Metrocable and Arví Park: Which Tour Shows You Medellín from Above?
5 min read
Short answer: if you want Arví Park itself, book a tour that goes there, such as the forest walk or the Arví trip with the water streams. If you only want the cable car view as part of a city day, a city tour with the Metrocable is enough. None of the four city tours compared here goes up to the park.
Two different things called “cable car”
The Metrocable is part of the city’s public transport: gondolas that climb the hillsides above the valley. Only one line reaches the park: Line L, from Santo Domingo up to Arví, according to the Metro de Medellín. You get to Santo Domingo on Line K from Acevedo station. The city tours use other lines as a viewpoint ride; the nine-hour day tour, for example, rides from San Javier to La Aurora and back.
So read the listing for the word “Arví”. If it is missing, the cable car is a view, not the way to the forest.
Line L keeps its own timetable. In March 2026 the Metro gave its hours as 9 am to 6 pm from Monday to Saturday and 8:30 am to 6 pm on Sundays and holidays, and said that it does not normally run on Tuesdays. The fare for foreign visitors was 26,700 pesos at that time. The line also closes for maintenance on other days, so check the line status on the Metro’s website for your date before you plan a day around it.
The tours compared
| Tour | Length | From | Rating | What the booking page says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arví native forest walking tour | 3 hours | €24.94 | 4.8 (105) | Metrocable to Arví, the Arroyuelo and La Flora trails, a stop at the Chorro Clarín waterfall; English or Spanish |
| Arví Park, cable car and water streams tour | 5 hours | €42.39 | 4.4 (58) | Private or shared option, about 3.5 hours on foot in the park, creeks, natural pools and waterfalls |
| Coffee farm tour with a coffee-based wellness spa | 3 hours | €90.10 | 4.8 (226) | Meets in Arví Park, coffee massage, steam room, barista show, a cup of coffee; at most 7 people |
| Chiva or thematic van city tour with Metrocable | 4 hours | €32.32 | 4.6 (199) | From El Poblado, Metro and a 15-minute Metrocable ride, Barefoot Park, Plaza Botero, Pueblito Paisa |
| Private city tour with Metrocable and Comuna 13 | 5 hours | €65 | 4.9 (345) | Hotel pickup, Metrocable ticket, Pueblito Paisa, Comuna 13, Plaza Botero; lunch not included |
| Medellín in a day: Comuna 13, Botero, Metrocable and lunch | 9 hours | €65.22 | 4.6 (80) | Pickup in El Poblado or Laureles from 8 am, Metrocable San Javier–La Aurora, lunch included |
| Comuna 13 district tour with cable car ride | 4 hours | €21.64 | 4.7 (1,570) | From Poblado metro station, Metro and bus tickets included, a cable car ride on the way |
Prices are per person. All four city tours list people with mobility impairments or pregnant women as not suitable: the van tour pregnant women, the three others people with mobility impairments.
What the three Arví tours include
The forest walk starts with the Metrocable ride up to Arví and then follows two named trails, the Sendero el Arroyuelo and the Sendero La Flora, with twenty minutes of free time at the Chorro Clarín waterfall. It ends either at the Metropolitan Ballet School in Medellín or in the park. Its booking page has no list of what is included, so ask the provider before you book whether the Line L fare is part of the price.
The water streams tour has two options, and they differ in more than the group. The private option includes hotel pickup and the cable car tickets and adds a ride to a viewpoint in Comuna 2. The shared option meets at Santo Domingo station, and you buy your own Arví cable ticket, which the page puts at about 10 US dollars. In both, a guide walks with you, and food and drinks are extra. The listing says five hours, its own description six. Bring a light jacket; the page says it can be cool up there.
The coffee spa meets in Arví Park itself, on the road to Piedras Blancas. Its page lists transport, the massage, a steam room, a bath, a barista show and a cup of coffee as included, and hotel pickup and food as not included. We compare it with the other farms in our coffee tour guide.
How to choose
You want a short walk in the forest: the Arví forest walk, three hours, at €24.94.
You want a driver and a private guide: the private option of the water streams tour. Choose it in the booking calendar; the shared option leaves the cable fare and the way to Santo Domingo to you.
You want coffee as well: the coffee farm in Arví Park.
You have one day and want the city: the nine-hour Medellín in a day puts Plaza Botero, the Metrocable to La Aurora, Comuna 13 and lunch into one day, with pickup at your accommodation. Our Comuna 13 guide explains that neighbourhood in more detail. More city options are on the city tours page.
Our recommendation
For most visitors who want to leave the city for a few hours: the Arví native forest walk. It names its trails and its waterfall, it takes three hours, and it holds 4.8 stars from 105 reviews. Ask the provider whether the cable fare is included and, if your date is a Tuesday, when Line L normally does not run, how the tour gets up to the park. If you would rather see the city than the forest, pick a city tour from the table instead.
See dates and prices for the Arví native forest walking tour
