Medellin Coffee Tours From El Poblado: Who Picks You Up

El Poblado is Comuna 14, in the south of the city, and almost every operator names it as a pickup zone. Search for a coffee farm tour Medellin and what separates the results is whether the car comes to your door or you walk to the metro.

Pickup from El Poblado, tour by tour

Each day below is set against the question that matters when you are staying in El Poblado: does it come to you?

Which coffee tours collect you in El Poblado?

These are the days whose pickup line names El Poblado outright. The half days come first. The rest are Medellin coffee plantation tours, with lunch on the farm.

1. The farm-and-roastery half day: free pickup, or Poblado station at 8am

The farm-and-roastery half day collects you free anywhere in El Poblado, and may add a surcharge in other areas. You can also walk to the meeting point on the east side of Poblado metro station for an 8:00am start. The $86 fare buys you 4 to 5 hours in a group capped at 15, with no lunch.

2. The private half day: door to door

The private half day with door-to-door pickup sends a car to your building anywhere in El Poblado, Laureles, Sabaneta or Envigado. If your building is missing from the booking form, you type the address in by hand. Only your party rides, and the $104 fare covers the farm fee and a home-made snack.

3. The six-hour farm day with a paisa lunch

The six-hour farm day gives you a choice of pickup points: El Poblado, Metropolitano or Laureles-Estadio. From there it is 45 minutes by car to a farm in San Sebastián de Palmitas. The $80 fare carries the return transport, a paisa lunch and a poncho you keep.

4. The four-hour farm morning with a fiambre lunch

The four-hour farm morning picks you up in El Poblado or Laureles-Estadio, and the drive is 40 minutes to Finca La Arrinconada, a family farm. You get a bilingual guide, a fiambre paisa lunch and a coffee tasting for $81.

5. The coffee-and-fruit day in the hills west of the city

The coffee-and-fruit day names the widest set of pickup points: El Poblado, Envigado, Sabaneta, Itagüí and Medellin itself. The farm is in Ebéjico, 45 minutes from the city, and the $88 fare includes lunch. Pick it if your group is split between El Poblado and the towns further south.

Which tours collect you without naming a zone?

Some pickup lines promise your hotel or accommodation and stop there.

• The family farm, on its other listing ($75): collects you where you are staying for a 9:00am start. Be at the door ten minutes early.
• The big-group farm day ($74) and the horseback day ($98): rule out downtown, La Candelaria, Envigado, Sabaneta, Itagüí, Bello and Caldas. El Poblado is not on that list, but check your address before you pay.
• The coffee-and-fruit plantation day ($82): collects anywhere in Medellin. The guide speaks Spanish, and English translation is not guaranteed.
• The private days: the $198 morning, the $220 whole-group day and the twelve-hour Jardín day come to your hotel, hostel or rented apartment, as most private Medellin coffee tours do.

What does pickup cost if you are not in El Poblado?

Only the half day puts a price on the zone. Pickup is free in El Poblado, and other areas may carry a surcharge. The amount is not published, so ask before you book. The way round it costs you a metro fare: go straight to the meeting point at Cra 48C #6-257, beside Poblado station.

• Envigado and Sabaneta: inside the private half day's zone, and outside the route of the big-group days.
• Laureles: named by both farm days above and by the private half day.

For the fares themselves, see what each price band buys, and the pickup zones and metro routes for every day together.

How do you reach the city farms from Poblado station?

Urban coffee tours never send a car. You ride Line A north from Poblado station and meet your guide at the other end. The metro runs 4:30am to 11:00pm Monday to Saturday, and 5:00am to 10:00pm on Sundays and holidays. A ride costs COP 4,400 on a pay-as-you-go card, or COP 3,820 on a personalised Cívica card.

To San Antonio for the Comuna 8 farm

San Antonio is the fourth stop north of Poblado. The Comuna 8 farm by cable car meets at the metro station, and its $55 fare has the tram and cable car rides inside it. The other listing for the same farm ($65) meets at street level, outside the tram station underneath. Both take you up to Barrio La Sierra.

To the Arví cable for the Santa Elena farm

Stay on Line A to Acevedo, the eleventh stop. Change to cable K as far as Santo Domingo, then to cable L, which covers the last 4.6 km in 15 minutes. Cable L has its own fare: COP 26,700 each way for a visitor on a pay-as-you-go card. It runs from 9:00am to 6:00pm and closes one day a week, so check the Metro's notice before you travel.

The barista workshop ($57) and the coffee-and-spa morning ($103) both meet at the top station, and the ride up is yours to pay. Going alone instead? Read about reaching the farms without a tour.

What time does the day start and end?

The half day starts at 8:00am at Poblado station. The family-farm morning, the big-group days and the $198 private morning start at 9:00am, and the Jardín day leaves at 7:00am. The days with pickup run four to seven hours, so all but Jardín have you back in El Poblado by mid-afternoon. Whether you take a half day or full day decides what fits after a coffee morning.

Which coffee tour should you book from El Poblado?

• You want the coffee itself and a short morning: the farm-and-roastery half day.
• You want your own car and guide: the private half day.
• You want lunch and the countryside: the six-hour farm day.
• You want the lowest fare and do not mind the metro: the Comuna 8 farm.
• You are staying in Envigado or Sabaneta: the private half day.

Still weighing them up? Choosing a Medellin coffee tour sets the formats side by side, and Medellin Coffee Tours has every day with its price and rating. Each one refunds in full up to 24 hours before the start, so you can book your pickup now and change your mind later.

El Poblado pickup: questions answered