Football Travel: Medellín

Medellín is Colombia’s second largest city and has worked hard to shed its troubled image of the 1980s and 1990s. It is now a major tourist destination and with a stable year-round climate it is known as ‘City of the Eternal Spring’.

The local ‘Paisa’ culture is strong, and within that is a love of football that borders on the obsessive. The city is home to two top-flight teams; Atlético Nacional and Deportivo Independiente Medellín (DIM).

Both teams share the 45,000 capacity Atanasio Girardot stadium to the west of the city centre and contest the fierce ‘Clásico Paisa’.

How to visit Atlético Nacional and Deportivo Independiente Medellín

Colombians are obsessed with football and Medellín is the perfect example of this. The rivalry between Nacional (Los Verdolagas – “The Purslanes” – a green flower) and DIM (El Poderoso de la Montaña – “The Powerful of the Mountain”) is fierce, and the Clásico Paisa is arguably Colombia’s biggest derby.

Nacional is the more successful of the two, with 21 domestic honours, including 16 league titles. In 1989, Nacional became the first Colombian side to win the Copa Libertadores, South America’s equivalent of the Champions League. The club is also one of three teams to have never been relegated from the top flight alongside Bogotá’s big two, Millonarios and Santa Fe.

The two sides share the 45,000 Atanasio Girardot stadium, located west of the City Centre and with its own metro station, Estadio (see map below).

For a basic league game, ticket prices range from 30,000 to 120,000 pesos (approx. £8-£35/ $11-47 / €9-€40), the latter being the most expensive VIP tickets. Prices vary according to the category of the game, with the Clásico and semi-finals and finals being more expensive. For most games, tickets can be bought at the stadium taquillas (ticket offices) or from various outlets throughout the city, such as Nacional’s network of ‘Tienda Verde’.

For tourists/visitors, it is worth noting that each team’s ultras group has its own section of the stadium which is not exactly out of bounds but probably best avoided. Nacional’s ‘Los Del Sur’ inhabit the South Stand, and DIM’s Rexixtenxia Norte the North.

The stadium is surrounded by small kiosks selling food and drink, and a bottle of local beer is only 3,000 pesos here, compared to 6,000+ in a typical bar. The club shops are just as expensive as the UK, but there are good quality ‘copies’ available all around the city, including in some bizarre locations e.g. in the middle of a very busy roundabout near Aguacatala metro.

The kiosks are a great place to soak up the pre-match atmosphere and are literally yards from the turnstiles. I recommend arriving at the ground around two hours before kickoff; find a seat, have a beer, and experience the build-up of atmosphere. Once kick off arrives, there is a wall of noise from the ultras, with flags, banners and musical instruments that is almost worth the ticket price alone.

What to see and do in Medellín

Medellín is now a thriving tourist destination and has both the attractions and infrastructure to support this. Most of the major tourist sites are accessible via either metro, tram, cable car or taxi. All of these options are extremely cheap by western standards. For example, a return ticket anywhere in the city by metro is 4,800 pesos (about £1.30 / $1.75 / €1.48).

Popular attractions include the Museo de Antioquia/Plaza Botero (dedicated to Colombia’s most famous artist/sculptor Fernando Botero), Parque Explora, Jardín Botánico and El Pueblito Paisa, the latter giving excellent views of the city.

There is also a plethora of companies offering guided tours to some of the city’s most troubled and violent neighbourhoods – the hillside Comunas (communes) such as Comuna 13 with its outdoor escalators and Comuna 8 (La Sierra) with its cable car. It is worth paying for these guided tours, as it is not recommended to wander around these areas alone, or without someone with local knowledge and contacts.

Medellín has several huge and expensive shopping malls in the affluent suburb of El Poblado, complete with bars, restaurants and of course shops. If you are after something cheaper, and slightly less authentic, there are literally streets full of clothes shops in the El Hueco section of La Candelaria.

There is also a thriving bar and restaurant scene in the city, with local specialities such as the Bandeja Paisa, empanadas (fried meat pasties) and buñuelos (fritters) available everywhere. Parque Lleras is a major tourist stop for bars and restaurants, with a fairly even mix of expats and locals at the weekend.

While Medellín is considerably safer nowadays, there are still several areas of the city it is best to avoid. It is advisable to use taxis late at night, and there are literally thousands throughout the city. There are several expat-run websites, such as medellinliving.com and medellinguru.com that have excellent guides and regular updates on all aspects of life in Medellín.

How to get to the Estadio Atanasio Girardot, Medellín

If you are coming from the tourist enclave of El Poblado, you will need to change from Linea ‘A’ to Linea ‘B’ at San Antonio. Taxis are plentiful and cheap, and a taxi from the stadium to El Poblado is around 14,000 pesos or £4 / $5.50 / €5.