Things to do in

Salento, Colombia

Are you a coffee fan? We might have the perfect blend for you. Hike through the magical Valle del Cocora, part of Colombia’s Coffee Triangle that's famous for having the world’s tallest palm trees. Take photos at breathtaking viewing points and see local coffee farms. Meet your tour guide and make your way to the entrance of the valley. Learn about the Quindio wax palm, the national tree of Colombia, as you trek beneath their towering trunks. Take a short ride in one of the traditional cars coffee growers use to travel between farms. Get back on your feet and hike to beautiful viewing points overlooking the valley, perfect for a picture or two. If you're lucky, experience the magic of the mists when winds blow the water vapor between the trees and transform the valley. Meet the locals who take care of the farms along the way, getting to know what life is like in the valley and discovering the origin of some of the world’s best coffee.

Take an epic guided day tour across the Cocora Valley and visit a specialized coffee farm. Hike some of the valley’s mountains and learn about Colombian coffee farming culture. Finish your day with a delicious local Colombian coffee. The departure can be from Armenia, Salento or Filandia, where your guide will meet you and give you all the recommendations for the day.  Start the tour by heading to the entrance of the valley, where you can appreciate the tall, stunning Wax palm trees, the national tree, which is environmentally important to the country. Then, head into the valley. Cocora Valley is one of the few entrance areas to Los Nevados National Natural Park, an environmentally protected park of snowy peak mountains. The valley is considered a Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia Heritage Site by UNESCO. Hike through the valley and enjoy some of the best views in the world. Be prepared to take lots of incredible photos, and if there are mists and winds, it only makes the landscapes look even more magical. Next, head to the coffee farm. Meet a coffee expert that will walk you through the different areas of the farm to explain the different production steps: from the plantation, picking up the coffee cherries, taking out the bean, washing, roasting, and finally the grinding. Here, you’ll have a brief coffee tasting lesson with the baristas, who will teach you how to recognize the characteristics of Colombian high-quality coffee and answer all your questions while you enjoy a fresh, tasty coffee. Finish the tour with a deep appreciation of the importance of coffee to the country.

Discover the coffee region of Colombia, which is recognized for its strong coffee-growing tradition, colorful and ornamented architecture, and rich biodiversity. Experience all of these at this typical coffee farm that will surprise you with its organic and tasty coffee. Be picked up at your hotel in Salento and take a short drive outside of town to Finca El Ocaso. First, hear the story of the coffee region, and understand its development and culture which went hand in hand with the local coffee-growing economy. Then, discover the step by step agricultural processes which goes into producing coffee beans. Walk along a trail surrounded by diverse plants, birds, and clean water, and learn how this special ecosystem provides great conditions for coffee farming. Learn about the delicate selection process and treatment of the coffee beans that follows the hand-selected harvest. Note the different aromas produced by different types of coffee roasting and grounding with the help of knowledgeable coffee tasters. Enjoy a coffee tasting experience where you will learn how to recognize unique flavors present in Colombian coffee. Notice how different flavors manifest in accordance with different preparation methods. Finally be returned to your hotel in Salento or any other place in the town of your convenience.

Enjoy a full-day trip to Santa Rosa de Cabal. Learn about the lives of local farmers in the town before taking a short walk near the mountains in search of the hot springs. Relax in the springs beside the waterfalls and head back to town to savor the taste of traditional chorizo. Get picked up from your accommodation in the morning and enjoy picturesque scenery as you drive into the heart of Colombia's Coffee Triangle to reach Santa Rosa de Cabal. Arrive in town and make your way through the streets, seeing how local coffee farmers live. Leave the town and walk towards the mountains until you reach a small waterfall. Let the waters of the thermal spring cleanse your body as you listen to the roaring falls. Take another short hike to the second hot spring and step into the refreshing pool. Feeling hungry? Then it’s time to dry off and head back into town. Make a stop at one of the best food stands in Santa Rosa de Cabal and indulge in the local specialty of chorizo.

Whether your trip is just beginning or coming to an end, ensure a hassle-free holiday from start to finish when you book your Pereira Airport transfer service in advance. Avoid long taxi lines, busy public transport, and language barrier confusions, and simply sit back and relax on your trip to or from the airport. For arrivals, collect your luggage and make your way to the arrivals hall where your friendly and professional driver will be waiting for you, holding a sign bearing your name. Benefit from a baggage allowance of 1 suitcase and 1 carry-on per passenger, and enjoy air-conditioned comfort as you travel to your accommodation in Salento. During the drive you can listen to music and receive tips and recommendations from your driver to enhance your stay. For departures, enjoy pickup directly from your hotel in Salento and receive the same stellar service.

The day begins with pickup from your hotel at 8:00 AM and heads to Rio Verde Quindio where a Jeep will be waiting to drive you uphill to Buenavista. Arrive at the top and soak up magnificent views of Cauca Valley then visit a nearby coffee farm to learn about the process of coffee production. Enjoy a tour of the plantation, meet the workers, and discover how coffee is harvested, prepared, and dried. Continue onto the town of Pijao and set off on a walk though the picturesque streets lined with beautiful houses. Admire the array of eclectic buildings painted in vibrant colors and adorned with ornaments. As you explore, learn about the history of this small town and the process of colonization that gave birth to the region, as well as the impact of the ‘coffee boom’. Afterwards, visit a local family’s craft workshop where you can see how traditional crafts are made. Once you’ve worked up a bit of an appetite, enjoy a delicious Sancocho for lunch, which is a traditional soup made with large pieces of meat and vegetables served in broth. After a tasty meal, travel to the last stop of the day, another small coffee farm. Learn about the different brewing methods and ingredients that change the taste of coffee, then try a cup yourself. At the end of an unforgettable day begin the return joinery to Rio Verde, soaking up the incredible views as you are dropped off at your hotel.

You will be picked up at either 7:30AM or 11:00AM from Salento or Pereira, from where you will be taken to the Coffee Hacienda near Manizales, Caldas. When you arrive, you will notice the enormous size of the coffee plantations and the steep hills in which they grow. Your first stop will be to the coffee lab to learn about coffee's history, origin, worldwide distribution, and varieties. Following that, you will learn to differentiate between different types of coffees and appreciate the qualities, species, preparation methods, and production. After some sips and a lesson from experts, you will head to the plantations to learn the different stages of coffee, from seed to drink. You will see the different machines involved in coffee processing, understanding why Colombian coffee is so famous and desired worldwide. During the tour's final stage, you will experience the importance of a good coffee roast and delight your senses with wonderful aromas produced by freshly roasted coffee. Following your tour's completion, enjoy the view while you savor a typical meal for lunch before returning to Salento or Pereira.

Coffee might be one of the world’s most popular beverages. Coffee brings back to life stories of traditions and customs of diverse cultures, and Colombia is no exception. If you are one of those who are passionate about this drink, or even if you aren’t but you want to learn more about it, let us take you with the experts: the coffee growers. For a start, you will be driven to a traditional coffee farm with a hundred years of history where you will find great views, a relaxing atmosphere but specially hectares of coffee plantations. Once in here, you will meet the tour guide and coffee expert. He will walk you along the different areas of the farm in order to explain you the phases coffee has, and he will invite you later to participate in some of them. Planting a coffee seed right in the seedlings and picking up the coffee cherries from the bushes, for example. After witnessing and being part of the growing process, you will go and see the last steps, like roasting and sometimes grinding. On top of that, take a brief coffee tasting lesson with the baristas, who will teach you how to recognize Colombian high-quality coffee characteristics and you will get the chance to answer all your questions while enjoying a fresh and tasty coffee. In this short but quite complete tour, you will experience the whole process coffee needs before getting to the shops where we usually drink it. And you will appreciate its real value as well as understand the importance of coffee growers in the quality of the beans once you see that most of the processes are handmade. Trust us, this will be a real treat for you.