Entertainment in Colombia
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A
Saloon
This edgy, arty bar has a student vibe. Foreign DJs sometimes spin here, and every other Friday there’s live music. You can get sandwiches and light salads (COP$10,000 to COP$12,000). It also sometimes hosts art installations. It’s on the second floor of a white building in the heart of Granada.
reviewed
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Centro Cultural Gabriel García Márquez
Opened in 2008 and a modern addition to La Candelaria, this expansive new complex pays homage to Colombia’s most famous author in name, but its events span the cultural spectrum way past literature. There’s also a giant bookstore (with a few English titles), a hamburger restaurant and cafe.
reviewed
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B
Tu Candela
The narrow, shotgun-style layout of this bar/club makes liberal use of exposed brick – it feels a bit like partying in a wine cave – and is decorated with tribal masks, old transistor radios and brass instruments. The cover charge is recoupable in drinks.
reviewed
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C
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.
The center of the action is around Parque Lleras in El Poblado, an area that is also known as the Zona Rosa. Roughly between Calles 9 and 10A, and Carreras 36 and 42, it draws the young, the beautiful, the rich, the surgically augmented and the merely enthusiastic. The area is packed with restaurants, bars and discos, many of which have large outdoor patios. Bars and clubs come in and out of fashion very quickly, so for the latest word on the street head to Parque Lleras and confer with locals. Cove…
reviewed
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Agapito
By 02:00 or so, it's time to head to the salsatecas of the Juanchito District, about 12km east of the center. A taxi should get you there from the center for about US$5. Salsatecas generally don't charge admission, and you order drinks by the bottle.
Agapito is next door to Changó, a humbler but no less sexy salsateca, which features a viejoteca on Sunday afternoon, when older folks take over the dance floor.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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Termales El Otoño
Termales El Otoño is outside Manizales on the way back to town, which helps alleviate the cracking headache and nausea you will experience on the trip down the mountain. It sells beer, liquor and snacks. On weekends the place turns into a party zone, and there are 15 luxury cabins nearby (COP$155,000 to COP$294,000). To get here on your own take the bus marked ‘Termales El Otoño’ from the Manizales terminal (COP$1200, 40 minutes).
reviewed
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D
Macondo
This San Antonio institution does great coffee, a wide range of desserts, light sandwiches and salads, and serves beer and wine till late. Jazz plays on the stereo and the smell of coffee is in the air. Try the scrumptious cocktails, like the Melquiades (mango, chocolate, coffee, Baileys, whiskey and blackberry sauce) or the Macondo de Lulo (coffee ice cream with fresh lulo and whiskey).
reviewed
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E
Yumi Yumi
Right off Av Jiménez, this pocket-sized lounge/restaurant – run by a bleach-haired Brit bloke and mustached local chef – fills with student passersby and hostel guests for excellent, experimental two-for-one cocktails (try the sour lucita, with tequila and lulo fruit) for COP$14,000. The Thai curry special on Monday and Tuesday (COP$9000) is the best touch of Bangkok in Bogotá.
reviewed
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Tin Tin Deo
This rocking salsa joint attracts some of the best dancers in Cali. Posters of famous salsa singers look down on you from the wall, and industrial fans keep the room from overheating. Drinks are moderately priced, and the cover charge is consumible, that is, you get it back in drinks at the bar. Also sometimes plays música del pacífico (music from the Pacific coast).
reviewed
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Juanchito District
When the sun goes down, calenõs (Cali people) have one thing on their minds - salsa. The city's best-known salsa nightlife is in the legendary Juanchito district, way south of the center. Two of the most famous salsa places here are Changó and Agapito. Come on the weekend - preferably after ten - and take a taxi or a chiva(bus)tour.
reviewed
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Plaza de Toros de Santamaría
Bullfighting is invariably popular, with fights held at the Plaza de Toros de Santamaría on most Sundays in January and February. Tickets are available from the bullring’s box office (from COP$20,000). The events bring the area to a standstill, while the bullring itself (a 1931 red-brick ring) often fills to capacity (14,500), or beyond.
reviewed
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La Kasa
This popular split-level disco plays techno, accompanied by half a dozen electronic disco balls. Three bars will keep you well lubricated, and the fish in the two tanks built into the walls guarantee you a captive audience for your latest dance moves. One of the very best places for techno in Medellín; best for a visit on Thursday and Saturday.
reviewed
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Café Para Dos
Grab a comfortable cushion, adjust your eyes to the candlelight and try the excellent canelazo de frutas, the house specialty that mixes juice, fruit and aguardiente (Colombia's most popular spirit). It also serves crepes and sandwiches. There are a few tables, but most people sit on the floor of this excellent chill-out bar.
reviewed
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Roland Roots Bar
This travelers’ icon encapsulates island life in one ridiculously atmospheric beach bar – booths fashioned from bamboo under ramshackle thatched roofs spread among the sands, all set to a booming reggae soundtrack. Roland is an island legend for his late-night parties and his coco locos – jazzed up piña coladas served in coconuts.
reviewed
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H
Punta Sur
It seems that half the people in this place are either dancing on top of the tables or passed out underneath them. You can join them by first ordering a shot of booze from one of the waitresses done up in cowgirl outfits. Best of all, there's no cover. Punta Sur is the first in a string of crowded bars just north of the Atlantis Plaza.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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Babylon
Decked out in Wonder Woman and Superman memorabilia (plus stacks and stacks of old televisions), this dimly lit disco offers the best value drinks in Las Palmas. Seating is at heavy wood picnic tables, and projector screens show cartoons all night long. On Thursday it does an all-you-can-drink-night for COP$30,000 (women free).
reviewed
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b lounge
This small, groovy bar attracts a relatively young crowd. Feather boas hang from the ceiling, and the Wednesday night karaoke is very popular. There’s a wooden terrace outside facing the car dealership across the street. On the edge of the ever-expanding zona rosa (nightlife zone) at the time of our research.
reviewed
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Café del Mar
Ocean breezes swoop in off the coast and blow on the Beautiful People at this sexy outdoor lounge high atop the western ramparts of the old city. Spectacular views to Bocagrande recall Tel Aviv at night, while the restrooms are practically in Panama. DJs spin nightly from in front of an old lookout tower. A must-see.
reviewed
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Mister Babilla
This massive, multi-space club is the city’s best, filled wall-to-ceiling with everything from bird cages to oak barrels to Aerosmith records: there’s enough bric-a-brac here to host the world’s largest garage sale. The floor is packed, too, with warm-blooded colombianos hell bent on a modeling contract.
reviewed
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M
El Blue
Just off Parque Lleras, this place is devoted to rock, often hosting live bands. It has a large outdoor patio and caters to a mostly laid-back crowd. Thursday is big because there’s no cover charge. One of the very few pick-up joints in Colombia, this is the place paísa girls go to meet gringo boys.
reviewed
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N
Várzea
Off the beaten track on the road to the airport, this trendy little neighborhood bar was one of Leticia’s best-kept secrets – until now. It has a friendly atmosphere with great music and strong drinks. It also happens to serve the best pizza in town, with a huge selection of toppings. What more do you need?
reviewed
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Bar Oz
Located about a kilometer from the main strip in Menga, down a country road past several small farms, this disco boasts large replicas of the Sphinx, a small pond, bonfires in good weather, and a restaurant (mains COP$16,000 to COP$27,000) specializing in grilled meat. Don’t come if it’s raining.
reviewed
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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.
El Pequeño Teatro de Medellín has a varied repertoire, combining the traditional with the contemporary.
reviewed
