Medellín Free Walking Tour

This is the tour to take first: a walk through La Candelaria, Medellín's historic downtown, connecting the landmarks that explain how a mining and textile town became Colombia's second city. It centers on Plaza Botero, where 23 bronze sculptures donated by Medellín-born artist Fernando Botero sit outside the Museo de Antioquia, home to the largest collection of his paintings anywhere.

From there your guide walks you past the brick mass of the Metropolitan Cathedral, one of the largest brick buildings in the world, through Parque Berrío and the ornate Palacio de la Cultura, unpacking how the city's gold, coffee and textile booms shaped the streets you're standing on — and how downtown Medellín has changed, for better and worse, in the decades since.