Guatape is a popular glamping destination near Medellin and is only a 90 min – 2 hour drive to Medellin.
We took a private car instead of a bus. It’s economical and saves a lot of hassle and time. One of our private drivers took us and we had lunch along the way.
The ride from Medellin to Guatape is beautiful.. It’s rolling green hills of fields, forests, animals, farms, and a bunch of locals with smiling faces.
We arrived at our glamping location around 7pm in Guatape
We were greeted with some delicious courtesy champagne that is made exclusively for this glamping resort. We showed up late around seven pm and we were hungry and ready to relax.
We ordered dinner which was brought to our glamping location along with drinks. We could have at at the restaurant but wanted to get a hot shower and get our bags settled in our glamping location for the night.
Of course, the employees carrried our bags through the winding lighted paths and explained all of the ins and outs of how to operate everything (air conditioner, hot tub, shower, etc.)
Time to Eat
We ordered the 
“Domus Burger” and the empanada’s, the “Domus Salad” and the tenderloin medallions. All delicious
I ordered a michelada with sol, my favorite Mexican beer. I was shocked to see it on the meny and very happy that they carried my favorite beer.
The salad was delicious, the combination of the perfectly crisp bacon and juicy chicken mixed with parmesan made it a delight.
The burger was cooked perfectly and the fries were great also.
I would say the tenderloin was good but not the best I have ever had. I’d get it four of five stars but you have to remember you are in the middle of the mountains, hiked down a path and brought to our beautiful glamping resort. The quinoa risotto that came with the tenderloin was absolutely delicious and I wish I would have asked the chef for the recipe!
Now it was time to enjoy our amazing glamping location. Our bellies were full and we wanted to relax. Our glamping location was overlooking the lake (although it was too dark at that time to see it).
While waiting for the hot tub to fill up, we had a couple of beers and made a cocktail from the bar that was included in our glamping dome. We listened to some music and hopped in the hot tub to enjoy the peacefulness and the view of the stars.
We woke up around 8am and ordered breakfast in bed. While waiting for the food to come, we connected to the super fast Wi-Fi and started getting business taken care of before the food arrived.
Checkout was 1pm and we had a big day planned ahead of us.
The breakfast was surprisingly good. We ordered a delicious cheese sandwich, sausage, perfectly cooked eggs, some amazing Oatmeal pancakes with greek yogurt and fresh red berry sauce, fresh fruit (Pineapple and papaya).
The cherry on the cake was the freshly squeezed orange juice that was absolutely delicious.
The three breakfast options were:
Poached eggs,
Oatmeal pancakes
Grilled cheese sandwich with eggs, sausage and fresh fruit.
We requested fresh towels in the morning so we could shower before we took off to tour Guatape.
The showers in the morning were really nice and refreshing. The water eventually got piping hot and it’s big enough for 2 people! The bathroom was large also. It’s on the bottom floor, down a dozen or so stairs from the main glamping area and of course it was our own private bathroom and shower.
After breakfast arrived and before leaving the glamping dome we were super productive with work thanks to their steady Wifi connection. We figured out the rest of our plans for the day and set off to Guatape. To get to Guatape from our glamping location took about 20 minutes by Tuk Tuk.
Entering Guatape
As you go over the bridge you will enter Guatape.
Immediately, you’ll start to see the small town colonial lifestyle.
The colors are going to start popping out with beautiful artistry everywhere you look. Almost every building in the town has custom artwork and is full of vibrant color. The streets are lined with small stores and vendors.
We arrived at the marina and rented a super fast speedboat and a jetski. Guatape lake is huge and beautiful.
We spent an hour and a half in the speed boat, touring some of the more popular destinations around the lake:
- La Finca de Manuela (Pablo Escobar’s “farm” / ranch house / mansion / secure compound / private club (you name it!) This is a popular destination of our Pablo Escobar tours.
- The underwater church (since Guatape lake was created on purpose (they literally flooded the entire rolling hill region) in order to make a dam that supplies over 80% of Colombia’s electricity!
- A historic medical center and museum
- Amazing scenery
- The actual dam that supplies 80% of Colombia’s power. (Note this option required a minimum 2 hour rental because it is quite a distance from the Guatape Marina to the dam)
After we got off of the speed boat, we wanted to get a bit more wet. So we hopped on jet ski’s and ripped around the lake for another 30 minutes or so until we had had our fun.
We were hungry. It was time to find a good restaurant for a late lunch and we chose a great location right across from the Marina called Don Oscar Parrilla-Bar. We found a great spot to sit on the balcony overlooking the Guatape marina.
My partner ordered salmon with a passionfruit sauce, with creole mashed potatoes. I ordered tenderloin with creole mashed potatoes and a salad. In a big city, I’d give the steak a 7 out of 10. But since we were in a small town, I’d have to give the steak at least an 8.
My partner said she would give her salmon a 9 of 10.
Night # 2 – Hotel
The second night we chose to stay at a newly constructed hotel about half a mile outside of Guatape. It was a more price-conscious stay (approximately $60/night) and had an awesome restaurant and bar on the top floor.
This hotel was situated in the country, so it was a very relaxing and peaceful place to relax from a long day of touring around and riding the waves on jet skis on the lake.
We were fortunate enough to meet the owner of the hotel upon arrival. He was super-friendly and as hospitable as we could possibly expect. Even though the kitchen was closed, he had his chef fire up the grill and cook us some amazing appetizers!
The room was clean and comfortable. The bed was great and we slept like babies all night.
The next morning we woke up, hopped on the Wi-fi for an hour or two of business and we went to check out of the hotel and headed back to Guatape to tour the town a bit more.
We took a tuk tuk from the hotel to the center of Guatape which is known as the “el Parque”, or the main plaza. We found a great restaurant right next to an AMAZING art studio.
My partner ordered tilapia with patacones, and I ordered tenderloin with a mushroom sauce. It was delicious, cheap, and quick.
Next, I HAD to explore this art studio. We have taken many museum art tours in Medellin before but this was an individual artist who had some very interesting pieces to look at.
We hung out in the main plaza for a while. We walked around, talked to vendors, seen all sorts of unique handcrafted jewelry and other artisanal crafts and foods/drinks. The church at the plaza is a spectacle in itself, and at night it lights up magically.
By this time we needed to focus on heading back to Medellin. We hopped in a Tuk Tuk for a quick 5 minute ride back to the main parking area in Guatape, and took off!
It was another peaceful ride back to Medellin. My girlfriend was driving, so I was fortunate enough to be able to spend a lot of my time looking out my window at the beautiful scenery.
Ninety minutes later we were back at our AirBNB and checking out all of the photos and videos we took on this awesome trip (some of which are included above).
We are looking forward to checking out our next glamping location in Guatape in 2 weeks. Stay tuned for the next review.
