Is Medellin Colombia safe for tourist? No, but you still should go.
- Vladimir
- Apr 2
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 20
And yet, another travel piece about Medellín. May be i am running low on ideas for my BLOG, but my last day in Medellin while watching the sun set over the Aburrá Valley, nursing a Club Colombia, and wondering how many people miss out on this experience all together because of it's reputation. Yes! I have to tell you that this former cocaine capital isn't exactly safe, but you'd be a damn fool not to visit this amazing place for yourself.
Let's get the numbers out of the way first, you paranoid bastards. According to recent statistics, Medellín ended 2023 with 375 homicides. A grim number by any measure, but a far cry from the blood-soaked days when Pablo's boys were turning this place into a shooting gallery. The bean counters will tell you it's about 12 murders per 100,000 residents now. Better than Chicago on a good day, if you're keeping score.
The U.S. State Department – those cheerful bureaucrats who wouldn't know a good time if it bit them in the ass – has slapped Colombia with a Level 3 advisory. "Reconsider travel," they say, clutching their pearls about crime and terrorism. But these are the same people who'd probably warn you about the dangers of eating raw cookie dough.
Here's the raw truth: Medellín is like a beautiful woman with a switchblade in her garter belt. Sure, there's danger, but that's part of the goddamn appeal. The main risks? Your garden variety urban hellscape stuff: pickpockets who'd steal your wallet faster than a congressman's campaign promise, the occasional armed robbery, and yes, some creative entrepreneurs who might spike your drink when you're not looking.
First time in Medellin and solo traveler ? Stay in El Poblado, the Beverly Hills of Medellín. It's the safest area in town, crawling with cops and rich expats who wouldn't know danger if it served them their morning latte. The streets are clean, the women are beautiful, and the coffee would make Juan Valdez weep. It's almost boring in its safety, but it's your best bet if you're the type who gets nervous when the sun goes down.
The real danger isn't the crime – it's the possibility that you'll fall in love with this damn place and never leave. The eternal spring weather will seduce you, the people will charm you, and before you know it, you'll be defending Medellín to your worried mother back home like it's your new girlfriend.
If you're into that whole "staying alive" gig, here are some rules to keep you breathing, you lovable rascals:
Keep your wits sharper than a cartel accountant's pencil
Use ride-sharing apps at night – the local taxis have seen enough gringo kidnapping movies to get ideas
Stay in El Poblado, where the worst crime is overpriced coffee
Don't flash your Rolex, your iPhone, or your stupidity
The statistics tell us that Medellín has transformed itself from the murder capital of the world to just another city with an image problem. But statistics are like bikinis – what they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital. The truth is, Medellín isn't safe by the standards of your gated community back home. But safety is relative in a world gone mad. I've felt more threatened in parts of San Francisco than I have walking through Parque Lleras at midnight. At least here, the dangers are honest about their intentions.
So should you come to Medellín? Absolutely. Not because it's safe – it isn't. Come because it's real. Come because it's alive. Come because while the rest of the world is busy sanitizing itself into suburban oblivion, Medellín still has enough edge to remind you that you're not dead yet.
Just remember: keep your head on a swivel, your wallet close, and your sense of adventure closer. Medellín isn't for the faint of heart, but then again, what worth doing ever is?
Medellin the city where danger and beauty dance the same tango, and sometimes it's hard to tell which one's leading. Now Is Medellin Colombia Safe for Tourists?
. . . ON THE SERIOUS NOTE . . .
In the first ten months of 2023 alone, this "City of Eternal Spring" recorded 32 violent killings of foreigners. Not exactly the kind of statistic they print on postcards. And if that doesn't curl your toes, try this on for size: between November and December, eight American men were killed, many after meeting local women who turned out to be honey traps for criminal gangs. The kind of story that makes your mother's warnings about stranger danger seem quaint.
Those cheerful bureaucrats at the The U.S. State Department, in their pressed suits and sanitized offices, have reason to slap Colombia with a Level 3 travel advisory. "Reconsider travel," they say, as if anyone ever reconsidered anything worthwhile. But here's what they won't tell you: kidnappings across Colombia shot up 93% in the first half of 2023. The highest numbers since 2014. A statistic that would make any sane person book the next flight to Switzerland. Is MIs Medellin Colombia safe for tourist? No, but you still should go.
Take the case of Tou Ger Xiong, a story that reads like a noir novel gone wrong. This 50-year-old American went to meet someone in Medellín last December. Hours later, he was calling his brother about a $2,000 ransom. They found his body the next day. The kind of story that makes travel insurance salesmen rub their hands with glee.
https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/twin-cities-artist-activist-tou-ger-xiong-killed-in-colombia/
The real danger isn't the obvious stuff – it's the false sense of security that gets you. So far in 2024, we've seen 359,000 tourists visit, with 29 violent tourist deaths. That's more than one per week, for those of you keeping score at home.
But here's why you should still come: Medellín is real in a way that most places stopped being decades ago. It's a city that forces you to be alive, to be aware, to feel your pulse in your throat occasionally. In an age where everything is sanitized, padded, and child-proofed, there's something honest about a place that makes no promises about your safety.
You want safety? Stay home. Watch National Geographic. Order Colombian coffee from Amazon. But if you want to feel what it's like to be genuinely, terrifyingly alive – come to Medellín. Just don't be stupid about it.
😱