The short answer
Yes. Comuna 13 is now the most visited part of Medellín, and in seven years of tours we have not had a single incident with a traveler: not a phone, not a wallet, nobody lost. That comes from us, who were born here and walk it every day with groups. What follows is what we tell every person who writes to us scared before coming.
Where the tour goes (and where it doesn't)
The route runs through the Independencia 1 and Independencia 2 neighborhoods, 20 de Julio and the outdoor escalators, including several alleys that are part of the walk and are very safe. That is the tourist zone: the one in the photos, with the murals, the food stalls and the hip hop shows.
Comuna 13 is big, more than 150,000 people, and not all of it is touristy. One tip we always give, and it works: stay where the crowd of tourists is. If at some point you turn into an alley and stop seeing people with cameras, vendors and guides, you have left the tourist zone; turn around.
Until what time? Comuna 13 at night
You can stay after dark and it is safe, precisely because the neighborhood lives off tourism. What changes after 7 p.m. is that almost all the shops have closed: only a few stores and stalls stay open. Weekends are different: the local bars and clubs are open until very late and the neighborhood stays full of people.
Our tours leave every day during daylight, which is when the neighborhood looks best: light for the murals and everything open to eat.
What you will see when you arrive
Vendors, guides, locals going about their day and, at times, a police presence. Lots of people. It is the most visited area in all of Medellín, and that is exactly what makes it safe: the street is never empty.
Seven years, zero incidents
In seven years of running this tour we have not had a single incident with a traveler. None. We write it exactly like that because it is the question we get asked most, and it is the shortest answer we have.
Phone and camera: the practical rule
Along the whole tourist route you can take out your phone and camera without worry; in fact your phone will be in your hand most of the time because of the murals and the views. The only precaution is the one we already gave: if you go down an alley and find yourself in a non-tourist part of the comuna, put the phone away as a precaution and head back to the route.
And a rule of respect, not of safety: ask before photographing people. It is a neighborhood, not a stage.
How to get there from El Poblado or Laureles
Our tours leave from Garden Coffee C13, our café in the 20 de Julio neighborhood: Calle 38a #108-21. It is on Google Maps. Three ways to get there:
- Metro: from El Poblado take the metro towards San Antonio; there change to line J (the cable car line) towards San Javier. Get off at San Javier station and, without going up to the second floor, leave through the only exit on the first floor. Outside, take a taxi to the 20 de Julio neighborhood or an Uber to the café's address.
- Uber: enter “Garden Coffee C13” or the address Calle 38a #108-21 and it drops you at the door.
- Taxi: give the driver the address and tell them it is in the 20 de Julio neighborhood; every taxi driver in Medellín knows it.
On your own or with a guide?
On your own you will not have safety problems as long as you stay in the tourist neighborhoods: San Javier, 20 de Julio, Independencia 1 and 2. What you will miss is something else: knowing what each mural says, who painted it and why, what happened in these streets during Operation Orión and how the neighborhood went from the most dangerous in the city to the most visited. None of that is written on a wall; the people who grew up here know it.
What the people who arrived scared say
Very often we get clients who are really scared. They leave with a smile when they see that Comuna 13 is full of art, food, music, dance, peace and good people who want to get ahead. If you have doubts before coming, write to us on WhatsApp and we will tell you honestly how the neighborhood is this week.
