Touching down at Medellin Jose Maria Cordova Intl Airport in Medellin keeps you central, with the city about 45 minutes away down a green mountain road. Medellin fills a long valley in the Andes and is often called the City of Eternal Spring for its mild weather all year. Its people, the paisas, are famously warm and proud, and the city has rebuilt itself around cable cars, parks, and public art.

Standout experiences in Medellin: - Take a guided walk through Comuna 13, with its outdoor escalators and murals - Ride the Metrocable over the hills to the forest trails of Parque Arvi - See the rounded sculptures of Fernando Botero in Plaza Botero and the Museo de Antioquia - Spend an evening in El Poblado or the leafy streets of Laureles - Visit Pueblito Paisa, a replica village on Cerro Nutibara with city views - Eat a bandeja paisa, a hearty platter of beans, rice, pork belly, egg, and arepa - Drink a tinto, the small black coffee sold on every corner - Watch the silleteros carry flower displays on their backs at the Feria de las Flores in August

From Medellin, the colorful lakeside town of Guatape and the giant rock of El Penol are about two hours east, and you can climb the rock's long staircase for views over the reservoir islands. Santa Fe de Antioquia, a whitewashed colonial town with a historic suspension bridge, is around 90 minutes west. Closer to the airport, Rionegro, El Retiro, and El Carmen de Viboral, known for hand-painted ceramics, make easy stops. The weather barely changes, so come any month and catch Medellin celebrating something.