One of my favorite parts about spending a month in Medellín was figuring out where I wanted to work each day. I work for myself, so my laptop usually travels with me, and I quickly realized there was absolutely no reason to sit inside our apartment all day when Medellín has such a great café culture.
Some mornings I’d grab my laptop and find somewhere for just an hour or two. Other days, I’d order coffee and breakfast, settle into a comfortable spot and practically post up for the afternoon.
By the end of our month in Medellín, I had accumulated quite the list of coffee shops.
And these aren’t simply cafés that looked cute on Instagram. I actually brought my laptop to these places and worked. For me, a good work café needs more than good coffee. I want somewhere comfortable enough to stay awhile, decent Wi-Fi, food or snacks nearby, and an atmosphere where pulling out a laptop doesn’t make me feel like I’m overstaying my welcome.
After working my way around Medellín one coffee shop at a time, these are the 9 places I’d happily return to.
My favorite Medellín cafés for working at a glance
If you don’t want to read through the entire list, here’s where I’d start:
- Best for serious coffee: Libertario Coffee Roasters
- Best combination of coffee and atmosphere: Pergamino Laureles
- Best coffee + bakery stop: Tres Trigos
- Best for breakfast and working: Café Namazzi
- Most unique atmosphere: Monstera
- Best overall for getting work done: Café Revolución
- Best dedicated café + coworking space: Semilla Café Coworking
- Best for coffee and a longer work session: Café Dragón
- Best cultural experience: El Café de Otraparte
Libertario Coffee Roasters Laureles
Some coffee shops are places where you happen to get work done. Libertario felt like somewhere I wanted to go for the coffee first and bring my laptop along for the ride.
Libertario is a Colombian specialty coffee roaster, so this is one of those places where I’d skip ordering the exact same drink I get everywhere else. Their coffee lineup includes PAZ along with more experimental PUNK and ROCK coffees, and they also have a full brunch menu. If you’re curious about Colombian coffee, ask the barista what’s being brewed or what they recommend rather than automatically ordering a latte.
The Laureles location is also useful for early mornings because it opens at 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday. If you’re visiting Medellín but still keeping a somewhat U.S. work schedule, that’s a big plus.
I liked being able to get a genuinely good cup of Colombian coffee and still sit down with my laptop and get things done. This would be one of my first recommendations for someone who cares just as much about what’s in their cup as where they’re sitting.
Best for: Serious coffee drinkers who also need to get some work done.
Pergamino Café Laureles
Pergamino is one of those names that comes up over and over when you start looking for coffee in Medellín, but I particularly liked the Laureles location.
Instead of feeling like a generic commercial coffee shop, this Pergamino is inside an older Laureles home converted into a café while preserving much of the property’s original character. That made a difference for me. I could open my laptop and work, but I still felt like I was sitting somewhere distinctly Medellín rather than in a coworking space that could have been in any city.
Pergamino specializes in Colombian specialty coffee, and this is another place where I’d encourage you to venture beyond your normal drink. Ask what they’re serving and try one of the manual brewing methods. Colombian coffee can taste completely different depending on where it was grown and how it’s processed and prepared, and you’re already in one of the best places to experience it.
Best for: Great Colombian coffee in a comfortable setting where you can linger and work.
Tres Trigos
Tres Trigos was a nice change from the traditional coffee shops I was working from because it’s really a bakery first.
They call themselves a “laboratorio de pan,” or bread laboratory, which should give you an idea of why you come here. They have baguettes, bagels, brioche, and plenty of other baked goods to choose from, so it became the kind of place where I could combine breakfast, coffee, and work instead of making separate stops.
It’s another early option in Laureles, opening at 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday. I especially liked having places like Tres Trigos in my rotation because after working from cafés for several weeks, I didn’t necessarily want another dedicated specialty-coffee experience every morning. Sometimes I wanted good coffee, something fresh from the bakery, and a comfortable place to open my laptop.
Best for: Early mornings, coffee and fresh bread before settling in to work.
What I’d order: Coffee and whatever looks best from the bakery that morning.
Café Namazzi
Café Namazzi was another good morning work spot for me because it’s as much about breakfast and brunch as it is about coffee.
They focus on specialty coffee and artisanal brunch, and the café is also pet-friendly. They even have a “Work & Coffee” line in their merchandise, which pretty much sums up the atmosphere. Seeing someone sitting with a laptop doesn’t feel remotely out of place here.
I particularly liked cafés like Namazzi on mornings when I hadn’t eaten yet. Instead of grabbing coffee somewhere, working for an hour and then having to pack everything up again to find breakfast, I could order food, have my coffee, and settle in for a few hours.
- Best for: Breakfast or brunch followed by a few hours on your laptop.
- What I’d order: The dirty chai is a must!
Monstera
Monstera was easily one of the more unusual cafés we visited.
It’s a large, three-level space in Laureles that combines specialty coffee and food with something you probably don’t expect in your neighborhood coffee shop: a tattoo and piercing studio. It has indoor areas and a terrace, and we spent most of our time working out on the terrace.
After spending weeks hopping between coffee shops, I started appreciating places with some personality. I didn’t want every café to be the same minimalist room with a few tables and laptops. Monstera definitely wasn’t that.
The terrace was what made it work for us. I could pull out my laptop, get some work done, and still feel like I was actually out enjoying Medellín.
Best for: Working somewhere with a little more personality and a relaxed outdoor space.
Café Revolución
Café Revolución quickly became one of those places where I could open my laptop and settle in without feeling like I needed to rush out.
It’s been part of Laureles since 2014 and has developed a reputation as a remote-work favorite. You’ll usually see other people with laptops, and there’s even an area geared toward people working. That made a difference when I knew I wanted to stay for more than one quick cup of coffee.
The menu goes well beyond coffee too, with breakfast options including bagels, omelets, and homemade banana bread. Their coffee is Colombian but prepared in an Italian espresso style, with the usual espresso drinks like cappuccinos, cortados, Americanos and lattes.
Ironically, one drink I’d tell people to try isn’t coffee at all. Café Revolución is also known for its chai latte. After you’ve spent a month in Colombia drinking more coffee than you thought humanly possible, having another option isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
This was one of my better choices for days when I needed to sit down and actually accomplish something rather than casually answer emails between sightseeing stops.
- Best for: A real work session where you want to stay for a few hours.
- What I’d order: A cappuccino or cortado if you want coffee, or try the chai latte.
Semilla Café Coworking
Semilla is probably the easiest recommendation on this list if your main priority is actually getting work done.
Unlike a regular café that happens to have people working from laptops, Semilla was designed around coffee and coworking. The first floor operates as a café with artisanal coffee, food, comfortable seating and Wi-Fi, while upstairs you’ll find a dedicated coworking area. They also offer vegetarian and vegan options, which I appreciated.
I liked knowing I could come here on a heavier workday without wondering whether I’d be taking up a café table for too long. If I had a deadline or simply knew I needed several uninterrupted hours with my laptop, Semilla made sense.
You also don’t necessarily need to commit to spending your entire month inside a traditional coworking office. That’s one reason I liked working my way through Medellín’s cafés instead. Semilla gives you a little of both.
Best for: Deadlines, longer workdays and times when you really need to concentrate.
Café Dragón
Café Dragón was another one I liked enough to include among the cafés I’d actually recommend rather than simply adding it to a giant list of places in Medellín.
What I liked about Café Dragón was that it worked for the way I was spending my days. I could come in for coffee, open my laptop, and stay a while, but it wasn’t exclusively a coworking café. It felt more like a proper café and restaurant where working happened to fit naturally into the environment.
That distinction matters when you’re living somewhere for a month. I didn’t always want to sit in a room designed around productivity. Sometimes I wanted good coffee, food nearby and somewhere comfortable enough that I could get through a few hours of work without the day feeling like I’d gone into an office.
Café Dragón fits that category. It’s a good option for turning a coffee stop into a longer work session, especially if you know you’ll eventually want something more substantial.
Best for: Coffee, food and a longer work session without the coworking-space feel.
El Café de Otraparte
El Café de Otraparte is the one place on this list where I’d tell you not to spend the entire visit staring at your laptop.
It’s in Envigado and is connected to the life and work of Colombian philosopher and writer Fernando González. The café sits within the larger Otraparte cultural complex, so there’s much more here than coffee. Right next door you’ll find the Casa Museo Otraparte, González’s former home, along with a library and cultural spaces dedicated to literature, art and his work.
That was part of what made this such an interesting place to visit. You can get some work done over coffee, but when you’re finished, close the laptop and give yourself time to walk around. The grounds are green and peaceful, and you can wander through the surrounding gardens and cultural spaces rather than immediately heading off to your next stop.
The café itself fits perfectly into that setting. Otraparte was created around the idea of coffee, conversation, reading and culture, and it feels different from a traditional coffee shop. It’s less about rushing in for caffeine and more about spending some time there.
If you’re staying in Medellín for several weeks, I’d especially recommend making the trip to Envigado and turning this into more than a work session. Have coffee, get a little work done, explore the museum and library, and walk around the grounds afterward. It’s one of those places where I felt like I was still experiencing the city even on a day when I had work to do.
Best for: Combining coffee and work with a cultural experience and a little exploring afterward.
Is Medellín good for working remotely from coffee shops?
Based on my experience, absolutely. Especially around Laureles, I rarely felt strange opening my laptop because plenty of other people were doing exactly the same thing. Some cafés clearly cater to remote workers, while others simply have the right combination of comfortable seating, Wi-Fi, coffee and food to make working there easy.
I do think there’s some basic café etiquette worth following. If I’m going to occupy a table for several hours, I’m not ordering one coffee and sitting there all afternoon. I’ll usually order another drink, breakfast, lunch or a snack while I’m there. I also try not to occupy a huge table by myself during a busy lunch rush.
It’s a small thing, but when you’re effectively turning someone’s café into your temporary office, being considerate goes a long way.
What I bring when working from a café in Medellín
I kept my setup pretty simple: laptop, charger, phone, headphones and a portable power bank. If you plan to work remotely while traveling, I’d also keep an eSIM or Colombian data plan active so your phone can become a hotspot if the Wi-Fi ever gives you trouble.
I’d throw a lightweight sweater or layer into your bag too. Medellín’s weather is generally comfortable, but between air conditioning, afternoon rain and sitting still for a few hours, I was glad to have one.
