Our family of 4 (myself, my husband and 2 teenage daughters) hired Palenque for 4 days to guide and drive us through Salento, Jardin, Jerico, Medellin, El Penol and Guatape. From the moment I first emailed them for information all the way until they dropped us off at the airport at the end of our trip, they were absolutely helpful, positive, informative and made our trip to Colombia so much more meaningful. James arrived at our hotel with a very comfortable air-conditioned van and he drove as if he was driving his own family - I felt safe the entire time. I'm not going to lie - having a private vehicle on these winding roads was amazing! Luisa knew many details about everywhere we went and made it interesting for our kids too! She connected us to great restaurants, amazing hikes as well as the history and the people everywhere we went. I highly recommend Palenque as a private guide service through Colombia!

Esta es una gran manera de aprender realmente sobre la historia de Medellín, aprender hechos interesantes, y obtener toda la ayuda y consejos para otros días durante la visita. Interesante y organizado.

Dianna was a great tour guide and the addition of cultural information was helpful. I highly recommend this tour.

Gaston was our tour guide he was a biologist who funny enough majored in the study of bats haha , he was really smart and knowledgeable about most topics , he took us deep into a part of Colombia you'd never be able to see unless you're a real local . this wasn't your typical cookie cutter tour this was a real experience with real people and in a real part of town that went through a lot of conflict but its rising high and really fast through the help of the government and tourism I can't stress enough how important this tour is and how much we learned. we had a lot of fun from harvesting fresh cacao plants to swimming in pristine waters, to eating an amazing home cooked meal from locals to making our own chocolate drinks and sipping it with the locals . truly an amazing and unique experience .

We were very lucky to have Santiago López as our tour guide for three busy days in and around Medellin. Fortunately for us Santiago speaks perfect English and really enjoys his job as a tour guide. His love of his country and enthusiasm sharing this with others made our time in Medellin very memorable. The first day we toured the city, riding the metro, cable car and finally the escalators in Comuna 13. We really enjoyed learning about the city and how it is transforming itself after a very violent past. The second day we headed out into the mountains around Medellin to learn about the flower farms and the silleteros. As it was the week before the annual Feria de las Flores we were lucky enough to see many silletas in the making. We would have loved to be in Medellin to see the festival. On our third day we headed out to Peñol and Guatape. We climbed all 740 steps to the top of the rock to see the vista from the top. We then spent a very enjoyable afternoon lunching and wandering around Guatape before enjoying a boat trip around the lake. Medellín is a fascinating city and Santiago brought this all to life for us. I'd highly recommend all activities and especially Santiago.

In recent trip to Medellin and Cartagena our Palenque guides were wonderful company and exceptional in their knowledge of the cities, culture and history -- at all times attentive to our comfort. In Medellin, Pablo Ospina gave us an in-depth tour of this fascinating city and its remarkable transformation. The following day he took us on a two-day excursion (with his excellent driver, Marlon) deep into the layered green hills of coffee country. Highlights were a trip to a lovely farm for a home-cooked lunch and hike to its cascading waterfalls, and an overnight in historic Jardin. In Cartagena, Raphael brought the city alive with tales of its dramatic past, and Chris, gave us a unique insight into the socio-economic culture with walks and drives among current neighborhoods. Chris ended our tour with a peaceful canoe ride through the quiet mangroves, and a delicious meal in his parents' home, which also serves as a school for underprivileged children. A Palenque Bogota guide, Santiago Vega, also deserves special mention here. He was our guide two years ago, and we cannot imagine a better guide than Santiago, with his million-dollar smile and his brilliant enthusiasm!.