Ciclovía Medellín: The Sexy, Social, Healthy Sunday You’ll Actually Keep

• 🕖 Core hours: Sundays and holidays 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on El Poblado and Río routes. Night Ciclovía runs Tue and Thu.

• 🧭 Main route for most readers: Avenida El Poblado, Premium Plaza to La Frontera, 5.3 km.

• 💃 Free dance classes pop up, including Sunday rumba at Santa Fe Mall. Great vibe. Great cardio.

• 🐶 Bring the dog. Bring the kids. Keep it courteous. Stay right. No racing. Recreational, not competitive.

• 🥪 My routine: walk the Poblado stretch with friends, then brunch at Philly Steaks. Join the flow.

What Ciclovía is and why you’ll love it

Medellín shuts key corridors to cars so people can move. Bike. Walk. Run. Skate. Flirt a little (with discretion). This gives you the chance to feel part of the city, the real Medellin, not the curated tourist party nonsense most visitors do. If you want to see the real city, this is the way to do it.

The energy hits you early on. Music, vendors, dogs in bandanas and beautiful people everywhere. A steady stream of runners and cyclists in every color kit. You come for a workout and leave with 10,000 steps and five new brunch ideas. It's also a great place to come and be social, or to clear your head.

One thing I will say about it, this is a steady parade of the best looking men and women in the city, and you may have the urge to flirt, but use discretion. Please. No matter if you're a man or woman, shooting your shot here is not always the easiest thing and can result in embarrassment. If you want to come and be social, definitely do so, but don't look at ciclovia like it's a spot to hook up, it's not. If you're a visitor here and don't speak alot of Spanish, this is way above your linguistic grade. Keep it to making new friends at most, enjoying the scenery is the most realistic outcome.

This is city therapy that doubles as fitness. It’s also an easy social loop. Like I said, you'll see beautiful people working out. You can be one of them next Sunday.

Who runs it

INDER Medellín is the city’s sports and recreation institute. It’s part of the Mayor’s office. INDER builds and runs programs that boost health, community and safe public space. The Ciclovía is one of its signatures and has shaped city life for decades. When COVID happened here, it was one of the things I truly missed most.

Core routes and hours

• Avenida El Poblado
  Premium Plaza to La Frontera. 5.3 km. Sundays and holidays 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
  Map link inside the routes table below. This is the way I go with.

• Avenida del Río
  Solla to Colcafé. 12.8 km. Sundays and holidays 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Connects with Bello and Itagüí sections. Bigger feel. Ideal for long rides.

• Las Palmas
  San Diego roundabout to Viva Palmas. Steady climb. Early window 5:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Sundays and holidays. Strong legs love this one.

• Cerro El Volador
  Gate to upper circunvalar. 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Nice green detour.

• Estadio loop
  Outer ring. 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Family-friendly. Easy to bail for snacks.

Barrial mini-routes also run 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Florencia, El Salvador, Santa Mónica, Pedregal, and Santa Cecilia. Altavista runs 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Good if you live nearby or want a shorter, local vibe.

Night Ciclovía

• Avenida del Río 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

• Estadio inner ring 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
  Nights currently run Tuesday and Thursday. A cool, safer way to train in the evening with people around. Crossing points are marked.

Dance classes and side activations

You’ll catch pop-up workouts, stretching corners, and dance groups on Sundays. Santa Fe Mall hosts open rumba classes with real turnout and loud smiles. It’s free. It’s fun. It’s legit cardio. They typically do this between 9AM and 11AM, but this varies.

The Poblado route: how I use it

I hit Premium Plaza to La Frontera. Walk with friends. Light jogs between blocks. I stay right, pass left, and let faster people go, and there are ALWAYS people faster. Then I grab brunch at Philly Steaks lately to watch NFL games, but mostly to meet new people and eat. It’s become a weekly reset that truly becomes something that I look forward to every week. If you want to join, I'd love to have you, add me on IG @therealstevehamilton (yes, yes, I know, but there is a guy that has a car collection that I'm eternally jealous of with the same name, and an author as well. I had to put my name in there).

Vendors

My personal favorite is the Biensano juice stand. They have small bottles of juice they call Delirio, with different flavors - my personal favorite is the Watermelon/Strawberry/Lime. I also like the "Bienpower" as well. I used to get an energy drink every week, but now I go with their juices, and they have won me over. That's right before the halfway point for me, so it's perfect. If you want to know more about them, check out thir IG @biensanocol for more info. They're a family owned company and all of them are incredible. You'll find them in front of Banco Pinchincha on the Avenida Poblado route on Sundays.

In addition to them, there are tons of other vendors, selling everything from pet products to delicious food options to artisan items. It's like a healthy street faire.

Etiquette that keeps everyone safe

• Stay to the RIGHT. Pass on the left.

• Don’t block the whole lane with your crew.

• Keep a steady pace. Don’t stop dead in the road - If you need to stop go to the sidewalk.

• Dogs on a leash. Collars on. If you have a breed that is branded dangerous, use a muzzle.

• This is recreational, not a race. Save the sprints.

• Use the marked crossings. Follow staff guidance.
  These come straight from INDER’s own rules. You’ll feel the difference when people follow them.

Pet and kid friendly

Strollers are everywhere, scooters show up, dogs love the sensory overload. With that said, keep leashes short in crowded sections. Early hours are calmer for families, and whatever you do, if you are coming here to teach your kid to ride a bike, don't do it. You will hinder people's path, and make life miserable for everyone. Teach them somewhere where it's not crowded, because ciclovia is. At it's peak time (10am-12 noon) it's wall to wall people, especially in choke points. INDER’s rules reference pets and protective gear, which tells you the program is designed for all ages.

Routes and hours

I made a table with all of the routes on it, is you have questions, please let me know. I'm all about helping people become the best version of themselves here, and this is a great way to do so. I'm also attaching a YouTube video. I'd appreciate a like, and subscribe, if you have questions or comments, I answer every comment i can. Look forward to seeing you out there.