Medellín

Medellín
<map lat='6.25' lng='-75.57' zoom='11' view='0' country='Colombia' height='300'/>
Check out hitchhiking spots on Hitchmap
Information
Country:	Colombia
State:	Antioquia
Population:	2,223,078
Licence plate:	MEDELLIN
Major roads:	25, 62, 60
Meet fellow hitchhikers on Trustroots

Medellín is a city in Colombia.

The northern neighbourhoods tend to be poorer than the southern ones.

Hitchhiking out

South towards Manizales, Pereira, Armenia, Cali

Take the main metro line A (03/2022: COP 3,000) to the final stop "La Estrella". When leaving the station, take the exit to your right-hand side and ask around for the bus (COP 2,550) going to the "Pan de Azúcar" neighborhood. Ask the bus driver to point you towards the pedestrian bridge ("puente peatonal") crossing the highway going South ("Autopista Sur") . It should also be marked on your map though. On the other side of that bridge you will find a Terpel gas station (06°08′21.98″N 75°37′56.44″W). This is where you can start hitchhiking and asking people for a ride.

Another option from the same station is to take a bus past the next town of Caldas, to where Carrera 50 meets the highway. Several lines of the C9 bus route (001, 006) should get you there. You should also confirm with the driver; the area is called Primavera. It's a good spot as the highway reduces there to only one lane from two, which in addition to the merging and cross traffic makes for a certain chaos that slows down drivers and will help get you a ride. There is also a Zeuss gasbar there right on the road, in addition to shops and restaurants, to talk with stopping drivers. Walking about a kilometre up the highway back toward Medellín you will also find a larger service station, if you so prefer.

North to Cartagena, East to Bucaramanga

Take the Metro north to the last station Niquia, which is actually situated in a roundabout around which runs the highway to Cartagena and Bucaramanga. 15 kilometres ahead there is a tollbooth, El Trapiche, with a gas station just beyond it. Buses running to Barbosa, the next town, leave from Niquia and stop there at the gas station. Try the C7 001/002/003, check the Moovit app, or ask for buses going to Barbosa; some lines of the C7 do not go that far.

The 15 kilometres to the tollbooth is an industrial area and has several gas stations that, when Movethathoof passed on the bus to the tollbooth, were full of truckers. A Mobil station, Primax - Cocorollo, and a Terpel, particularly caught their attention. The Texaco station just beyond the tollbooth was not especially busy, and so if you're planning to speak to truckers directly those may be more fruitful.

There is also a gas station on the road between the metro stations Belo and Niquia but it doesn't seem to be very useful.

Note that the highway splits, heading either to Cartagena or to Bucaramanga, only a short distance down the road past El Trapiche and before that next town of Barbosa. More truckers are going to Cartagena than in the direction of Bucaramanga, and so if you're aiming for the latter another option, where all of the traffic will be headed that way, is a large Zeuss service station at the eastern exit of Barbosa. The same buses to Barbosa that get you to the El Trapiche tollbooth should get you to the town's centro, less than a kilometre's walk from this station.

Also worth noting is that the El Trapiche tollbooth is both quite cramped and busy, with a dedicated little slip for motos there where you probably want to stand, in addition to all of the trucks and other traffic, and people making sales to the traffic. That moto traffic was eventually to the benefit of Movethathoof, though, when a young man offered to strap his oversized pack to his sporty little bike and give him a ride over three hundred kilometres down the road!

East/South-East to Bogotá, Rionegro, Guatape

Take the metro north and stop at "Madera" station. Walk South and cross the bridge towards Zamora neighbor. Just after the bridge, there is a petrol station where you can ask rides. You can also walk 500 meters more following the highway to reach a second gaz station. The hitchhiking spot is better from the second one.

South-East to Sonson via Route 56

Take a bus to Avenida Las Palmas. I started in Poblado, which is still in the city but worked fine. From here you can either directly start to hitch hike or take a bus to Las Palmas where you find a Toll booth (Peaje).

Personal Experiences

As the most well-ordered city in the country, the public transit makes it easy to get out of this city. From the last metro station to the north, for example, you can get a city bus to Barbosa, from which the hitch to Bucaramanga can begin! -Chael777

March 2014; the metro line wasn't running all the way South, so I went to Envigado, and began walking from there. Found many petrol stations but proved difficult to get rides. Finally I got to Caldas where truckers got me out of town. In all, it took me about 7 hours to finally get out of the city, but I blame my negative energy on that day" -Lukeyboy95

I hitchhiked from Medellin to Ipiales Colombia in 2015. There has been additional metro stops built, get off at La Estrella and you will be closer to the petrol stations for hitchhiking south to Cali -HoboSpirit

Hitchhiked from Medellin to Pasto in May 2016. From Medellin get a bus (or hitch-hike) to Caldas. Just oustide town you will find a petrol station with lots of trucks (they call it "Mulas") parked there heading to Pasto or Buenaventura. There you get a better chance to get anywhere south - Diastema81

I hitch hiked from Medellin to Argelia. Although there are not a lot of cars, it has been very easy. People are super friendly and open at this area. For this reason there was no need to go to a gas station or toll booth. I just started directly at the highway. Since there are not a lot of cars at the 56 you might have to accept some short rides. -User:Bonaire