• Berlín

  A lively bar with pool tables, rock classics and reasonably priced beer.

• Café Arcángel

  A favorite of the alternative crowd, this place serves up beer, espresso, and even pierced poets reading their own works.

• Casa Gardeliana

  When tango singer Carlos Gardel's plane went down in Medellín in 1935, the city's love affair with the tango was sealed. Located in Barrio Manrique, the Casa Gardeliana was the main tango venue for years, hosting tango bands and dance shows. It still has them from time to time, though now it's basically a small tango museum, featuring memorabilia related to tango and Carlos Gardel.

• Centro Colombo Americano

  For interesting English-language films, check out the Centro Colombo Americano.

• El Blue

  Just off Parque Lleras, this place is devoted to rock, often hosting live bands. It has a large outdoor patio and a mostly laid-back crowd.

• El Patio del Tango

  When tango singer Carlos Gardel's plane went down in Medellín in 1935, the city's love affair with the tango was sealed. Now the tango's major stage, El Patio del Tango is decorated like a typical Buenos Aires tango dive. There are often shows on Friday and Saturday nights.

• El Pequeño Teatro de Medellín

  Medellín has a lively theater scene that ranges from the classical to the experimental, with more than 10 theaters and even more groups that work without a permanent home.

• Le Bon Café

  If you prefer coffee to aguardiente, grab a table at this sophisticated café, Medellín’s few real coffee shops. Choose from 14 types of espresso and 10 of cappuccino. It sits on the south side of Parque Lleras.

• Mango's

  For raucous, paisa -style partying, head to the crown jewel of Medellín's nightlife. Mango's looks like the set of 'Urban Cowboy' and is big enough to shelter more than a thousand partiers. The music pumps, but if you need additional inspiration there are often shows with picture-perfect exotic dancers of both sexes.

• Melodie Lounge

  This slick cocktail joint attracts high-end hipsters with its glowing walls and chill ambient music.

• Metrópolis

  With perhaps the best music and lighting infrastructure in the city, this place inside the Monterrey shopping mall serves up trance, techno and electronica to an adoring crowd of regulars.

• Museo de Antioquia

  The Museo de Antioquia offers free films every Tuesday at 16:00 .

• Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín

  Medellín has more than a dozen commercial cinemas (some of them multiplexes) screening the usual Hollywood repertoire. For more thought-provoking fare, check the programs of the cinematecas, the best known of which is the Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín .

• Palacio de Bellas Artes

  The 300-seat Sala Beethoven in the Palacio de Bellas Artes is a regular stage for classical concerts and recitals.

• Parque Lleras

  While there is not much of a café scene in Medellín, you're never far from a cocktail. In the evening, action is most highly concentrated around Parque Lleras in El Poblado. If funds are low, buy a bottle of hooch and hang out in the small park itself - there are no open container laws and you'll find plenty of company.

• Teatro de la Universidad de Medellín

  The Teatro de la Universidad de Medellín presents concerts of classical and contemporary music.

• Teatro Matacandelas

  Medellín has a lively theater scene that ranges from the classical to the experimental, with more than 10 theaters and even more groups that work without a permanent home.

• Teatro Metropolitano

  Inaugurated in 1987, the Metropolitan is Medellín's largest and most modern theater. It hosts concerts, opera and ballet and is home to Medellín's Philharmonic Orchestra.

• Teatro Pablo Tobón Uribe

  Medellín has a lively theater scene that ranges from the classical to the experimental, with more than 10 theaters and even more groups that work without a permanent home.

• Vinacuré

  A piece of SoHo seems to have broken off and floated all the way to the hills south of Medellín. This outrageously imaginative place looks like a Frida Kahlo painting on acid, with choreography by the Cirque de Soleil. Give yourself over to the experience as you are greeted by honking geese, served by sexually ambiguous waitrons, and wowed by the circuslike live shows. It is a long and expensive cab ride (about around US$8 ) but worth every penny.

• Zona Rosa

  To truly understand Medellín, you have to see its people in party mode. Paisas love to dress up, show off, throw some money around, and have a good time while they're at it.

 

Go back to Learn Spanish in Medellin