Looking for the best cafes in Medellin to work from?

If you’re a remote worker or digital nomad like us, you’re probably always on the hunt for the next best cafe with fast wifi, comfortable seating, plenty of outlets and a nice atmosphere.

More than that, we also like to look for cafes that just have a great cup of coffee. If you know us – you’ll know Matthew is a complete coffee snob! His obsession with coffee started when we met our friend Dom in Bali and they have both acquired a real taste for it!

When we booked our flights to Medellin, we were super excited because we learned that Colombia is the world’s 3rd largest coffee exporter. In 2020 alone, Colombia produced 14.1 million bags of coffee!

Not only that, but Medellin has also become a real digital nomad hotspot and we knew that the cafe game was going to go up another level.

After living in Medellin for nearly 4 months, this is our curated list of the 9 best cafes in Medellin to work from if you’re a digital nomad, remote worker, or traveler.

What Makes Cafes in Medellin, Colombia Good For Digital Nomads?

Whenever we chat with digital nomads, the cafes vs coworking spaces debate always comes up! We discuss which one is best or maybe if a combination of both is a perfect balance. Either way, working from cafes has just become part of our location independent lifestyle.

But not just any random cafe will do for digital nomads or remote workers…

…there’s a lot of factors that we need to think about other than just a cup of coffee! We’ve been on the road since 2018 and we know what factors define a cafe as “digital nomad friendly”.

Here are 5 factors we look at when choosing the best cafes in Medellin for digital nomads:

⚡️ Fast wifi: I’d say digital nomads are wifi snobs (if that was a thing). We like to have fast, uninterrupted internet connection wherever we are. It makes sense – if you can’t work then you can’t continue this lifestyle right? The best cafes in Medellin need to have decent wifi speeds where you can at least get work done and maybe even squeeze in a Zoom meeting.

🔌 Plenty of outlets: It gets pretty frustrating when you turn up to a cafe and the 2 tables that have an outlet are taken. If these are the only tables with the ability to plug and you haven’t fully charged your laptop – you’re going to need to find a new cafe right? Our laptops are usually fully-charged but we also love it when we don’t have to worry about our battery life.

🥳 Friendly staff towards digital nomads: The last thing you want is the death stare after opening your laptop to get some work done. We do our best to buy regularly when working from cafes and it’s just nice not to be disturbed every 10-15 minutes pushing you to buy another drink.

☕️ Seating, Coffee & Noise: You can’t expect to have ergonomic chairs in cafes but you can expect them to be just a little bit comfy. The coffee also needs to be decent otherwise, we found it hard to return! Noise is always something to consider – you can’t expect it to be completely quiet but at least to a point where you feel like you can focus. Otherwise, just put your digital nomad headphones on!

👯‍♀️ Digital nomad community: Making new friends is something every digital nomad needs to do in each place they land. One easy way to do this is to work from cafes that have plenty of remote workers or digital nomads doing the same. You can easily strike up a conversation from there!

All of these factors combined make up a great digital nomad friendly cafe, in our opinion!

After being Medellin digital nomads for nearly 4 months and trying all kinds of cafes – we have curated a list of the 9 best cafes in Medellin for digital nomads, remote workers and location independent entrepreneurs.

9x Best Cafes In Medellin To Work From For Digital Nomads & Remote Workers

As coffee lovers ourselves, we appreciate the skills and techniques that go into a single cup of coffee made to perfection. As Medellin digital nomads, we never had one bad coffee in Colombia and that’s saying a lot about Colombian coffee.

Matthew and I lived in 2 neighborhoods in Medellin – Laureles and Poblado. Yes, we really did try out both neighborhoods for at least a month each!

I’ve divided this list into these 2 neighborhoods to make it easier for you to find the best cafes in your specific area. If you feel like venturing out to the other neighborhood, you’ll still have options to choose from this list as well.

Want to know about the neighborhoods? Read our guide on where to stay in Medellin.

One thing you should know – Colombians take their coffee seriously. They drink at any time of the day (and night)! We didn’t really know what to expect but immediately we knew that the coffee culture is strong in Colombia.

Here are the 9 best cafes in Medellin, Colombia for digital nomads to get work done and enjoy the buzzing atmosphere.

The Best Cafes In El Poblado For Digital Nomads

El Poblado is the most popular neighborhood in Medellin for tourists to stay, party and tour the city. Most of the good hotels, hostels, restaurants and popular coffee shops are located in Poblado.

A lot of people complain about El Poblado being run over by tourists who raise the rental prices and costs of everything in that bubble. But it is where all the action is! Even though we spent the majority of our time living in Laureles, we found ourselves taking an Uber to El Poblado at least twice a week because we met friends, ate at restaurants or coworked at cafes together.

In our personal experience, El Poblado has the most number of cafes in Medellin to work from. If one cafe was full, there were still 3 more options to go to. They all had their own unique style and aesthetic which meant you never got bored of the same ambiance. It’s also very easy to run into other digital nomads if you work from the cafes in El Poblado!

Here are the best cafes in El Poblado to work from as a digital nomad or remote worker.

1. Pergamino Cafe – The Best Cafe In Medellin To Work From

My favorite cafe in Medellin would have to be Pergamino Cafe.

It’s the most famous cafe for digital nomads but hey…it’s for good reason!

If you look past the long lines, it’s not actually as crowded as you might think. There are 2 levels in their main location close to Parque Lleras and the best table to work from is located on the top level. After much success, Pergamino Cafe opened a 2nd location on Calle 10B which is also a spacious place with 2 levels for digital nomads and remote workers to enjoy some coffee and get work done.

How’s the coffee at Pergamino? Well…it’s pretty darn good! We can’t say it’s the best cup of coffee we had in Medellin but it’s definitely up there. The best part of Pergamino’s coffee for me was that they could do an iced latte with flavored syrup – and you know my usual drink is an iced vanilla latte. If you’re like me, the best iced coffee drinks are found at Pergamino Cafe! They also have delicious pastries to snack on – you should try the almond croissant!

The work environment is fantastic! We always met up with our friends, The Dutch Nomads – Jody and Sander, to cowork together at Pergamino Cafe because it was just the most reliable option for us that opened early enough. We liked to start work at 8:00am and Pergamino opens by 7:30 but like for real and not Colombian time ;).

The best part about working from Pergamino is that the staff don’t bother you every 15 minutes asking you to order something. They are friendly toward digital nomads and we felt very comfortable putting our heads down and working. But don’t miss their food menu because the lunch options are absolutely delicious – we loved ordering their avocado toast which just had SO much avocado on it with some feta cheese. YUM!

The only thing is… the outlets are pretty scarce! There’s 2 seats at the ground level with outlets, the bench also has plugs and the 2nd level has 2 outlets as well. Other than that – you won’t find any outlets to plug your laptop into! We recommend arriving with a full-charged laptop in case the spots with plugs are taken. The best table to work from is on the 2nd level, as you come up the stairs turn right and snag this huge table! Sit on either end which is closest to the plugs and you’ll be set up for your work session!

Remember: Pergamino Cafe is very popular! If you want to work from here, we recommend you come as early as 8am for the best seats.

• Reliable Wifi Connection: Always / 15 Mbps but felt faster than that
• Best for: Focused/Deep Work (depending on the time you go)
• Chances of Spotting a Digital Nomad: Very High
• Best time to arrive: Early in the Morning to nab those comfy seats
• Maximum time before you get uncomfortable: All Day
• Busy: Yes
• Digital Nomad Rating: 9/10

2. Hija Mia Coffee Roasters – Best Cup of Coffee

Looking for the best cup of coffee in Medellin?

You’ll find it at Hija Mia Coffee Roasters. After testing out several cafes, Matthew concluded that Hija Mia had the best coffee beans, barista skills and delivered a delicious flat white every time.

But it’s also one of the best cafes in Medellin for digital nomads to work from. Hija Mia Coffee is pretty small but if it’s just you and/or your friend then it should still work just fine. We go here when we know it’s downtime at the cafe because it’s easier to nab a bench seat inside which all of them have outlets underneath. It does get busy during brunch time because they have a pretty good menu which means it’ll be hard for you to get a seat. As there are only about 6-7 tables in total – they run out of space pretty quick! You need to arrive super early or get there in the afternoon when there are fewer people.

Bottom line: it’s a small, quaint cafe that you need to head to early if you want a comfortable seat to work.

Other than the coffee, the baristas are some of the friendliest people! We enjoyed going there because we were always greeted with a smile and a “buenos dias”. I had a problem with my Chime card and they were so kind to help me out! They didn’t care when we pulled our laptops and they weren’t pushing us to order more.

• Reliable Wifi Connection: Most of the time / 7 Mbps but felt faster than that
• Best for: Casual/Deep Work (depending on the time you go)
• Chances of Spotting a Digital Nomad: Very High
• Best time to arrive: Early in the morning to nab those comfy seats
• Maximum time before you get uncomfortable: 2-4 hours
• Busy: Yes
• Digital Nomad Rating: 7/10

3. Cafe Velvet – Comfy Seats & Nice Aesthetics

Is Pergamino Cafe full? It’s easy to head to Cafe Velvet as your backup option!

The only thing is…it opens at 8:30am (on Colombian time) which means you might not get work started as quickly as you’d like. There are plenty of tables available and you’ll always find someone working on their laptop.

The coffee is decent at Cafe Velvet. They have an extensive brunch menu with plenty of waffle choices. This does mean it gets busy from around 10am-12pm. If you arrive earlier, you won’t have a problem finding a seat. Make sure you head all the way to the back for more seat options! If you get a seat on the benches, it’s pretty comfortable. Otherwise, you’ll be working from plastic chairs which aren’t too bad!

This is one of the best cafes in Medellin to work from as you’ll find plenty of other digital nomads typing away on their laptops! There’s a good amount of outlets to plug your laptop so you won’t have to worry about it dying mid-work session.

Overall, Cafe Velvet is a great alternative to Pergamino Cafe!

• Reliable Wifi Connection: Unknown
• Best for: Casual Work
• Chances of Spotting a Digital Nomad: High
• Best time to arrive: Early in the morning to nab those comfy seats
• Maximum time before you get uncomfortable: 2-3 hours
• Busy: Yes
• Digital Nomad Rating: 6.5/10

4. Matilde Coffee Market – Pretty Design & Outlets Everywhere

I have mixed feelings about Matilde Coffee Market.

Hear me out – this is one of the best cafes in Medellin to work from. You have all you could ask for: fast wifi, plenty of outlets, nice ambiance, beautiful design, lots of indoor seating and outdoor seating plus so much more.

But…the coffee isn’t amazing. Since living in Colombia, our coffee standards have reached another level and even just a hint of either bad coffee beans or unskilled baristas can throw us off. For whatever reason, we just didn’t enjoy the coffee at Matilde Coffee Market. But hey…the wifi is pretty fast!

We struggled to go here each time because it was a great cafe to work from in Medellin but the coffee just wasn’t very enjoyable. Judge it for yourself because everyone has different taste buds!

Aside from working from Matilde, they have these Wine & Painting sessions on Saturday afternoon that are fun! We attended a class with our friend, Jeremy, and it’s such a great activity if you want to do something else than sightseeing. It’s about 2 hours for the class and in the end, you can keep your painting! We hung these up in our Airbnbs but obviously had to let them go once we left. You can book a Wine & Painting session by messaging their WhatsApp number: +1092830912.

• Reliable Wifi Connection: Always / 125+ Mbps
• Best for: Casual/Deep Work (depending on the time you go)
• Chances of Spotting a Digital Nomad: High
• Best time to arrive: Early in the morning to nab those comfy seats
• Maximum time before you get uncomfortable: 3-4 hours
• Busy: Yes
• Digital Nomad Rating: 7/10

The Best Cafes In Laureles For Digital Nomads

Laureles is one of the best neighborhoods in Medellin. We loved living here and if we had to choose again – we would choose Laureles over Poblado.

One of the main reasons is because it’s super walkable to a lot of the best cafes in Medellin. While you have much more choices in Poblado, the cafes in Laureles are still a great option. It might be a limited selection to choose from and you might get bored of them eventually…they all have what you need to get work done efficiently as a digital nomad.

Here are the best cafes in Laureles for digital nomads to work from:

5. Semilla Cafe – All You Need To Work Productively

You can’t visit Medellin as a digital nomad and NOT go to Semilla Cafe!

It’s a staple spot to get work done, drink decent coffee and take in the remote work atmosphere. The best part is that there is a good mix of foreigners and locals working from Semilla which is great to see!

Semilla Cafe is also a coworking space but is located on the 2nd floor, separate from the cafe. When we first arrived in Medellin, Semilla was handing out little wifi codes to get access but after 2 months (May ’22) they switched to just having a wifi password. You’ll get a solid 15 to 20 Mbps at the cafe (and around 60-80 Mbps for the coworking space).

As soon as you enter, you can see that it was created for digital nomads to hang out, meet up for coffee and most importantly, get work done in a beautiful environment. The aesthetic makes you feel like you’re back in Bali with all the wooden features and greenery all around you.

We met Daniel, who might have been the owner or manager of Semilla Cafe. He was very welcoming, friendly and spoke English which is great if you want to switch to the coworking space as we did!

The only thing about Semilla was… the staff would come and hand you the menu every 15-20 minutes. It’s hard to focus on work if this continuously occurs! We ordered frequently enough which was the most frustrating part. Even with this, we felt it was one of the best cafes in Medellin for digital nomads. Once you go yourself – you’ll know exactly why!

• Reliable Wifi Connection: Always / 36+ Mbps but felt faster than that
• Best for: Deep Work (depending on the time you go)
• Chances of Spotting a Digital Nomad: Very High
• Best time to arrive: Early in the morning to nab those comfy seats
• Maximum time before you get uncomfortable: 4-5 hours
• Busy: Yes
• Digital Nomad Rating: 8.5/10

6. Delmuri Cafe – Small, Rustic & Fast Wifi

Just a few yards away from Semilla Cafe is the quaint Delmuri Cafe.

As you enter Delmuri Cafe, you’ll see that there are both indoor seating and outdoor seating. If you’re planning to work from here, we suggest you work from the inside.

The coffee is pretty good at Delmuri and you have to try the breakfast menu because the portions are pretty big and it’s all very tasty! If you don’t like coffee, they also have tea and this drink that you need to try – it’s called soda con maracuya which is sparkling water with some passionfruit. It’s so refreshing!

The best part about Delmuri Cafe? The internet speed was the fastest of all the cafes in Medellin! Matthew did a wifi speed test and he got speeds of 462 Mbps – now that’s crazy fast. If you ever need fast wifi, you know where to go!

You can’t work from Delmuri for too long though. After a while, the seats became very uncomfortable which sucks because it’s such a great place!

• Reliable Wifi Connection: Always / 460+ Mbps
• Best for: Casual/Deep Work (depending on the time you go)
• Chances of Spotting a Digital Nomad: Very High
• Best time to arrive: Early in the morning or late afternoon
• Maximum time before you get uncomfortable: 3-4 hours
• Busy: Yes
• Digital Nomad Rating: 8/10

7. Rituales Cafe – Quiet & Calming Ambiance

Rituales Cafes is a hidden gem in Laureles!

On all the other blogs and group FB posts, no one seemed to mention Rituales and we couldn’t figure out why! After some personal research, we decided to give it a try one day.

Rituales is a beautiful cafe with green, beige and white tones all across the store. You can tell it was branded and designed really well! It makes the place inviting and has a calming feeling about it. There are 2 levels – one ground floor which has outdoor seating and the upper level which has more tables, chairs and outlets. If you’re going to work there – always head upstairs!

The coffee on the other hand…wasn’t amazing but it wasn’t bad either! It just had a peculiar taste that we were not expecting. They also serve kombucha, tea and have an extensive brunch/lunch menu you can choose from.

The wifi speed was around 3 Mbps when we ran a speed test, however, it felt much faster than that! This seemed to be a recurring thing in Medellin (eg. Pergamino reported low speeds but was pretty fast).

If you’re looking for a hidden gem, try out Rituales Cafe. It’s underrated and one of the best cafes in Medellin for digital nomads to concentrate and focus on work!

• Reliable Wifi Connection: Most of the time / 3 Mbps but felt faster than that
• Best for: Casual/Deep Work (depending on the time you go)
• Chances of Spotting a Digital Nomad: Moderate
• Best time to arrive: Early in the morning to nab those comfy seats
• Maximum time before you get uncomfortable: 4-5 hours
• Busy: Sometimes
• Digital Nomad Rating: 7/10

8. Cafe Terrario – Indoor/Outdoor Seating

Looking for a cafe where you can do both casual and deep work?

Cafe Terrario is one of the best cafes in Medellin for exactly that! There’s an outdoor garden area which is great for casual work or meeting up with your digital nomad community. Inside, it’s a little smaller but you can tell they thought out the space to make it functional. There’s a good amount of outlets, tables and chairs throughout the store – you won’t find it hard to get a seat.

The wifi speed is pretty fast at around 145 Mbps! It’s a great speed to get all your work done and even have a Zoom meeting there. Matthew thought the coffee was decent for Medellin as most places usually are and I had a soda con sandia (sparking water with watermelon) which was delicious. You’ve got to try it!

• Reliable Wifi Connection: Always / 145 Mbps
• Best for: Casual/Deep Work (depending on the time you go)
• Chances of Spotting a Digital Nomad: Low
• Best time to arrive: Anytime
• Maximum time before you get uncomfortable: 3-5 hours
• Busy: Sometimes
• Digital Nomad Rating: 7.5/10

9. Cafe Cliche – Good Food Menu & Unique Aesthetic

Cafe Cliche is a staple restaurant and cafe located in Laureles. They are known to have great food, market products (such as french jams, etc) and live music on weekends.

We loved going to Cafe Cliche for lunch because of their menu del dia (menu of the day). You get a soup, juice drink and a main meal for only $17,000 COP ($4.30 USD) – that’s value for money!

But is it one of the best cafes in Medellin to work from? Oh yes…it is! Cafe Cliche has both indoor and outdoor seating. We recommend working from the inside because it can get really hot out there! The wifi speed isn’t the fastest but it’s still pretty good at around 38 Mbps download speeds.

As for outlets, they are a little scarce in the outdoor seating area but you can find a couple on the inside. We usually liked to stay for the menu del dia which begins at 12pm and we only ever did casual work at Cafe Cliche!

• Reliable Wifi Connection: Always / 38 Mbps
• Best for: Casual/Deep Work (depending on the time you go)
• Chances of Spotting a Digital Nomad: Very High
• Best time to arrive: Anytime
• Maximum time before you get uncomfortable: 2-4 hours
• Busy: Sometimes
• Digital Nomad Rating: 7/10

Cafes Not Your Thing? Try A Coworking Space.

Want a more stable, controlled environment to work from where you’ll always be able to find a seat?

Cafes can get annoying if you go every day and it’s full of people trying to get a seat. It’s even worse if you can’t find a spot with an outlet. A lot of digital nomads don’t bother with this stress and instead work from coworking spaces.

Here are the 3 best coworking spaces in Medellin:

1. Semilla Coworking (Laureles)
2. Open Space (Poblado)
3. Quokka Coworking (Poblado)

If you get a membership, it’s so much easier to work with the peace of mind that you’ve got a place to get every day and not feel the pressure of buying anything extra. As Medellin is one of the top destinations for Latin America digital nomads, you’ve got plenty of options for coworking spaces.

Interested in coworking spaces in Medellin? Check out our complete coworking guide for Medellin.

Which Cafe Has The Best Coffee in Medellin Colombia?

Work aside…you’re looking for the best cup of coffee in Medellin, Colombia?

I’ll let Matthew take over from here.

The best way to test a cafe is how well they can do a flat white or espresso. You can tell just from the machine they use, the tempering and the first sip whether or not it’s a good cup of coffee.

After testing out more than a dozen coffee shops in Medellin, I have to say that the best cup of coffee can be found at Hija Mia Coffee Roasters. Each time we went, they consistently served an excellent cup. They roast their own beans and we found out that the owner is Australian…that must be why! Just kidding 😉

The Cafes In Medellin Are A Digital Nomad’s Dream

If you enjoy the hustle and bustle atmosphere or the sounds of a coffee shop, then you will love working from some of the best cafes in Medellin!

As Medellin digital nomads who spent half our time working from cafes…we never had any wifi issues at any of them nor did we have any bad experiences. You’ll also have plenty of options to choose from no matter where you base yourself in Medellin.

It’s safe to say, Medellin knows what they are doing in the cafe and coffee culture!

Which cafe was your favorite in Medellin as a digital nomad? Comment below and let us know!