Medellin:
- Def take the tour guide we took-but they have tons of various tours outside of the coffee tour, he mentioned something about hikes, which I personally would have wanted to go to (Erica can give you his info)
- We were told to go to Guatape- which looks super cool, but we did not make it L
- Pubelito Paisa – this place was so cute and charming- you can get their via a tour bus, taxi or rental car,but a great place to go
- Parque El Poblado- this is where all the night life and partying is, but if you go towards Santa Fe Mall- El Poblado area as well- apparently there is more restaurants, nicer things to do
- Botero Museum in Plaza de Bolivia
- The Metro Tram
Tyrona Park:
- Some people said to stay in Santa Marta for one night- we did not, but might be worth checking out
- Stay at Barlovento Maloka: http://barloventomaloka.com/ - unless you want to sleep in a hammock or camp
- Spend the day hiking into Tyrona Park- go to the farthest beach- Cabo San Juan, but stop at the second one La Piscina-so pretty! About 30 minutes before the last beach. Personally I don’t you think you need more than a day in the parl
- Hotel has a private beach and river, very peaceful to spend one of your days or afternoons hanging there- two days tops was good for me J
- Be prepared for total relaxation, bring books, no wifi
Cartagena:
- You can take the shuttle we took depending on if you come from Tyrona or vice verso for $30 (Marsol)- but its long 5 hours! The flights are way more though, so up to you
- There are 4 areas: San Diego (Fancy), Getsemani (Haight/Mission), El Centro (Downtown) and Bocagrande (the new city). The best thing would be to stay in San Diego or Downtown or both if you can. These were the two most charming areas. The new city, we never even went to
- There are two beaches you can go to, but was told if you had already been to San Juan, don’t bother
- Hotelsl- The Sofitel is the nicest because it has a real-large pool and its nice! But pricey $450/night. The other two really nice ones are Santa Teresa and Ananda- both posh, same price points, not as a nice of pool, but still great places. For cheaper places, we stayed at a charming B&B- $120/night, no pool- but you can go to the other hotels on a day pass, but this is in gestemani (Les Lezards- Marcus it the owner and awesome). Other than that you have to research
- Nothing is far walking- all 4 neighborhoods you can walk to in 22-24 minutes
- Activity- the castle, the palace of inquision, the gold museum is boring, take a horse drawn carriage. There are a bunch of churches and other stuff to see, but mostly you will randomly come across it. Walking tour of ________ (Erica, what was her name?)
- Food- Montesacro, La Perla, Santisimo, DonJuan, La Cevecheria, Demente, there is apparently an amazing pasta place we never made it to, but suppose to be super good!
- Bars- La Movida (swanky), Demente, La Habana, El Baron
- Whenever you take a cab anywhere, just hand then 5,000 pesos! 6, 000 at night.
Mostly you will just explore in Cartagena and love all the streets and charm-best place! Its hot everywhere, but at night, the men do get a little nicer looking – like boat shoes and jcrew casual pants J
You will have a great time!
