Parque De Los Pies Descalzos

The name of this park, which alludes to going barefoot, is both description and invitation. Take off your shoes and tread among nature’s sublime textures in the park’s sandpits, Zen garden, fountains, and leafy grasses. You’ll also find a bamboo forest and an interactive science museum, but the biggest attraction is people-watching: children splashing in fountains, teens pitching woo, everyone soaking up the sun. A guided (barefoot) park tour offers insight into its history as part of a citywide renovation program.

At this central Medellín park you are encouraged to take off your shoes and connect with the earth. Each element of the park invites you to interact with sand, water, or trees. You might assume it is for children, but on a recent afternoon there were more adults than kids participating in a guide-led “tour” of the park, which includes soaking your feet in a reflecting pool, wandering through a bamboo forest, and climbing structures in a sand pit. The jumping fountains, however, were monopolized by kids, who had no problem with running fully clothed through the streams.

That old saying “Free your feet and your mind will follow” is very much alive and well at the aptly named Barefoot Park — a quiet oasis away from Medellin’s hustle and bustle. A chance to truly kick off your shoes or flip-flops (ubiquitous footwear of choice for wanderlusters), the park’s a delight for young and old alike. With different-textured surfaces, including grass, sand and water, all 10 toes will happily want in on the action. Guaranteed to make you smile ...