Attraction

1. Castillo San Felipe de Barajas

Spanish colonial fortressPie del Cerro

A Spanish colonial fortress, a triangular stronghold of batteries, ramparts and tunnels on the San Lázaro hill that guarded the city's land approach.

View details — Castillo San Felipe de Barajas

Attraction

2. Museo de Antioquia

Art and history museumLa Candelaria (Centro)

Medellín's principal art museum, founded as the Zea Museum in 1881 and home to a large donation of works by Fernando Botero beside Plaza Botero.

View details — Museo de Antioquia

Attraction

3. Plaza Botero

Public square and sculpture parkLa Candelaria (Centro)

An open-air square of 7,000 square metres in central Medellín displaying 23 bronze sculptures donated by Fernando Botero, framed by two of the city's landmark buildings.

View details — Plaza Botero

Attraction

4. Walls of Cartagena

Colonial city wallsCiudad Amurallada

Around 11 km of colonial walls and bastions enclosing Cartagena's historic centre, free to walk and at their best around sunset over the Caribbean.

View details — Walls of Cartagena

Attraction

5. Jardín Botánico de Medellín

Botanical gardenZona Norte (Sevilla)

A 13.2 hectare botanical garden opened in 1972 in northern Medellín, with more than 1,000 living species, the timber Orquideorama, a butterfly house and a lagoon.

View details — Jardín Botánico de Medellín

Attraction

6. Palacio de la Inquisición (Museo Histórico de Cartagena)

History museum in colonial palaceCiudad Amurallada

A white colonial palace on Plaza de Bolívar that housed the Holy Office tribunal until 1821 and is now the Museo Histórico de Cartagena.

View details — Palacio de la Inquisición (Museo Histórico de Cartagena)

Attraction

7. Cartagena Cathedral (Catedral de Santa Catalina de Alejandría)

Colonial cathedralCiudad Amurallada

Cartagena's 16th-century stone cathedral beside Parque de Bolívar, damaged by Francis Drake's cannon in 1586 and crowned by a tower remodelled in 1908.

View details — Cartagena Cathedral (Catedral de Santa Catalina de Alejandría)

Attraction

8. Parque Explora

Science museum and aquariumZona Norte (Sevilla)

An interactive science museum opened in 2008 in northern Medellín, with more than 300 hands-on exhibits, a large aquarium, a vivarium and a planetarium.

View details — Parque Explora

Attraction

9. Parque Arví

Nature reserve and ecological parkSanta Elena

A vast forest park on the eastern slopes above Medellín, reached by Metrocable, with pre-Hispanic stone paths, hiking and cycling trails and a food and craft market.

View details — Parque Arví

Attraction

10. Santuario de San Pedro Claver

Jesuit church and museumCiudad Amurallada

A Jesuit church, cloister and museum in the walled city where the remains of Saint Peter Claver, defender of enslaved Africans, lie beneath the main altar.

View details — Santuario de San Pedro Claver

Attraction

11. Catedral Metropolitana de Medellín

CathedralVillanueva (Centro)

Medellín's neo-Romanesque brick cathedral on Parque de Bolívar, begun in 1875 and built from about 1.12 million bricks to a design by Charles Émile Carré.

View details — Catedral Metropolitana de Medellín

Attraction

12. Convento de la Popa

Hilltop convent and viewpointCerro de La Popa

An Augustinian convent founded in the early 1600s on the summit of the Cerro de La Popa, with a cloister, a religious museum and panoramic views over the city.

View details — Convento de la Popa

Attraction

13. Museo del Oro Zenú

Pre-Columbian gold museumCiudad Amurallada

The Banco de la República's free museum on Plaza de Bolívar, displaying Zenú goldwork, ceramics, bone and shell objects from Colombia's Caribbean region.

View details — Museo del Oro Zenú

Attraction

14. Museo El Castillo

Historic house museum and gardensEl Poblado

A Loire-inspired castle begun in 1930 in El Poblado, now a house museum with 14 furnished rooms, French-style gardens and daily guided tours in English.

View details — Museo El Castillo

Attraction

15. Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín (MAMM)

Modern and contemporary art museumCiudad del Río

Medellín's modern and contemporary art museum, founded in 1978, housed in the Talleres Robledo building and a 2015 extension, with a cinema and strong Débora Arango holdings.

View details — Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín (MAMM)

Attraction

16. Torre del Reloj (Puerta del Reloj)

Colonial city gate and clock towerCiudad Amurallada

The main gateway into Cartagena's walled city, an 18th-century arch topped by a clock tower between Getsemaní and the Plaza de los Coches.

View details — Torre del Reloj (Puerta del Reloj)

Attraction

17. Museo Casa de la Memoria

Memory and history museumBoston

A free museum in Parque Bicentenario that tells the story of Colombia's armed conflict in Medellín and Antioquia through the memories of the people and communities it affected.

View details — Museo Casa de la Memoria

Attraction

18. Museo Naval del Caribe

Naval history museumCiudad Amurallada

A naval history museum in a former Jesuit college beside the walls, with models of Cartagena's fortifications and displays on the failed British siege of 1741.

View details — Museo Naval del Caribe

Attraction

19. Cerro Nutibara and Pueblito Paisa

Hilltop park and replica villageBelén / Guayabal

A protected 33-hectare hill in the middle of Medellín, topped by Pueblito Paisa, a 1977 replica of a traditional Antioquian village, with a sculpture park and viewpoints.

View details — Cerro Nutibara and Pueblito Paisa

Attraction

20. Museo de Arte Moderno de Cartagena (MAMC)

Modern art museumCiudad Amurallada

Cartagena's modern art museum on the Plaza de San Pedro Claver, with Colombian and Latin American works including pieces by Alejandro Obregón and Enrique Grau.

View details — Museo de Arte Moderno de Cartagena (MAMC)