Medellin

Once the world's most dangerous city, home to Pablo Escobar's cartel in the 1980s and 1990s, Medellin has undergone the most dramatic urban transformation in the Americas, winning the Urban Land Institute's Most Innovative City award in 2013. Its aerial gondola cable cars, world-class outdoor sculptures by Fernando Botero, and year-round spring climate have made it South America's most exciting emerging destination — outperforming Bogota on safety perception surveys with 85% of tourists reporting feeling safe.