The Rock—also called Piedra el Peñol—is definitely the highlight of Guatapé, Colombia. Towering 656 feet over the ground below, this granite monolith has become something of an icon of the colorful town—and for good reason! Beyond its own striking appearance, you’ll get jaw-dropping views of the surrounding landscape as you climb up to its summit. So if you want to experience one of the quirkiest features in all of Colombia, here’s everything you need to know about visiting The Rock of Guatapé.
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Where is the Rock of Guatapé?
The Rock is actually located here in the teeny Andean town of Peñol, just a few minutes drive from Guatapé, in central Colombia. Guatapé is located two hours east of Medellin, making it a popular weekend getaway from Colombia’s second largest city.
How to Get to the Rock of Guatapé
As mentioned above, the vast majority of travelers—including my husband, Justin, and I when we visited—head to Guatapé as either a day or weekend trip from Medellin. Luckily, it’s super easy and affordable to get around this area of Colombia!
How to get to Guatapé from Medellin
There’s a few different options of how to get from Medellin to Guatapé.
Getting from Medellin to Guatapé by bus
The cheapest way to get from Medellin to Guatapé is by taking a public bus.
These buses depart from Terminale del Norte, which you can easily get to on the Metro (the Caribe metro station is right across the street from this bus station!) or by taking a taxi or Uber. Once you’re in the station, head downstairs one level to the ticket booths.
There’s two companies that offer buses from Medellin to Guatapé—Sotrapeñol, which is at Booth #9, or Sotrasanvincente and Guatapé La Piedra, which is at Booth #14. Both companies offer departures approximately every half an hour, with one-way tickets costing around 20,000 COP per person.
Alternatively, if you’re visiting during a busier timeframe, like on a weekend or a holiday, you might want to consider purchasing tickets online ahead of time.
We went with Sotrasanvincente and Guatapé La Piedra and, generally, we had a fine experience. The bus didn’t have air conditioning. Plus, the driver let buskers ride with us, who loudly sang, sold jewelry, and evangelized, which made for a bit of an uncomfortable ride, at times. That being said, we got there pretty quickly and safely—so, not much to complain about!
You can purchase your return ticket back to Medellin from the ticket office in Guatapé.
Insider tip: Unless you’re planning on staying overnight in Guatapé and have luggage with you, I’d suggest getting off the bus one stop early in Peñol, where The Rock is. That way, you'll only need to purchase a tuk-tuk ride one-way, back to Guatapé.
Just let your driver know ahead of time you want to get off there—there’s usually a bunch of travelers that will exit at the same time!
Getting from Medellin to Guatapé by tour
Many visitors head to Guatapé from Medellin by joining a tour, which usually includes roundtrip transportation (often, with hotel pickup!), breakfast, lunch, and a stop at the Rock and downtown Guatapé.
It’s certainly cheap and easy to take public transportation to Guatapé, but tours can actually be a pretty solid value, as well! For example, it would cost, at a minimum, around $10 USD for roundtrip bus tickets from Medellin to Guatapé.
But, there’s some tour options, like this one, where you can get roundtrip transportation to Guatapé (including pick up and dropoff from your hotel), breakfast, lunch, time at The Rock and in downtown Guatapé, and a boat ride on the Guatapé-Peñol Reservoir for under $40 USD—if that’s not a screaming deal, I don’t know what is!
Alternatively, if you’re looking for a more exclusive experience, there are private tours that you can take as well, like this option or this option (which includes a helicopter ride around The Rock!).
Getting from Medellin to Guatapé by taxi or Uber
You can theoretically get a taxi or Uber from Medellin straight to The Rock, which should cost around 165,000 COP (or $40 USD one-way).
However, we wouldn’t recommend taking an Uber or taxi there, unless you’re willing to ride a bus on the way back. Ubers are basically non-existent in Guatapé and it would be tough to find a taxi that would be willing to drive you all the way to Medellin, unless you book through your hotel.
How to get to The Rock from Guatapé
If you need to get from Guatapé to The Rock, simply hail one of the colorful tuk-tuks that congregate near the Parque Principal de Guatapé. It should cost around 10,000-15,000 COP for the 15 minute ride to The Rock.
You can either be dropped off at the bottom of about 70 stairs that lead up to The Rock’s parking lot, or for a few more dollars, your tuk-tuk driver can drive up the hillside to save you the extra stairs.
The parking lot has bathrooms, gift shops, restaurants, and lots of tour operators, vying for your attention.
Once you’re done at The Rock, there’s always some tuk-tuks hanging around the Zeuss Penol Service Station near the bottom of The Rock’s hill that will happily take you to downtown Guatapé.
Things to Do at the Rock of Guatapé
1. Climbing to the top
Far and away, the most popular thing to do at The Rock is climb the 708 stairs that are affixed to its side, zigzagging their way to the top.
The climb up the stairs is definitely a thigh-burner, but there are plenty of terraces, spots to take a breather, and even a first aid station along the way, if you need to take a breather (or, you know, require medical treatment). We didn’t think the climb up was too terribly bad, but we did encounter some vomit on the staircase about halfway up—so I don’t know that everyone would agree with our assessment of how challenging these stairs are.
At the top, there’s a lookout that offers jaw-dropping views of the Guatapé-Peñol Reservoir, with tiny green islands dotting its waters, and beyond, the green Andes. Plus, there’s, of course, a gift shop and a handful of snack stands, selling ice cream and cold drinks.
One of our favorite memories of Colombia was drinking mango Micheladas after climbing up all of those stairs, taking in the stunning surrounding views.
Admission to the stairs is 25,000 COP (around $6 USD) per person—cash only!
The Rock is open every day from 8 AM to 6 PM, so, unfortunately, you can’t really catch sunrise or sunset there. I’d suggest getting there as early as you can. We visited around midday and the lookout was quite crowded, making it a bit difficult to get the photos we wanted.
Unfortunately, at this time, there isn’t any kind of elevator or ramp that travelers with mobility issues can use to get to the lookout. For what it’s worth, I have heard rumors they plan to build a cable car system or elevator at some point in the future—but that hasn’t happened yet.
2. Taking a helicopter ride
If you want to enjoy the view of the Guatapé-Peñol Reservoir AND The Rock at the same time, they actually offer short helicopter rides around the area. We didn’t take a helicopter ride here, but we have taken helicopter rides in some incredible places, like the Napali Coast in Kauai, and we can confirm that even the most breathtaking vistas look SO much more epic when you’re thousands of feet in the air!
If you’re interested in having a birds-eye view of The Rock, you can either just book a helicopter ride by itself, for around $93 USD per person, or opt to go on a full-day tour from Medellin that includes, as part of its package, a helicopter ride, like this option or this option (which also includes paragliding!).
3. Rock climbing
If you want to inject even more adventure into your Colombia itinerary, you can also rock climb up the towering sides of Piedra el Peńol!
There’s a handful of operators that include climbing The Rock as part of their day tour from Medellin to Guatapé, like this one. This offering includes rappelling and taking a via ferrata to an aerial hammock on The Rock itself! Plus, it’s suitable for all skill levels, from complete newbies to experienced climbers.
4. Take a boat ride
If you want to soak up the region’s tranquillo vibes instead, one of the most popular things to do in Guatapé is to take a boat ride on the reservoir, sailing around its shoreline and, of course, near the base of Piedra el Peñol.
There’s a few day tours from Medellin to Guatapé that include boat rides (in addition to having an opportunity to climb The Rock), like this option or this option. Alternatively, if you’d prefer to get to Guatapé on your own, there’s a handful of agencies in town that offer tours that you can reach out to on WhatsApp, like Boat Tours Guatapé or Boat Tours and Hang Gliding Guatapé.
In full transparency, The Rock sits on top of a hill that’s set a bit back from the lakeshore, so while you’ll definitely get views of it from the water, it definitely isn’t the BEST way to see it. I’d personally recommend combining climbing The Rock with a boat tour (if you can swing it!), so you can get the best of both worlds!
The Rock of Guatapé was definitely one of the highlights of our time exploring around Medellin—and, honestly, all of Colombia! Do you have any questions about this unique land feature? Let us know in the comments below!
