Guatape is a small town of around 6,000 people in the Oriente region of Antioquia, roughly two hours east of Medellin by road, and it is built along the edge of a large artificial lake with a 200 metre granite monolith standing beside it. Those two features, the rock and the water, are the reason it is the most visited day trip from Colombia's second city. The third feature, which is the one that makes it worth more than a day, is that nearly every building in the town has a painted relief panel around its base.
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Those panels are called zocalos, and the tradition appears to be specific to this town rather than a regional style. They are moulded in plaster or cement at skirting height and painted in strong flat colours, and the subjects are not decorative abstractions: they show what the building does or did, so a bakery has bread, a farrier has horses, a family house might show sheep or a coffee harvest. Walking the town reading the panels is the actual pleasure of being here, and it takes a couple of hours done properly.
The lake deserves to be understood rather than just photographed. It is not a natural feature. It was created in the 1970s when a hydroelectric dam flooded the valley, and the water drowned the original town of El Penol, whose residents were resettled into a new town built for them. When the reservoir is low, the cross marking the old town and sometimes the church tower become visible. The scattered islands you see from the top of the rock are hilltops. That history sits under the brightly painted present and locals will tell you about it if you ask.
What you pack is set by Andean altitude, which makes this much cooler than people expect from Colombia, by rain in most months, and by a staircase.
The Piedra del Penol, the Zocalos and the Lake
One monolith with a staircase in a crack, one painted town, and a reservoir full of hilltops.
The Piedra del Penol is a single piece of granite rising about 200 metres from the shoreline, and the way up is a staircase of more than 700 steps built into a natural fissure in the rock face, zigzagging in open flights with the drop beside you. It is a genuine effort rather than a stroll: you are starting at around 2,000 metres above sea level, the steps are uneven and the flights are long, and most people stop on the way. At the top are viewing platforms, a small tower, drinks for sale, and a view over an intricate maze of blue water and green islands that is the image everyone has seen of this place. Go early. By late morning in high season the staircase can be a queue, and both the heat and the afternoon cloud build.
The town itself is a short drive or a tuk-tuk ride from the rock, and the two are often done as a single visit, which is a mistake if you only have the day: the town needs real time. The Plazoleta de los Zocalos is the densest concentration of panels, Calle del Recuerdo is the famous stepped street with umbrellas and flowers, and the malecon along the water has the boat jetties and the restaurants. The parish church on the main square is a pleasant Gothic-revival thing in a town where nothing else is historic, because the whole place was rebuilt and expanded after the flooding.
On the water, boats run short trips out to the islands and past the submerged valley, and the standard tour points out the spot above the drowned town and the ruins of a mansion once owned by Pablo Escobar, La Manuela, which was bombed and is now a shell on an island. That last item is a staple of the local tour trade; how much you want of it is a personal matter and it is easy to skip.
Paragliding, kayaking and jetskiing all operate from the lake, and there is a cable-car style attraction and zipline near the rock. These are the things that turn Guatape from a half-day photograph into an actual stay.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Day Trip or Stay, and Getting There
The town is transformed by staying the night, which is the single best piece of advice about it.
Guatape receives a very large number of day visitors from Medellin, and they arrive in a predictable window: coaches and tours reach the rock mid-morning and the town around midday, and almost all of them are gone by late afternoon. If you stay one night you get the Calle del Recuerdo empty at eight in the morning, the malecon at sunset when the light is on the water, and restaurant service at a human pace. Accommodation is cheap by any international standard and the town has plenty of it.
Getting there independently is easy and worth doing instead of a tour. Buses leave frequently from Medellin's Terminal del Norte for Guatape and take around two hours, and you can ask to be dropped at the turning for the Piedra on the way in, do the rock first, then take a tuk-tuk or another bus the remaining few kilometres into town. The return buses fill up on Sunday evenings when the Medellin weekend crowd goes home, so buy ahead or travel earlier.
Weekends are the other thing to plan around. Guatape is a domestic weekend destination for Medellin, so Saturday and Sunday are busy with Colombian families, which is cheerful and loud; Tuesday to Thursday is noticeably quieter.
When to Go
December to March and July to August are the drier months. It rains here in most of them.
Guatape sits at roughly 1,900 to 2,000 metres, which puts it in Colombia's temperate zone rather than the tropics proper, and this surprises people. Daytime temperatures run around 20 to 24C and nights drop to around 12 to 14C, so evenings on the water are genuinely cool and a jumper is not optional. There is no summer and winter; there are wetter and drier months.
The drier windows are roughly December to early March and July to August, and these are the best times to go: clearer mornings, better odds of a view from the top of the rock, and the lake at its bluest. December and early January are also Colombian holiday season, so the town is at its busiest then.
The wetter months, broadly April to June and September to November, bring afternoon and evening rain most days rather than all-day rain, with mornings often clear. This is entirely workable if you do the rock early. Cloud can sit on the top of the Piedra and remove the view altogether, which is a real risk and the main argument for having a flexible day rather than one chance.
Whenever you go, the pattern that matters is diurnal rather than seasonal: clear mornings, building cloud, afternoon rain. Climb early, walk the town in the afternoon.
Is Guatape Safe for Women Travelers
Guatape is outside every FCDO advised-against area and is one of the easier places in Colombia to travel alone.
The FCDO advises against all but essential travel to PARTS of Colombia, and travelling against that advice can invalidate your travel insurance. None of the areas named covers the destinations in this guide, and it is worth knowing which they are rather than carrying a vague sense that the country is risky. The advice covers the Catatumbo region of Norte de Santander, all of Arauca Department except the capital Arauca, land within 5km of the Venezuelan border except the city of Cucuta, Choco Department except Quibdo and the whale-watching towns of Nuqui and Bahia Solano and the tourist site of Capurgana, western Valle del Cauca including Buenaventura, the municipality of Jamundi, western Cauca Department, the South Pacific, Sanquianga and Telembi regions of Narino, southern Cordoba, the Uraba and Bajo Cauca regions of Antioquia, southern Bolivar, all of Guaviare except San Jose del Guaviare, parts of Caqueta and Putumayo, and land within 5km of the Ecuadorean border except the named crossings and Ipiales. Read the regional risks page yourself before you travel, because this list changes.
Antioquia appears in that list and it is important to be precise about which parts, because a reader who sees their department named will reasonably worry. The advice covers the Uraba and Bajo Cauca regions of Antioquia: Uraba is the north-west corner toward the Panamanian border, and Bajo Cauca is the north-east toward Cordoba. Guatape is in the Oriente region, immediately east of Medellin, and is in neither. Neither is Medellin itself, nor the road between them. Nothing on a standard Medellin and Guatape itinerary enters an advised-against area.
What that leaves is a small, prosperous, heavily visited tourist town, and the honest assessment is that it is very safe. Violent crime against visitors is rare, the town is compact, the malecon and the main square are busy into the evening, and a woman walking or eating alone is entirely ordinary here because so many people do. Petty theft is the realistic risk and it is concentrated where crowds are: the stepped street, the plaza, the boat jetties and the bus.
Two practical risks are larger than crime. The first is the staircase. Seven hundred-plus uneven steps at 2,000 metres is a serious cardiovascular effort, and people do get into trouble on it: the combination of altitude, heat, dehydration and pushing on in a queue is what causes the problem. Go early, go slowly, stop when you need to, drink before you are thirsty, and do not attempt it in flip-flops. The flights are open with drops beside them and the handrail is not continuous.
The second is water. The lake is deep, cold and has no lifeguards, boat operators vary in their standards, and life jackets on tour boats are not always worn even when carried. Ask for one and put it on. If you are doing a water sport, look at the equipment before you commit.
Altitude is worth a sentence. Two thousand metres is not high enough to cause altitude sickness in most people, but it is high enough that you will be out of breath faster than you expect on a staircase, that alcohol hits harder, and that the sun is stronger than the mild temperature suggests. If you have come from the coast at sea level, give yourself the first afternoon.
Street harassment is much less pronounced here than on the Caribbean coast, and the general atmosphere is family-holiday rather than nightlife. Normal care with drinks applies in the bars on the malecon.
Colombia has no reciprocal health agreement with the UK, so travel insurance with medical cover and repatriation is essential rather than advisable. Private clinics in the larger cities are genuinely good and are what insurers use. A droguería handles minor problems without an appointment and pharmacists are used to advising. Do not drink the tap water outside the big cities and be careful with ice away from established places. Yellow fever vaccination is worth checking against your itinerary, because some neighbouring countries require a certificate from travellers arriving from Colombia. Altitude is the one people forget: Bogota sits at 2,640m and arriving from sea level is felt.
The Guatape Packing List
Base layers, because this is cooler than you think
People pack for Colombia and arrive at 2,000 metres in a town where the evening drops to 13C on a lake. The job for a base layer here is the full daily swing: you will sweat heavily climbing 700 steps in the morning sun, then stand still at a windy viewpoint, then eat outside after dark. Merino at 160gsm moves moisture off the skin while you are working and keeps insulating once you stop and once it is damp, which is exactly where cotton fails and leaves you cold. Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron with no synthetic blend. A long sleeve merino wool base layer for women covers the morning climb, the boat and the cool evening with one garment.
Shoes with grip, for the staircase
Walking shoes with grip are the most important item on this list. The Piedra's steps are uneven, worn smooth in places and wet in the afternoons, and the town's streets are cobbled and steep. Sandals are a bad idea on both. Merino wool socks for a climb that will make your feet sweat.
A rain layer, for most months
A packable rain jacket for women. Afternoon rain is the norm rather than the exception here for much of the year, it arrives fast, and it is cool rain at this altitude rather than warm tropical rain. This doubles as the windproof at the top of the rock.
A warm layer for the evening
A fleece mid layer. Evenings on the malecon are cool year-round and a boat on the lake in cloud is cooler still. This is the item most visitors wish they had brought.
Sun protection, stronger than the temperature implies
A wide brim sun hat and high SPF sunscreen. At 2,000 metres and six degrees from the equator the UV is intense even when the air feels pleasant, and there is no shade on the staircase, at the top, or on open water. Burning here is a classic mistake because it does not feel hot enough to burn.
A dry bag
A waterproof dry bag for the boat trips, where spray reaches everything on an open deck, and for the afternoon downpours.
The small things
A refillable bottle you will actually carry up the staircase. Cash in Colombian pesos, because the tuk-tuks, the rock's entry fee and the smaller restaurants often want it. A plug adapter for the US-style two-pin, since Colombia runs 110V. Insect repellent for evenings by the water, though mosquitoes are far less of an issue at this altitude than on the coast. And a swimsuit if you plan to get in the lake or use a hotel pool.
Essential Resources for Women in Guatape
Emergency numbers: 123 is the single national emergency line in Colombia for police, ambulance and fire, free from any phone.
Non-emergency police and tourist police: Colombia's National Police operates a Tourist Police service, the Policia de Turismo, and Guatape has a police presence appropriate to a heavily visited town. A theft needs an in-person report, the denuncia, to produce the document an insurer will require, and it can be started through the Fiscalia's online system.
Main hospital or clinic: Guatape has a small local hospital for ordinary and urgent problems. Anything serious goes to Medellin, which has excellent private hospitals and is about two hours away by road, and that road distance is the reason to carry insurance that covers evacuation rather than just treatment. A drogueria in town handles minor problems without an appointment.
Official health authority: the Colombian Ministry of Health. Colombia has no reciprocal health agreement with the UK, so insurance with medical cover and repatriation is essential rather than advisable, and note that the nearest serious hospital is two hours away in Medellin
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Bogota. Bogota, which is the only US diplomatic post in Colombia, roughly an hour by air from Medellin
Official tourism authority: Colombia Travel, the national tourism board. With the Guatape municipal tourism office for boat operators, the Piedra's opening hours and current entry price, and the bus times back to Medellin, which fill up on Sunday evenings
The staircase: more than 700 uneven steps at around 2,000 metres, in open flights with drops beside them and no continuous handrail. The trouble people get into is the combination of altitude, heat, dehydration and not stopping. Climb early, go slowly, carry water, and wear shoes with grip.
On the water: the lake is deep and cold with no lifeguards. Life jackets are not always worn on tour boats even when they are carried. Ask for one and wear it.
US State Department travel advisory: the Colombia advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/colombia, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Solo women safety assessment: Guatape is among the easiest places in Colombia to travel alone. It is a small, prosperous, heavily visited town where a woman walking the painted streets or eating alone on the malecon is completely unremarkable, violent crime against visitors is rare, and the main square and waterfront stay busy into the evening. On the advisory, be precise rather than anxious: Antioquia is partly named by the FCDO, but the areas are Uraba in the north-west and Bajo Cauca in the north-east, and Guatape sits in the Oriente region east of Medellin, outside both, as is Medellin itself and the road between them. Petty theft in crowds is the realistic risk, concentrated on the stepped street, the plaza, the jetties and the bus, so a closed bag and a phone that is not in your hand cover most of it. The genuine hazards here are not criminal. The staircase up the Piedra is 700-plus uneven steps at 2,000 metres with open drops, and altitude plus heat plus dehydration is what causes problems on it: climb early, go slowly, carry water and wear grip. The lake has no lifeguards and tour boat standards vary, so ask for a life jacket and put it on. And the altitude makes the sun much stronger than the mild temperature suggests, which is why visitors here burn without realising. Staying overnight rather than coming on a day tour is both the better experience and the calmer one.
Reading On
For the country-level picture, start with the Colombia travel guide for women. For why fine wool handles a 700-step climb and a cool evening with one garment, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
