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Guatapé is a colorful town in the Antioquia department of Colombia and is famous for its zócalos. The town sits in the shadow of El Peñol and is the most popular day trip from Medellín.
Getting to Guatapé
You have the option to visit Guatapé on your own, on a guided large group tour, or on a private tour.
Buses to Guatapé
Visiting El Peñol and Guatapé on your own using public transportation is possible at a low cost. Buses leave from Terminal del Norte in Medellín. The bus terminal is connected to the Caribe metro stop. Once in Guatapé, you can hire a tuk-tuk to take you to El Peñol, which is only a few minutes down the road.
Private Tours of Guatapé
To save yourself the hassle of missing buses and to have a thorough explanation of the area, I highly recommend doing a tour from Medellín. Both LandVenture Travel and Walter, our guide for Comuna 13, are great options if you prefer a private tour. They’ll pick you up at your hotel and show you all the highlights in the area as well as tell entertaining stories.
What’s a Zócalo?
As I mentioned, Guatapé is famous for its zócalos. A zócalo is a colorful relief panel lining the bottom of a home or building. Wander around the streets of the town and you’ll see all sorts of zócalos and colorful buildings.
Some zócalos are simple geometric figures while others portray life in Antioquia. Generally, when you see zócalos on a house, they represent the occupation of the owner. You’ll see farmers, jeep drivers, carpenters, musicians, and more. On a business, the zócalo usually has something to do with a product or service they offer.
Other zócalos portray real life townspeople, including the former mayor. He delivered on his promise to put zócalos on every building in town, and now every building is required to have them. This served several purposes, including beautifying the town, increasing local pride, and driving more tourism to Guatapé.
If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to see local artists or students working to repaint zócalos that have faded over time due to weather and other factors.
Rock Bar
Some of my favorite zócalos are on a rock bar on the street between Calle del Recuerdo and Plazoleta de los Zócalos. They depict Freddie Mercury and Slash from Guns N’ Roses.
Tuk-tuk Tours of Guatapé
For a reasonable fee, you can hire a tuk-tuk from the main plaza in Guatapé and get a tour of the best zócalos. The driver will tell you the town’s history, allowing time to stop and take photos. One drawback for foreign visitors – it’s all in Spanish.
Plaza in Guatapé
The main plaza is a nice open space surrounded by shops and restaurants. It’s also where you can hire a tuk-tuk to take you around town.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
The town’s church, Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Nuestra Señora del Carmen), is on the plaza and is decorated with zócalos. It’s also worth popping inside to see the gorgeous wooden interior.
Calle del Recuerdo
Part of the town of Guatapé was submerged with the creation of the lake. Calle del Recuerdo was dedicated to preserving the zócalos that were salvaged from that part of town before its demolition. It’s only a couple blocks from the plaza.
Plazoleta de los Zócalos
Plazoleta de los Zócalos has been designated for souvenir shops, and there are a couple of cafés to enjoy as well. Definitely go check out the chocolate factory. They make their own gourmet chocolates on site!
Malecón
Along the lake, there’s a nice touristic walkway (malecón) where you can jump on a small boat for a short cruise.
The larger boats were suspended due to the terrible accident in June 2017 in which nine people were killed. During my visit shortly after the disaster, the boat was behind police tape on the other side of the lake.
Boat Tours in Guatapé
One of the best experiences when visiting the town of Guatapé is to take a boat tour of the lake. Tours can be in a slow boat or a speedboat. A speedboat should start at about COP$250,000 (as of June 2024) while a slow boat costs less. In addition, if you go with a local guide, they’ll be able to point out significant features as well as celebrity homes along the shores of the lake. We took a slow boat and the cruise lasted about an hour.
Celebrity Homes
Our boat tour pulled out of Guatapé and within a few minutes we were able to see El Peñol in the distance. From there, we continued past beautiful homes owned by Colombian actress Amparo Grisales and singer Maluma.
On another one of the fingers of the lake were two more houses side-by-side. They’re owned by Colombian football stars James Rodríguez and David Ospina.
Our guide, Walter, then pointed out a large house right on the shore and asked us to guess who owned it. It belonged to the butler of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar (1949-1993), who actually kept it open as a bar for several years after Escobar’s death.
The butler’s house sat near Hacienda La Manuela, a bombed-out house owned by Escobar himself. It was destroyed by the vigilante group Los Pepes, and Escobar escaped through a tunnel leading to a small building at the top of a hill. Not too far away is the property and home owned by one of Escobar’s sisters. The ruins of Escobar’s house are set to be demolished in the near future (as of June 2023).
Old El Peñol
Continuing along the lake, we came to the cross marking the location of the church of the original town of El Peñol. The town was originally founded on June 20, 1714, and was relocated in 1978 after construction of the hydroelectric dam created the lake.
Walter pointed out an original house that once sat above the town of El Peñol and is now along the shore of the lake. He also showed us the original road that led down to the town plaza.
Return to Guatapé
On our way back to Guatapé, we passed up an incredible glamping hotel with luxury bubble tents, and were treated to a nice view of the town as we pulled back into the docks.
Where to Eat in Guatapé
There’s a good selection of restaurants in Guatapé. Most offer traditional Colombian dishes.
La Fogata
My favorite place to eat in Guatapé is by far La Fogata. It sits a block from the plaza on the corner of the street running along the lake. They have excellent traditional Colombian food and good steaks. All of our guests have enjoyed their meals at La Fogata, and if you sit on the top floor there are beautiful views of the lake.
El Carriel
A few steps from La Fogata is El Carriel. This small café has friendly service and very good coffee.
