(CNN Spanish) — Medellín, the second most important city in Colombia, rubs shoulders with great cities in the world in a recent list of the best cities in the world by Time Out magazine for 2022.
Each year, the media company asks some 20,000 city dwellers around the world, along with its network of global editors, to identify what makes their city great through a survey known as The Time Out Index. Time Out uses the resulting data to compile its world ranking of cities.
And this time, Medellín, known as the City of Eternal Spring for its almost perfect climate, shares the top five of the best cities in the world in “the definitive travel list for 2022”, according to Time Out.
The top 10 of the best cities is:
1. Edinburgh, Scotland
2. Chicago, EE.UU.
3. Medellin, Colombia
4. Glasgow, Scotland
5. Amsterdam, Netherlands
6. Prague, Czech Republic
7. Marrakesh, Morocco
8. Berlin, Germany
9. Montreal, Canada
10. Copenhagen, Denmark
Why Medellin?
“Medellín offers much more than good weather throughout the year,” says the magazine about the nickname of the City of Eternal Spring.
The magazine highlights the pride of the “paisas”, as the inhabitants of the region are colloquially known, for their city and how this is the only one in Colombia that has a metro system throughout the country.
“In this year’s survey, Medellin’s nightlife was voted the best in the world, although perhaps not that surprising given that this is the city that gave us reggaeton artists J Balvin, Maluma and Karol G,” dice Time Out.
Beyond the top 10, in Time Out’s full list, other Latin American cities such as Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Mexico City stand out as exceptional places to visit.
From violence to a resplendent tourist spot
Medellin is the second most important city in Colombia located in the northeast of the country. It has a population of about 2.5 million people as of 2020.
And while it was once dubbed “the most dangerous city in the world,” for its past involving drug violence, gangs, and gun violence from drug cartels, which it has tried to shake off for years, now shines bright as a must-see tourist place to visit in Colombia.
This city has been hailed around the world as a beacon for using infrastructure to transform tough, crime-ridden neighborhoods into thriving, tourist-friendly communities for great restaurants, trendy bars, and of course , world class coffee.
The capital of Antioquia offers visitors the opportunity to experience the bustling and chaotic Colombian culture amid towering mountains and lush coffee plantations.
Nestled in a valley, the city clings to the slopes of the mountains, and descending through the low clouds hugging the coffee plantations is spectacular.
The subway, local pride
Medellín, Colombia, is the only city in that country with a Metro system.
Although the stairs made international headlines for their innovation and social impact in the poverty-stricken neighborhood, it is the Metro that really makes the “paisas” go lyrical.
Built in 1995 during some of the worst years of the country’s five decades of conflict, it has become a symbol of hope, resilience and pride for the city’s residents.
Despite being over a quarter of a century old, the Metro is spotlessly clean and free of graffiti.
Medellín, in addition, is also an important gastronomic center of the country.
tourism and culture
While Pablo Escobar may be the city’s most infamous export, Colombian sculptor Fernando Botero, who created his trademark large, over-the-top “boterismo” style and first rose to fame in the 1950s, is arguably its most revered. from the city.
His voluminous and voluptuous art is dotted around the city, while Botero Plaza is a large, bustling plaza dedicated to the artist’s work. And if that’s not enough for you, the nearby Museo de Antioquia houses a large collection of Botero paintings.
But it’s impossible to visit Medellin without finding some mention of Pablo Escobar, the 1980s billionaire drug lord dubbed the “King of Cocaine,” and it would be foolish to ignore his impact on the city.
Although there are Escobar-related tours, locals frown on them because they want to rid themselves of the city’s violent past. They are interesting, but other tours also mention Escobar with additional cultural, social, and historical information about the city.
One of those tours is free. Real City Tours offers a free walking tour of downtown that “does include drugs, but we go way beyond Pablo Escobar’s time as we explore Medellin from its founding to the present day,” the website says. . “Although we can mention it, it definitely CANNOT be considered a Pablo Escobar tour.”
infrastructure
Medellín has been hailed around the world as a beacon in using infrastructure to transform tough, crime-ridden neighborhoods into thriving, tourist-friendly communities.
Comuna 13 is just one example of Medellín’s impressive infrastructure. For example, there they built a system of escalators at near-gravity-defying angles to the tops of hills to help improve social mobility in the neighborhood by sparing residents the strenuous trek up and down the mountainside. to get to the city center to work.
It’s a long way up, but food and drink stalls line the messy alleyways, and the view at the top of the Medellin valley will keep you hooked for hours.
Transferring to the metrocable of Metro Line L from Santo Domingo will take you even further from the city to Parque Arví (open Tuesday to Sunday, 9 am to 6 pm), where lush forests and waterfalls abound less than 30 meters away. kilometers from the city center. From the cable car station you can take a horse or a bus to the entrance of Piedras Blancas and walk along the paths that surround the lake.
— With information from Francesca Street and Lucy Sherriff of CNN Travel.