go up, and one to go down. In the days of Covid, this is great as you definitely find yourself huffing and puffing on the way up. There are a couple of different viewpoints at and near the top with a gift shop and a place to buy a beer and snacks if you’d like. Our view was a little foggy but still magnificent! Ultimately, I don’t know that I’d ever go out of my way to climb the rock again, but it was fun to do it once for sure. 

The Colorful Town Of Guatape

Next up we explored the colorful town of Guatapé. Beautiful paintings are everywhere you look. It is truly a magnificent place to just wander around and get lost. In addition, we adored the many little streets and enjoyed a delicious cappuccino from a balcony overlooking a colorful square, and snacked on buñuelos. Buñuelos are deep-fried bread balls with mozzarella cheese inside. Definitely something to try if you are ever in Colombia. Yum!

This little town was amazing! Chocolate shops, coffee shops, colorful Tuk Tuks, local artisans all over the place, legitimate parks for the boys, access to the reservoir, and even a lady who cares for all of the street dogs! We could have explored the town for a lot longer, but it was time to move on to the next part of our tour. 

If you have the time, I would recommend booking a hotel in Guatape. That way you can enjoy the town longer and even go to Piedra del Peñol easily in the morning or when the skies are clear.

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Boat Ride On Peñol Reservoir

You can take many different boat tours right from Guatape to enjoy the adjacent lake. Sergio, however, drove us to another location about 20 minutes away for our boat ride. We hopped into the private boat while Sergio gave us information on who lived where and some history of the lake. We even cruised past soccer players’ mansions, reggaeton singers’ mansions, and even one of Pablo Escobar’s country estates which is now dilapidated and owned by the government. 

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Traditional Lunch And Animals

By this time we were starving. Finally, we drove back to the place where we had breakfast and ate a very traditional lunch. This lunch included various meats, rice, beans, mature bananas and avocado. As we were eating, a man walking with a mule approached the restaurant. The kids started commenting on the mule, and Sergio mentioned that there was a place behind the restaurant that had various animals. We could check it out if we were interested. The kids excitedly accepted! 

Pro Tip: This is one of my favorite reasons to book a private tour. If something unexpected comes up, you have the flexibility to do it. If we were with a group that wouldn’t have been an option.

The place ended up being like a petting zoo where you could feed the animals carrot sticks. There were sheep, horses, miniature horses, bunnies, goats, pigs and llamas. While we were feeding the llamas, the people at the ranch said that we should be careful because they spit. Thankfully, we avoided upsetting them!

Again, if we had more time we would have stuck around here for a while. Beyond the animals, they have a well stocked bar and serve food as well. The ambiance was very inviting. It would have been a fun place to spend a couple of hours in the evening with all of the string lights lit up. 

After our pleasant surprise of feeding the animals, we started the drive back to Medellin. Guatape is a magical town and a must for anyone visiting Medellin! The view from the top of Piedra del Peñol is not one to miss either.