Pet Friendly Places
Restaurants, cafes and parks where your dog or pet is welcome.
- 28 places
- 15 zones
- 10 categories
- average
- Top ratedCerro de las Tres Cruces MedellínBelén / AltavistaCerro de las Tres Cruces is Medellín's default walk: a short but demanding climb in the south-west of the city, inside the Altavista district.
Top ratedParque Natural Cerro El VoladorRobledo / San GermánCerro El Volador is the largest metropolitan regional nature park inside Medellín's urban area: 103 hectares rising to 1,628 metres in the centre-west of the city, in Comuna 7.
Parques del RíoEl Chagualo / LaurelesParques del Río gave the city back a piece of its river. The project buried a stretch of motorway and covered the slab with a linear park integrating both banks: some 72,000 square metres, more than half of it green, with 280 trees planted.
Parque de los DeseosAranjuezParque de los Deseos is an open, freely accessible square facing Medellín's Planetarium, on the cultural corridor that runs up from the Universidad metro station.
Escalas eléctricas de la Comuna 13Las Independencias, San JavierThe Comuna 13 escalators opened in December 2011 as the first public and free ones in the country: six outdoor flights totalling 384 metres up the Las Independencias hillside. For anyone living at the top the change was concrete — the climb went from about thirty-five minutes on foot to around six — and that mobility project ended up changing the neighbourhood's relationship with the rest of the city.
Parque Principal de BelloBelloThe Parque Principal is the centre of Bello in every sense. It was a market square until 1937, when it became a park, and it keeps the feel of an Antioquian town plaza: cobble and tile paving, concrete benches and big trees.
Pueblito PaisaNutibaraPueblito Paisa crowns Cerro Nutibara with a replica of an Antioquian village square: church, town hall, school and balconied houses around a fountain. It is not a new set — it was built with elements and materials from the old town of El Peñol, which went under when the Peñol-Guatapé reservoir filled — and that provenance is what gives the ensemble its meaning.
Parque BicentenarioBostonParque Bicentenario was made to mark two hundred years of independence, and its real axis is the Santa Elena stream: the watercourse around which the original Medellín settled, and which the project set out to recover as public space.
Parque Principal De EnvigadoEnvigadoEnvigado's square was marked out on 11 April 1776, in the act of laying out the new settlement, and is therefore the exact point where the town began.
Cerro QuitasolBelloEl Quitasol closes the Aburrá valley to the north with a pyramid silhouette visible from half of Medellín, and it is Bello's guardian mountain: 2,800 metres at the summit.
Parque de SabanetaSabanetaParque Simón Bolívar is Sabaneta's main square: it was built in 1943 and has been remodelled three times, in 1968, 1993 and 1996, keeping the small-town feel the municipality has been losing outside it.
Parque Principal de la EstrellaNorte del ValleLa Estrella's main square is the centre of the town and is organised around the basilica of Nuestra Señora de Chiquinquirá, which occupies one of its sides.
Parque Simón Bolívar ItagüíItagüíParque Simón Bolívar is Itagüí's main square and, quite literally, the town's reference point: its street numbering is ordered from here, wedged between Calles 50 and 51 and Carreras 50 and 51.- Top ratedMar y Fuego- MedellínEl PobladoMar y Fuego is a bistro of Colombian chef's cooking with a Caribbean accent, in an El Poblado house, and its starting idea is in the name: produce from the sea and produce from the mountain, both taken through live fire.
- Top ratedAmbar VioletazulNorte del ValleViewpoint restaurant in Pueblo Viejo with panoramic views over the Aburrá Valley, evening bonfires and signature cuisine; one of the highest-rated places in the area.
- Top ratedGlamping Ancestros EcoparqueNorte del ValleAncestros combines accommodation and activities in the El Palmar hamlet, in the hills of Girardota, and works both ways: you can sleep there or go up just for the day.
- Top ratedLa Fiera RestobarNorte del ValleRestobar and grill right in the centre of Barbosa, focused on flame-grilled meats, cazuelas and a social atmosphere; it also works as an events venue.
- Top ratedMirador comuna 13Las Independencias, San JavierThe Comuna 13 viewpoint sits at the top of the Las Independencias hillside, where the escalator climb ends. From there the western side of the Aburrá valley opens out below, with the neighbourhood's rooftops in the foreground.
- Rituales Compañía de CaféLaurelesRituales opened in Laureles in 2017 and has earned a place among Medellín's specialty coffee houses, with a nomination for the 100 best in South America.
- Refugio NakawéNorte del ValleNakawé sits in the Peñas Blancas hamlet, in the upper part of La Estrella, and its format is closer to a country retreat than a conventional restaurant: tables spread outdoors, vegetation all around, and the picnic as its organising idea.
- Parque Central Polideportivo Tulio OspinaBelloThe Polideportivo Tulio Ospina is the recreation complex surrounding the stadium of the same name, in the Niquía neighbourhood, and works as Bello's big park.
- Parque de El PobladoEl PobladoParque de El Poblado is the exact point where Medellín began. On 2 March 1616 Francisco de Herrera Campuzano founded San Lorenzo de Aburrá there, the first settlement in the valley, and a monument in the square records it.
- Parque Lineal La PresidentaEl PobladoLa Presidenta is El Poblado's green corridor: a linear park of some twenty thousand square metres following the course of the stream it is named after, in the middle of one of the most built-up and busiest parts of the city.
- Parque de los PerrosBelloDog park in the Búcaros area of Bello, designed for walking pets and spending time outdoors.
Before you go
Going out with your dog in Medellín is getting easier all the time. This collection brings together places where your pet is welcome: city and linear parks, hills with trails such as El Volador or Las Tres Cruces, the main squares of the neighbouring towns, some restaurants and cafés, such as Rituales in Laureles, and even a shopping centre, El Tesoro, known for welcoming pets.
Keep in mind that pet friendly does not mean the same thing everywhere. Some places let your dog into the whole space; others only onto the terrace, and some set size limits or ask for the dog to be carried or kept in a crate. If you are going to a restaurant or café, ask when booking or before you sit down. In public spaces in Colombia a lead is mandatory, and the law requires a muzzle for breeds it classes as potentially dangerous.
For outdoor plans, choose the morning or late afternoon: at midday the pavement and exposed trails heat up and the sun is strong. Bring water and a bowl, bags to pick up after your dog and, if you order a taxi or ride-hailing car, let the driver know you are travelling with a pet. On hills and in reserves, keep your dog on the lead: there is wildlife and there are other walkers.
