Museums in Medellín: Visitor Guide

Museums in Medellín: planning your visits

The most visited museums in Medellín are grouped in three areas, each close to a metro or tram stop:

• Downtown: Museo de Antioquia and Plaza Botero (Parque Berrío station) and, a little further east, the Museo Casa de la Memoria (Ayacucho tram, Bicentenario stop).
• North: Parque Explora, the Medellín Planetarium and the Botanical Garden, all next to Universidad station on Line A.
• Ciudad del Río: the Museum of Modern Art of Medellín (MAMM), in the south of the city near El Poblado.

Half a day per area is enough to see the highlights without rushing. A good pairing is downtown in the morning and the north in the afternoon.

Opening hours and ticket prices change, and some museums charge foreign visitors a different rate from Colombians. Check each museum's official website before you go and carry your passport or a copy.

Museo de Antioquia and Plaza Botero

Museo de Antioquia (Carrera 52 #52-43) was founded in 1881, originally as the Museo de Zea. Since 2000 it has occupied Medellín's former Municipal Palace, an Art Deco building opened in 1937 and later declared a national monument.

Most visitors come for the Fernando Botero room, with works donated by the Medellín-born artist. Outside, Plaza Botero, opened in 2002, displays 23 monumental bronze sculptures that you can see for free at any time of day. Next to it stands the Palacio de la Cultura Rafael Uribe Uribe, the former seat of the Antioquia governorship.

According to its official website, the museum opens Monday to Saturday from 9:40 am to 5:30 pm and on Sundays and public holidays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. It closes on 1 January, 1 May and 24, 25 and 31 December. Entry wristbands can be bought in the museum's online shop, where current rates are listed.

Take the metro to Parque Berrío station and walk two blocks. The area is busy, so keep your phone out of sight.

Airport bus with COMBUSES

The COMBUSES stop at Hotel Nutibara is right next to Plaza Botero and Museo de Antioquia, so you can start your museum day as soon as you step off the airport bus. Buses every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day.

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House of Memory Museum (Casa de la Memoria)

The Museo Casa de la Memoria (Calle 51 #36-66, Parque Bicentenario) tells the story of the armed conflict in Medellín and Colombia through the voices of victims and of people who resisted it. It was created in 2006 as part of the city's victim support programme.

The permanent exhibition, Medellín: memories of violence and resistance, uses testimonies, photographs and sound. There is also a documentation centre and a digital archive of more than 1,400 testimonies and documents. It is a heavy visit, but it helps you understand the city you see today, including the transformation of neighbourhoods such as Comuna 13.

Practical details:

• Free admission.
• Hours per its website: Tuesday to Friday 9:00 am to 6:00 pm; Saturdays, Sundays and holidays 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.
• Guided visits are offered; check the schedule online.
• It is two blocks from the Bicentenario stop of the Ayacucho tram, which connects with San Antonio metro station.

Allow one to two hours.

Parque Explora, the Planetarium and the Botanical Garden

In the north, next to Universidad station on metro Line A, you have three visits within a few blocks:

• Parque Explora (Carrera 52 #73-75): a hands-on science museum open since 2007, in a building made of large red cubes. Its aquarium is one of the largest in South America, holding around 580,000 litres, with a freshwater tank where giant pirarucú swim. The vivarium, focused on amphibians and reptiles, reopened after a renovation in 2025. Admission is paid; buy tickets online.
• Medellín Planetarium: part of the same Explora complex; check its schedule online.
• Joaquín Antonio Uribe Botanical Garden (Calle 73 #51D-14): 13.2 hectares with more than 1,000 plant species and the Orquideorama, the wooden canopy opened in 2006. Entry is free except during special events.

Explora can easily take half a day, especially with children. Save the Botanical Garden for last: it's a calm spot to rest and have lunch. Check each venue's hours before you set out, as they don't always match.

MAMM: Museum of Modern Art of Medellín

The MAMM (Carrera 44 #19A-100, Ciudad del Río) was founded in 1978 and spent three decades in the Carlos E. Restrepo neighbourhood. Today it occupies the former Talleres Robledo, a 1938 steelworks handed over by the city in 2009; its expansion opened to the public in 2015.

Its most important holding is the Débora Arango collection: 233 paintings by the Antioquian artist, the largest collection of her work, declared a national cultural asset in 2004. You'll also find work by Enrique Grau, Óscar Muñoz, Beatriz González and Ethel Gilmour, plus temporary contemporary art shows.

The museum also runs an independent cinema; tickets are sold on the MAMM website. General admission has different prices for Colombians and foreigners, and some events are free.

The Mercado del Río food hall is a few blocks away, so you can combine the museum with lunch. From downtown, a taxi or ride-hailing app is the most direct way to get there.

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Photo: Averpues (CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons)