Medellin questions
 

Going there next week and had some questions:
* Is it best to get hotel car to pick me up or can I take regular taxi from airport? If latter, do they have pre-paid option sons don't get screwed when get to hotel?
* Staying at InterContinental. Good location to use as base to do sightseeing? Taxis best option from there?
* Any recommendations for must see places? Not necessarily into museums and too much indoor stuff
* Restaurant recommendations?

Somehow never read this thread...probably too late, but why not, I'm bored.

- I'm not a food guy, so I've got nothing as far as specific restaurant recommendations. Parque Lleras has lots of options and all are of decent quality, though foodies would have more specifics.

- Tourist attractions...I like to people watch and just stroll around. Medellin has lots of outdoor green space, people will recommend Pueblito Paisa, Jardines Botanico maybe El Penol outside the city, Museo de Antioquia. Personally I think taking a ride up on the Metrocable is pretty great, Parque Arvi is up at the end of one line, I haven't been there though, tried twice, once it was closed for a function, once I showed up and it was too late.

- Intercontinental isn't a good base for anything really, it's close to a mall, but with the prices of taxis in town, everything is a good base for everything else. It'll never cost too much to get across town, or if you learn to ride the bus/metro you can be really cheap and do it that way.

- Take the taxi. I'm not sure what the fare would be to the Intercontinental, because I always go further into town. It's supposed to be a flat fee, but I've been quoted anything between 60,000 and 75,000...I've been told it depends on the route, but either way I never feel like I'm being taken for a ride so it doesn't bother me. There's a bus if I wanna be cheap, but I don't think that'd help too much for the IC unless you wanna get off at the first stop then hop in a taxi, lots of people do that, I just don't bother. That particular hotel probably has solid airport transfers, because it's a fancier business hotel, but I wouldn't trust too many others as I've read about plenty of no-shows. It's also just as easy to get a taxi so I bet they'd charge you more than it's worth.