Panoramic view over the red-brick skyline and Andean slopes of Medellín in the Aburrá Valley
Medellín · Colombia

Medellín: Essential Planning for the City of Eternal Spring

Plan your visit to Medellín, Colombia with practical advice on the Aburrá Valley geography, the integrated Metro and Metrocable network, neighbourhoods, and Antioquian culture.

Cradled at 1,495 metres (4,905 feet) above sea level inside the narrow green corridor of the Aburrá Valley (Valle de Aburrá) in Colombia's Central Andes, Medellín is the capital of the Department of Antioquia and the country's second-largest metropolis. Known across Latin America as La Ciudad de la Eterna Primavera (The City of Eternal Spring) because its daytime temperatures hover near 28°C in every month of the year, Medellín has earned global recognition for its bold urbanismo social (social urbanism), linking hillside neighbourhoods to the valley floor via aerial gondolas, outdoor escalators, library parks, and botanical gardens.

Red-brick towers of Medellín rising along the floor and slopes of the Aburrá Valley in the Central Andes
Red-brick towers of Medellín rising along the floor and slopes of the Aburrá Valley in the Central Andes

From 1616 Settlement to Antioquia's Capital

Spanish explorer Francisco Herrera Campuzano established the first indigenous and colonial hamlet of San Lorenzo de Aburrá on 2 March 1616 in what is today Parque El Poblado, before Queen Regent Mariana of Austria issued a Royal Decree on 2 November 1675 officially founding the Villa de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Medellín along the banks of the Medellín River. Surrounded by rugged mountains until late nineteenth-century railways and high-altitude coffee exports opened the region, Antioquians developed a distinct regional culture known as Paisa identity, celebrated in their hospitality, hearty Bandeja Paisa platters and high-mountain Arabica coffee, and the annual August Feria de las Flores.

Monumental bronze sculptures by Fernando Botero in front of the checkerboard Palacio de la Cultura Rafael Uribe Uribe
Monumental bronze sculptures by Fernando Botero in front of the checkerboard Palacio de la Cultura Rafael Uribe Uribe

How the Aburrá Valley Is Organised

Metrocable gondola cabins gliding above the brick rooftops of northeastern Medellín
Metrocable gondola cabins gliding above the brick rooftops of northeastern Medellín

Traveller tips

Real advice from people who have been to Medellín: Essential Planning for the City of Eternal Spring. Every tip is read by our team before it goes live.

    No tips yet. Been here? Yours could be the first.

    More in Medellín

    Continue exploring Medellín with related neighbourhood, food, and planning guides

    All Medellín guides →