Subscribe and become a patron to see this content! The future of Medellin Guru needs the help of readers to remain ad free. Becoming a patron costs as little as $3 per month and provides access to all the content on Medellin Guru plus other benefits.
To view this content, you must be a member of Medellin's Patreon at $3 or more
Already a qualifying Patreon member? Refresh to access this content.
7 thoughts on “13 Downsides of Owning a Car in Medellín: Why Expats Don’t Have Cars”
Excellent and well thought out insights here into the pros & cons of car ownership. In my opinion, unless a person has a compelling reason to own a car it’s simply not worth all the various and sundry hassles. If I lived up in the hills and didn’t want to wait for a taxi every time I left home or if I needed a car for work that would be different. I’ve taken taxis in 20 countries and Medellin has by far the lowest fares I’ve ever seen. My neighborhood is quite walkable and self contained in the sense almost everything I need is right here anyway. Whenever I want to go elsewhere in town there’s a taxi stand a half block block away from my front door.
Unless you live in a city like New York London or Buenos Aires, NOT having a car is what makes daily transportation a huge hassle particularly in the States where paradoxically without a car you are up a creek.
Thanks for a great article on the advantages and disadvantages of owning a vehicle in medellin. Ultimately, the decision rests on where one chooses to live, and the ability to travel at ones own time and choosing.
If you’re a visitor (sans visa) renting a car, an international driver’s permit is sufficient, right?
If you are a tourist visiting Colombia without a visa you can use your valid driver’s license from your home country (readers have reported U.S., Canada and Uk work) or an international driver’s permit along with your passport to drive in Colombia. So, there is no need for getting a Colombian drivers license. But this is now reportedly limited to a maximum of three months.
Cool, thanks as always Jeff 🙂
The use of a foreign driving license is limited to the validity of the tourist stamps in your passport. So if you go and come back or get an extension, it could be for up to 180 days,
No longer according to Ministerio de Transporte we talked to. We were told it is three months.
Comments are closed.