Guatapé

Guatapé needs 1 day: the ascent of La Piedra del Peñol, a 220-meter granite monolith with 740 steps to the top and a panoramic view over the reservoir, in the morning, and touring the colorful zócalos decorating the town's facades in the afternoon. December-January is best, with clear skies for the view from the rock. It's inexpensive for Colombia, a very popular day trip from Medellín, 2 hours away. Its labyrinth of artificial islands formed when the valley was flooded for a hydroelectric dam in the 1970s created a unique landscape of water and land, and its facades decorated with relief zócalos -a local tradition unique in the country- made the town one of the most photographed in Colombia.