Comuna 13 Tours — Local services in Medellín

My partner and I are so glad we went on this educational and visually impactful experience. Walter guided us and he was so well versed in the complex history of the Antioquia/Medellín departamento (he grew up here) and Colombia. Walter had a great sense of humor and made it easy for us to ask questions and talk about a difficult and painful period for Colombians. He also met us right on time at the metro stop Poblado as the company indicated and he made us feel at ease in the city where we had just barely arrived. The metro here is amazing and Walter have us a great background on how it came to be as well. After a great trip up the steep hillsides via the tram we also got to try delicious snacks like “arepas chocolos” and tried lulo juice, all included in the price.

After we took the bus to barrio La Indepenedencia, Walter was conscious about setting the context of Comuna 13, was respectful of and warmly greeted by its residents whom we got to meet, and we enjoyed stopping at their businesses and learning their stories. He offered a great explanation of how the murals reflect various pivotal moments in Medellín’s and Comuna 13’s transition from extreme violence to relative stability. We learned about the various municipally sponsored urban social and eductional initiatives and they were truly inspirational. As someone who lived in Rio de Janeiro and volunteered in some of their comunidades that are similar to those in Comuna 13, I was intrigued to learn how much of a model/experiment Medellín is for other cities, in Latin America or elsewhere.

All to say, this is a very worthwhile experience for anyone who wants to find a meaningful activity to anchor their visit to Medellín. Skip the lame glorification Pablo E excursions and learn about this great city with Comuna 13...

This review is for the paid Comuna 13 Graffiti Tour (comuna13tours.com), not Comuna 13 as a neighborhood.

I'm sorry but honestly the tour was way overpriced for what we got out of it, which was little more than a couple of transit fares and a guide who walks with you through Comuna 13. I imagine that one of the free (with tips) walking tours would be better than taking this 90k COP tour.

For context, we already knew we wanted to visit Comuna 13 and see the graffiti (murals) in the area. What we were looking to get from the tour was more history about Comuna 13 and information about the graffiti pieces and artists. Unfortunately, the tour didn't really add much value for us, and we would have been better off walking along the Comuna 13 graffiti route by ourselves and only spending 5k COP for the transit fares.

Our "3 hour tour" consisted of a 40min public cable car ride during which you could ask the guide questions about the city, a "short break" which was way too long, public bus rides to/from the bottom of the Comuna 13 escalators, a walk through the main Comuna 13 graffiti road with very limited explanations (maybe 2 graffiti pieces?), a mandatory break at a local jewelry handicraft store, and a bottled beer or soda at a rooftop bar. I was disappointed that our guide didn't really "guide" us through very much and wasted our time with the long breaks. It was nice to see the graffiti and meet other travellers, but the tour itself didn't feel worth our...

This is a charity tour. Nothing wrong with charity, but I signed up for a graffity and street food tour. The guide talked about 1 mural, thats it, and regarding the street food... well, I wouldnt call a popsicle, fried plantain (ONE CHIP with some salsa on top) and empanadas (two, VERY small, both with only potato inside) a street food tour. The guide was talking about how the communiry needs support and every stop we made he asked us to tip the business/people that we stopped to see. That put us in an inconvenient spot and made it all feel like a charity tour. Also, its 3 hours because every stop we were told that we have 10-15 minutes until we continue. Thats why it took 3 hours. Not because its so informative. Im sorry but i cant...