Medellín

Currency

Use a casa de cambio in El Poblado or a bank rather than the street. Prices carry a lot of zeros — count the notes before walking away. Cards are widely accepted in the areas visitors use.

ATMs & cards

Bancolombia, Davivienda and BBVA inside branches or malls, during the day. Street machines at night are where card skimming and forced withdrawals happen. Decline conversion.

Use machines inside a branch or a mall, in daylight. Night-time street withdrawals are where the robberies happen.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety

The areas visitors actually use — El Poblado, Laureles, Envigado — are comfortable day and night, and the city is a long way from its reputation. Keep the usual city sense elsewhere and do not display phones or jewellery; no dar papaya is the local phrase for it. The one specific risk worth naming is drugging and robbery arranged through dating apps, which has killed foreigners: do not go to a stranger’s apartment, and do not leave a drink unattended.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa

Health & emergencies

Required to enter

No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.

Worth having

• Hepatitis A
• Typhoid
• Tetanus up to date
• Yellow fever if you are going to the Amazon, the Pacific coast or Tayrona — some parks now ask for the certificate
• Rabies for rural or long stays

Getting treated

Private hospitals in Cartagena, Bogotá and Medellín are good and inexpensive by European standards, which is why medical tourism is a real industry here. They expect payment or an insurance guarantee before treating. Public facilities are stretched.

Do not drink the tap water outside Bogotá and Medellín. Dengue is present on the Caribbean coast year-round. Yellow fever vaccination needs 10 days to take effect, so it is not a last-minute item.

Orientation, not medical advice. Entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history and where you have been — check with a travel clinic or your national health service four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

The bandeja paisa is enormous and worth doing once. Better daily eating is a menú del día for a few euros, and the fruit is exceptional — try lulo, guanábana and granadilla.

Getting around

• Metro — clean, cheap, genuinely a source of civic pride, and the spine of the city
• Metrocable — cable cars that are public transport, not a tourist ride, and the way to see the hillside barrios
• Uber and inDrive — cheap and safer than street taxis
• Escalators of Comuna 13 — free, and the reason that neighbourhood is now visitable
• Airport: José María Córdova (MDE) is 45 min out in the mountains; Olaya Herrera (EOH) is in the city for domestic hops

Must-see

Things to do

• Take a walking tour of Comuna 13 with a local guide
• Ride the Metrocable to Parque Arví
• Day trip to Guatapé and climb El Peñol
• See the Botero sculptures downtown
• Spend an evening in Laureles rather than El Poblado

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

Spanish (Latin American)

• HelloHolaOH-la
• PleasePor favorpor fa-VOR
• Thank youGraciasGRA-syas
• Yes / NoSí / Nosee / no
• Excuse meDisculpedees-KOOL-peh
• How much is it?¿Cuánto cuesta?KWAN-to KWES-ta
• The bill, pleaseLa cuenta, por favorla KWEN-ta
• Cheers!¡Salud!sa-LOOD

The c and z are said as an s here, not the Spanish "th" — gracias is GRA-syas.

Religion

Catholic

Around 70% Catholic. Semana Santa is a major holiday and Popayán’s processions are UNESCO-listed.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Greet everyone on entering a small shop or a lift — buenos días to the room, not to one person
• Use usted with people you have just met; it is the respectful default in much of the country
• Accept a tinto, the small black coffee, when offered — it is how conversations start
• Dance when invited, badly if necessary; refusing outright is the odd choice here

Don't

• Do not make cocaine jokes or references to Escobar. It is the single fastest way to insult someone, and Colombians are tired of it
• Do not discuss the armed conflict lightly with people you have just met
• Do not photograph people, especially the palenqueras in Cartagena, without asking and expecting to pay
• Do not flash phones or jewellery in the street — no dar papaya, do not give an opportunity, is a national principle