Doradal is known as the Santorini of Colombia. Located four hours from Medellin, in Antioquia department, Doradal is a small town with fewer than 6,000 inhabitants. However, its reputation exceeds its modest size thanks to its northwestern neighborhood, known as the Colombian Santorini.
There, in the heat of the Magdalena River region, dozens of white and blue houses stand in an attempt to accurately replicate the ambiance of Santorini.
The origins of Doradal, the Santorini of Colombia
The origin of the Santorini of Colombia is closely linked to the history of Pablo Escobar, the late leader of the Medellin Cartel.
Residents recall that in the 1980s, Pablo Escobar, unable to travel outside Colombia due to his criminal activities and his concern for his safety, decided to build a replica in Doradal of the famed Greek village of Santorini. Taking advantage of the area’s sloping terrain, the drug lord built dozens of white houses with blue doors and windows to recreate the atmosphere of the Aegean Sea.
Doradal was not a random choice. Escobar’s property – the sprawling, infamous Hacienda Napoles – is only a few miles away.
The golden age of the Santorini of Colombia ended with Escobar’s death as well as a general decline in tourism in the region. However, in recent years, Doradal has experienced a revival and now receives many visitors during weekends and during Colombia’s summer, which starts in December and ends in January.
To support this boom in tourism and enable it the town to welcome more visitors from Colombia and beyond, Doradal is undertaking many renovation and construction projects.
What to do in Doradal and Santorini
Doradal is a few dozen kilometers from the Magdalena River, one of Colombia’s main rivers. Because of this, the climate is similar to the Caribbean coast, with temperatures reaching above 30 degrees Celsius.
In the Santorini neighborhood, many restaurants offer international or typical Colombian cuisine. Here, businesses open late, rhe days are quiet and the city almost deserted. The nights, however, are lively, with shops, restaurants, and small bars open late. However, hotels and rental accommodation are located in calmer, quieter areas, meaning those who want to rest can easily do so.
The streets are filled with flowers which you can admire as you wander along the town’s narrow streets and enjoy its Greco-Colombian atmosphere. The rest of Doradal is quite small and can be explored in 15 minutes. You will find small grocery stores and shops as well as traditional Colombian bars where locals and visitors gather to drink, sing, and play cards or ball games.
Outside of Santorini, the real adventure awaits. Doradal is in the middle of an incredible environment that seems straight out of an adventure film.
Just 15 minutes from the town, you will find transparent pools and lagoons whose water, reflecting the colours of the surrounding vegetation, takes on an emerald hue. The water is perfect for swimming and extremely clean. While some spots, like Las Mercedes and San Juan, are quite popular, others, such as the Rio Claro Refuge, will make you feel lost in the jungle.
Affordable moto cargo services are available to transport you directly to your chosen destination. These paradises are near small villages where you can enjoy typical Colombian cuisine, such as homemade chorizos or beans cooked on a wood fire.
Another must-see activity is Hacienda Napoles, the former property of Escobar. Plan a whole weekend to visit the entire site, as it includes an amusement park, a museum, and a zoo. The memory of Escobar is still very much alive among Doradal’s residents. Until a few years ago, a hippopotamus lived at the entrance to the Santorini neighborhood.
Related: El Encano, Nariño: The Venice of Colombia