Is Medellín Expensive? A Tourist’s Guide to Medellín

TLDR? Medellin’s prices are very affordable, and you can even enjoy some otherwise expensive luxury experiences for cheap!

Before going on a trip, you’ll want to know how expensive your destination is in order to budget accordingly. 

If you’re visiting Medellín, make sure to read up on prices to better organize your finances and plan the trip of your dreams! 

Read ahead to learn about costs in the City of Eternal Spring and get planning! 

Accommodation

Accommodations and their respective prices depend on the budget of each traveler. 

Medellín has many different kinds of accommodations, from hostels, hotels, boutique hotels, Airbnbs and even penthouses.

Rooms range from $20 USD per night, and apartments range from $50-60 USD per night. If you’re going to be in town for a while, private and furnished apartments can be rented for $1,500 USD per month. It all depends on your tastes, location preferences, and type of accommodation.

If your tastes are more luxurious, a stay in the penthouse of one of the city’s most expensive hotels will run you around $460 USD per night. 

Keep in mind that if you want to book the penthouse, you’ll want to make your reservation at least six months in advance. 

You can also join the glamping trend and stay in some of the rural Antioquian towns on the outskirts of the city. There are also traditional ecolodges or farm hotels that run a bit cheaper than accommodations inside the city. 

Transportation

There are many ways to find cheap flights to Medellín, from booking websites, to flight discounts, to direct purchases on airline platforms. 

If you research and plan accordingly, you can find flights from North American to Medellín as low as $103 USD round trip! 

Transportation inside the city is similarly inexpensive: 

• The minimum fare to move in the Metro System is $0.60 USD  with the use of a Civica card. 

• Likewise, tickets for the public bus that runs throughout the city are around $0.60 USD.

• Taxi fares and rideshare apps begin with a minimum fare between $1.40 to $0.87 USD. 

• If you’d rather rent a car to get around the city, prices start around $27 USD per day. Keep in mind that a gallon of gas costs about $2.11 USD. 

• If you prefer something more luxurious and your budget allows it, you can hire a private driver to take you to any of your destinations, from $20 USD per hour.

Food in Medellín

Let’s talk about the food in the City of Eternal Spring! 

Street food is pretty cheap, and you can find a meal and a drink for $4.50 or less, around the same price as a meal from Mcdonald’s. 

A good breakfast or brunch costs around $7 USD in tourist areas such as Laureles or El Poblado. 

In tourist-heavy locations, you can find all kinds of restaurants. Fancier places range between $20 to $50 USD per person, with a starter, main course, drink, and dessert. 

If you’re staying for a while and would rather cook for yourself, a trip to the market will run you around $115 USD per month for all the basics, such as dairy products, proteins, cleaning supplies, vegetables, and fruits.  

Tourist Activities

The amount you spend on activities depends on your tastes as a traveler. Do you plan to get to know the city of Medellín through city tours? Or are you looking to do some extreme sports?

What you choose will ultimately determine how expensive or how cheap your trip is.

If you’re looking to save money, Medellín has a number of activities you can pursue on your own, without having to a pay a tour guide or travel agency. However, if you’d feel safer apart of a tour, you can visit the best-known parts of the city for the following prices: 

• Grafitour from $13 USD
• Tour through colonial towns from $70 USD
• Tour Comuna 13, Plaza Botero and cable cars from $80 USD
• Tour to Guatape with Cruise from $40 USD

Other activities won’t bleed your bank account dry either. For example, entrance to the Museum of Antioquia starts at $6 ,USD and paragliding flights start at $26 USD! 

There are also more personalized and luxurious tours such as helicopter rides, hot air balloon flights, and jetskiing, which start at just over $100 USD. 

You also might want to take into consideration prices of comforts such as hairdressers, gyms, and medical insurance if you’re staying in Medellín for awhile. 

Gym fees start at around $14 USD, haircuts at $6 USD, and manicures and pedicures at $9 USD. 

Medellín: An Affordable Place to Visit!

One of the great advantages of traveling to Medellin nowadays is the currency exchange. One dollar is equivalent to a little more than $4,000 COP, and a minimum salary in Colombia translates to a little more than $230 USD.

As a result, Medellín isn’t an expensive destination for Americans, with tons and tons to offer tourists of all kinds!  Get your budget ready – it’s time to plan a trip to Medellín! 

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