San Jeronimo, Antioquia is a small town in the mountains of Antioquia. It has more or less 14,000 inhabitants, an incredibly comfortable climate and suddenly became very easy to travel to after the departmental government finished building the tunnel (or too-nel).
What used to be a two-hour, three-dollar bumpy bus ride from Medellin‘s northern terminal has now become a 60 minutes, at times still bumpy three-dollar bus ride. If you have money to spare, you could even do it by taxi. It would cost you around US$25, but will save anyone over six-foot tall two fractured knee caps.
The town itself is a typical Antioquia town. There’s a park, some bars and a church. It’s not as colonial as Santa Fe de Antioquia, but it’s also not as touristically exploited as the former department capital.
Mostly tourists from Medellin have been able to find San Jeronimo, its hotels, hostels and fincas, especially now it’s no more than an hour away from the smoke and the noise of the city.
Gringos are still a rarity to see walking past the colored houses or drinking juice or beer in one of the bars around the central square.
The number of visitors has increased significantly and the prices of houses and land have gone up similarly, bringing more wealth to the sleepy mountain town.
For a completely peaceful and quiet trip, make sure to book your hotel outside Colombia’s holidays and weekends. If you book your hotel or a finca during the week and you’ll be able to enjoy the tranquility of the town without hurdles of drunk Paisas shouting their way through the night.
When hurdles of drunk Paisas don’t bother you, do book your hotel during the holidays and weekends and enjoy the parties they throw, celebrating their few days out of the city.