Travel in Colombia
with Palenque Tours

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. In addition, James arrived at our hotel with a very comfortable air-conditioned van and he drove as if he was driving his own family. Consequently 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! Likewise she connected us to great restaurants, amazing hikes as well as the history and the people everywhere we went. In summary. I highly recommend Palenque as a private guide service through Colombia!

This is a great way to really learn about Medellins history. As a result we learn intersting facts, and get all the help and tips for other days while visiting. In short, Intersting and organized.

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

Gaston was our tour guide. Best of all, he was a biologist who funny enough majored in the study of bats. Likewise he was really smart and knowledgeable about most topics. Furthermore, he took us deep into a part of Colombia you'd never be able to see unless you're a real local. Nevertheless, this wasn't your typical cookie cutter tour. In contrast, 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. Thus, I can't stress enough how important this tour is and how much we learned.

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. Indeed, 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. Undoubtedly we really enjoyed learning about the city and how it is transforming itself after a very violent past. Then, the second day we headed out into the mountains around Medellin to learn about the flower farms and the silleteros. In addition, as it was the week before the annual Feria de las Flores we were lucky enough to see many silletas in the making. Clearly we would have loved to be in Medellin to see the festival. Finally, on our third day we headed out to Peñol and Guatape. Fist we climbed all 740 steps to the top of the rock to see the vista from the top. Then we spent a very enjoyable afternoon lunching and wandering around Guatape before enjoying a boat trip around the lake. In short, Medellín is a fascinating city and Santiago brought this all to life for us. Thus 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. Likewise, they were at all times attentive to our comfort. First, in Medellin, Pablo Ospina gave us an in-depth tour of this fascinating city and its remarkable transformation. Then, 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.