Dance clubs
Circus
Is a new venue with great views over medellin. very popular with the beautiful, in-crowd and normally plays cross-over music.
Red
Opposite el blue, offers electronic music and local music.
Eslabon Prendido
Live music Tuesday nights. The name of the place plays with words: Hot -or Burning- Link instead of Missing Link.
Babylon
Is best known for its thursday night all you can drink, 20,000 pesos to enter, open until 4am. located in las palmas. it's popular with gringos and 'gringo hunters'.
El Blue
Is a popular place with cross-over music a mix of rock and local music. it's popular with gringos and 'gringo hunters'. thursday is the night to go.
El Eslabón Prendido
Is a great place to watch, or if you can, dance salsa. it's located in the centre so some precaution is necessary.
VIVA
Large 2-story dance club with mostly gay clientele
Lakasa Club
International and Local DJ's
Palmaia
Is the newest, biggest and arguably best club in medellin and has a capacity of 3,000 people. standard crossover music with a boxing ring for girl-fights! autopista sur.
Sabor Antillano
A fun tiny place. Classic salsa with songs coming from vinyl.
Mangos
Is the most famous of clubs here in medellãn and has a reputation of being visited by rich mafia-related colombians but is also usually full of incredibly hot women proceed with caution, some women are paid for. also it is very very expensive at about $5 per beer and $25 for a small bottle of rum, auto pista sur. open til 4am
Bars
Bolero Bar
Tangos, boleros. Ph +57 4 230 3259
Bermellón
Tango, et al.
Vinacure
An incredibly trippy place - expensive to get in but definitely worth seeing once, entry is about us$4. the entire club is designed by a noted colombian sculptor. try to go when german, the owner, is about so you can check out the naked room, an interactive art exhibition that must be experienced sometimes naked. this is a very interesting, unusual and fun art-museum/bar. it's truly unique. to get there, take a taxi to the beginning of caldas carrera 50 no 100d sur 07, caldas. or you can take a bus.
San Marcos
Bar and video has mostly gay clientele, located near unicentro shopping mall calle 34 # 66b - 53, barrio conquistadores. phone +57 4 265 3666. (http://www.sanmarcosbar.tk)
Salon Málaga
A classic bar right downtown. All social classes mingle here with nice music and local drinks. Dance. Only half a block away from the main Metrostation San Antonio Lines A and B.
La Camerata
Has offered classic music to its costumers for over 25 years. occasional live appearances. calle 49 between carreras 64 y 65, near calle colombia.
La Kasa
Which are both good on thursday nights as it's ladies night.
Dulce Jesus Mio
The whole place is a replica of a traditional 'paisa' town. The locals from the village will greet you and be your host, ask you to dance and party all together. Every midnight is new years' eve. Really fun.
Niagara
Has been a classic for local crowds for over 30 yrs. Informal, beer, chat
Casa Gardeliana
Since 1973, has been the meeting place for tango lovers. Live music, dance.
There are a few districts for bars. Foreigners prefer Parque Lleras in El Poblado, safer, more upscale, nicer crowds. The middle class also mingle outside Museo de Arte Moderno, near Carlos E Restrepo neighborhood; and the so called Urban Tribes meet at Parque del Periodista downtown. Other areas with bars are: Carrera 70 near Estadio, Carretera Las Palmas and Avenida 33 in Laureles.
The area around Parque Lleras, la Zona Rosa, has a concentration of restaurants, bars and is great for people watching. It is active on most nights and a must visit for those looking for Colombian nightlife. The major restaurants on the corner, El Rojo and Basilica are great for food, drinks and people watching. Occasionally they have live music or big screens when important football matches are played.
Parque Lleras is interesting any night of the week although admitedly Thursday, Friday and Saturday are far more lively. There are places, mostly electronic music venues open till 6 or 7AM outside of the city limits as the laws forbid any bar to remain open after 3PM. People however gather around Parque Poblado until dawn drinking, smoking and chating. You can buy cigarettes, alcohol and anything else you could wish for from the street vendors until the last man standing.
A more upmarket experience can be had at La Strada just south of Parque Lleras on Aviendo El Poblado. The centre features numerous bars, restaurants and clubs. La Strada has become the weekend destination for the more affluent of Medellin's residents. Expect to pay more for drinks and food than in la Zona Rosa, bars close at 1AM.
Just outside of Medellin, there are some venues in the neighboring towns of Sabaneta, Envigado and Itagui. Sabaneta has not yet caught on with foreigners, making it the place to go if avoiding gringos is your thing.
B-Lounge
Is an electronic disco with rich, beautiful women as is...
Local drinks
Tres Cordilleras
Cerveza - Beer is available almost anywhere, the one most enjoyed by people is Pilsen (http://www.bavaria.com.co...) a light golden in color, German Pilsener or Lager type of beer. Also admired by locals and foreigners is Club Colombia a finer premium beer, made-up of 100% malt (http://www.cervezaclubcol...). Other popular national beers include Aguila and Costena. A small company brews beer locally: Tres Cordilleras (http://www.3cordilleras.com) makes Wheat, American Pale and Amber Ales.
Refajo - A kind of cocktail made by mixing beer and the local soft drink Colombiana. It is refreshing and a little sweet.
Cocteles - Due to the great variety of tropical fruits and its juices your imagination will be boundless when creating Cocktails in MedellÃn. Start with Lulo juice with vodka, or try the many recipes with passion fruit Spanish: Maracuyá.
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays are the main days to party in MedellÃn; the rest of the week the mainstream nightlife isn't really exciting. Bars close at 2AM, but you will find plenty of clubs that close at 4AM, and if you need to stay up later just look for the techno or electronica clubs.
Colombians love to cook out and party. Checkout some of the culture shots here : Colombian Festival Tour Photos (http://www.MedellinTours.net)
Aguardiente - A popular alcoholic beverage in Colombia with sweet and licorice-flavored, made-up of sugarcane. The local brand is Aguardiente Antioqueño and it is usually drank straight followed by an ounce of water or slices of mango.
Ron - Rum is also popular with locals. The domestic brand is Ron MedellÃn Añejo aged either 3, 8, 12 or 30 years, typically served mixed with Club Soda, Coca-Cola or lemon juice (http://www.fla.com.co).