Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Pastel de nata
Portugal • 8 days, 7 nights
Portugal: A Culinary Adventure from Porto to Lisbon
from
Italy • 9 days, 8 nights
Flavors of Italy: Roman Carbonara, Florentine Steak & Venetian Cocktails
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
The wall commemorating 11,908 Jewish victims of the Shoah from Frankfurt.
Börneplatz Memorial
Entrance to the munitions area of the lower part of the bunker
Simserhof
Carlos Calderón Yruegas calls the villa his personal playground.
Villa Tabaiba
Apples and pears, Spitalfields Market.
Brick Lane Roundels
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The sign declares this the number-one gumbo shop in town.
Gumbo Hut Shioya
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
L’Escamoteur
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
The exterior of the Hall of Records.
Atlas Obscura Mailbag: Urban Exploration, Illegal Carvings, and Repeat Vacations
1 day ago
Biosphere 2 campus (2016)
Biosphere 2: How Volunteers Survived for 2 Years in an Airtight Habitat
2 days ago
Places like Forest Grove linger on the edge of wilderness and civilization.
Listening for Echoes of the Forest Grove Sound
2 days ago
Longwood House, where Napoleon Bonaparte spent his final years.
The Longwood House: Napoleon Bonaparte’s Beautiful Prison
3 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Colombia Medellín The Gondolas of Medellín

The Gondolas of Medellín

An unusual and beautiful form of mass transit serves the city's steepest neighborhoods.

Medellín, Colombia

Added By
David Plotz
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
Metrocable of Medellín.   Jorge Gobbi
Metrocable of Medellín.   Jorge Gobbi
Metrocable of Medellín.   Jorge Láscar
Metrocable of Medellín.   Jorge Láscar
September 2019   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
September 2019   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
September 2019   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
September 2019   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
September 2019   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
  drchrisstout / Atlas Obscura User
  drchrisstout / Atlas Obscura User
  drchrisstout / Atlas Obscura User
  drchrisstout / Atlas Obscura User
  drchrisstout / Atlas Obscura User
  drchrisstout / Atlas Obscura User
  drchrisstout / Atlas Obscura User
  drchrisstout / Atlas Obscura User
  drchrisstout / Atlas Obscura User
  drchrisstout / Atlas Obscura User
  drchrisstout / Atlas Obscura User
  Mitch Lang / Atlas Obscura User
The view of the Metrocable from the valley floor.   David Plotz
September 2019   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
Line K, descending from Santo Domingo.   David Plotz
The Metrocable over the Popular neighborhood.   David Plotz
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Medellín is a forbiddingly steep city. As it expanded rapidly in the late 20th century, informal neighborhoods—usually unauthorized, unplanned, and unserved by city government—climbed up the slopes of the Medellín River valley. The mostly poor people in neighborhoods like Santo Domingo and Popular faced daunting commutes to jobs downtown, not least because roads were too narrow and steep for decent bus service.

In 2004 the city pioneered a new kind of mass transit, a fast-moving urban gondola system called Metrocable that carries commuters from the hills directly to the light-rail station at the valley floor. The Metrocables—as of 2018 there are three of them, with more planned—have proved both wildly useful and popular, as well as extremely scenic.

The cars, which each hold eight passengers, speed up the hills on an elevated cable at 10 miles an hour. They are not much different from a gondola that might take you up to the top of an Alp. But what’s different are the setting and the passengers. Stations are dropped right in the bustle of jam-packed city neighborhoods. Line K, the city’s first and most popular line, has 30,000 riders each day, and cuts commute times in half or more. They’ve also become popular with tourists, since they offer amazing views of the city.

The Metrocables are wonderful, but they’re also strange. They make incessant noise, so people who live and work under them have to learn to block out the racket. The cars also offer excellent views into house and apartment windows, enabling urban spying.

Related Tags

Transportation Mountains Culture

Know Before You Go

The city has three cable lines, K, J, and L. Line K starts at the Acevedo rail station and climbs up more than a mile, and four stations, to Santo Domingo. It's a free connection between train and Metrocable. You can switch to line L at Santo Domingo and take that line to Parque Arvi.

Atlas Obscura Adventures

Colombia Discovery: Coffee, Art & Music

Explore Colombia's depth: art, history, culture & transformation.

Book Now

Community Contributors

Added By

davidplotz

Edited By

Meg, ccesare, drchrisstout, Mitch Lang

  • Meg
  • ccesare
  • drchrisstout
  • Mitch Lang

Published

May 25, 2018

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://gondolaproject.com/
  • https://www.metrodemedellin.gov.co/en/users/integrated-system#metro-cable
  • http://gondolaproject.com/2010/10/22/the-7-most-important-aerial-cable-systems-in-the-world-for-various-reasons/
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrocable_(Medell%C3%ADn)
The Gondolas of Medellín
Acevedo transit station
Medellín
Colombia
6.300206, -75.558455
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Plaza Botero

Medellín, Colombia

miles away

Museo Casa de la Memoria (House of Memory Museum)

Medellín, Colombia

miles away

The Birds of Peace

Medellín, Colombia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Medellín

Medellín

Colombia

Places 11
Stories 1

Nearby Places

Plaza Botero

Medellín, Colombia

miles away

Museo Casa de la Memoria (House of Memory Museum)

Medellín, Colombia

miles away

The Birds of Peace

Medellín, Colombia

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Medellín

Medellín

Colombia

Places 11
Stories 1

Related Stories and Lists

18 of the World's Most Wondrous Public Transportation Options

public

By Eric Grundhauser

Related Places

  • Looking down Lake Como road at sunset

    Blanca, Colorado

    Lake Como Road

    The worst road in Colorado is the main gateway to some of its highest peaks.

  • Jardín, Colombia

    Teleférico la Garrucha (Garrucha Cable Car)

    Would you dare to dangle from a great height in a wooden basket?

  • Cable car.

    Takamatsu, Japan

    Mt. Yashima Ropeway

    Nestled amid the trees lies an abandoned funicular railway that dates back to the 1920s.

  • Looking up the pass. The trestle seems a lot narrower than it is.

    Winter Park, Colorado

    Devil's Slide Trestles

    These decaying bridges 1,000 feet high are a reminder of the skill it took to cross the Colorado Rockies by rail.

  • Tunnel 33, now collapsed.

    Winter Park, Colorado

    Rifle Sight Notch

    This old train trestle and collapsed tunnel once allowed the railroad to negotiate the steep slopes of the Colorado Rockies.

  • The New England Ski Museum in Franconia.

    Franconia, New Hampshire

    New England Ski Museum

    Packed with gear and memorabilia, this museum chronicles the history of skiing and how its rise shaped New England.

  • Old summit power house.

    Beacon, New York

    Ruins of the Mount Beacon Incline Railway

    The remains of what was once the world's steepest passenger funicular.

  • Bailong Elevator.

    Zhangjiajie, China

    Bailong Elevator

    The world’s tallest outdoor lift stretches along the stone pillars that inspired the floating mountains in the movie “Avatar.”

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.