Salento, Colombia

Tours

History of coffee, predominant species, planting and growth of the coffee tree. Tour of our gardens and coffee plantations, harvest and sowing. Composting and crop fertilization station. Explanation on sustainability, fauna and flora. Visit to the processing plant: hopper, pulper, mechanical drying and traditional drying. Storage warehouse, threshing and marketing of coffee. Types of roasting and their importance in the quality of coffee. Bases for a correct coffee extraction. Traditional preparation of coffee in a cloth strainer and pot.

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 natural beauty of Cocora Valley on this shared tour. Meet us at the central square of Salento (look for the yellow umbrella), where our transportation will take you to the heart of the valley. With its towering wax palms and lush green landscapes, Cocora Valley is one of Colombia’s most iconic destinations. Our expert guide will accompany you throughout the tour, offering insights into the flora, fauna, and history of the region. All tickets and transportation from Salento are included, making this a hassle-free way to experience one of the country’s most stunning locations. What can you expect on this Cocora Valley shared tour? Cocora Valley is home to the world’s tallest palm trees, the wax palms, which stand over 60 meters high. The lush valley is part of the larger Los Nevados National Natural Park and provides visitors with breathtaking scenery and opportunities for exploration. This tour is perfect for nature lovers and those looking to experience one of the most beautiful landscapes in Colombia. Explore the breathtaking Cocora Valley. Walk through the valley, marvel at the towering wax palms, and enjoy the rich biodiversity of this natural wonder. Our guide will share the history and significance of the area during the hike. After a memorable experience in the valley, we’ll return to Salento’s central square, where the tour will conclude.

History of coffee, predominant species, planting and growth of coffee trees. Tour of our gardens and coffee plantations, harvesting and sowing. Composting station and crop fertilization. Explanation on sustainability, fauna and flora. Visit to the mill: hopper, pulper, mechanical drying and traditional drying. Storage, threshing and commercialization of coffee. Types of roasting and its importance in coffee quality. Traditional preparation of coffee in a cloth strainer and pot.

What about getting into the woods like a total adventurer rider? Let us surprise you with this trip. The Cocora Valley is a great natural park surrounded by misty green hills and mind-boggling landscapes full of Wax Palm Trees, the Colombian national tree. Its location on the Coffee Triangle and its closeness to Los Nevados Natural Park made them worthy of Unesco’s recognition as the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia Heritage Site. In this 6-8 hour tour, you will get amazed by the natural sceneries by visiting the main spots of this park surrounded by trees and coffee farms. First, meet our skilled and experienced guide in the chosen departure point. He will take you to Salento where your horses will be set and ready for you to ride them. This is where the adventure actually starts. The horses will drive you through different viewpoints. Stop and stare at the magnanimity of the landscapes. Let our guide tell the stories of the region and everything you need to know to appreciate the place even more. Afterward, you will be ready to go to the Cocora Valley and ride the willys, the most traditional cars in the coffee culture: old jeeps that were the main transport for coffee growers to cross wild roads among nature. Last but not least, we will call it a day once your guide will take you safely to the chosen arrival point.

Are you coming or leaving Armenia, Salento, Filandia or Pereira? Don’t want to really navigate the local taxi service? Safe and hassle-free! It is the best way to start your Coffee Region adventure and an amazing send-off too! We offer arrival or departure transfers. From or to Pereira Airport or and from or to your lodgings in Salento, Filandia, Armenia or Pereira. One of our professional drivers will be waiting for you in the chosen meeting point and he will help you loading your luggage into the car. You will be transferred on a private and comfortable vehicle and we will make sure of leaving you right where you have to be. You just relax in the back of our comfortable air-conditioned vehicles as we finish this short trip once arriving safely to your chosen destination. You won’t have to worry about anything! Our transfer service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Coffee Region is a fascinating place and we want you to enjoy it without any concerns. Travel safe. We will be happy to help you with anything you may need

The departure will be from Manizales, where our guide will meet you and give you all the recommendations for the day. Head to the entrance of the valley and appreciate the tall and stunning Wax Palm Trees: our national emblematic tree, that has environmental and popular importance to the region and the country. Hike through this magic valley and enjoy some of the best views of the world. Be sure to have your cellphone fully charged, we know you’ll want to take pictures of the amazing nature. And, if you suddenly get caught by the mists and winds, don’t worry about it, that’s how weather tends to be, and it will only make the landscapes look even more magical. Take this opportunity and walk through the picturesque streets of Salento. Come and discover with your own eyes why it is the most beautiful town in all of Colombia. Let yourself be dazzled by its Paisa architecture and explore the handicraft shops, don't leave empty-handed. Besides Salento, Filandia is the second main small town of the coffee region. You will walk around its vibrant streets full of handicrafts and traditional products and you will be able to see the mountains from different viewpoints. You will have time to take a break before heading back. After this unique and exciting cultural experience around the coffee towns, our driver will take you back to your hotel so you can rest.

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 from outside (not a coffee farm visit). 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 its 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. Finally, meet the locals and start getting to know what life is like in the valley and discover some of the world’s best landscapes.

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.

We begin our fascinating day in the heart of Salento, the picturesque main park. From here, we head to the coffee farm to immerse ourselves in the authentic world of Colombian coffee. We will travel in the iconic Willys Jeep, or yipao, as it is popularly known, a vehicle that arrived in Colombia in 1946, and since then has been the right hand of the coffee growers in the region, since it manages to easily travel the challenging roads that connect the crops with the town, and is capable of carrying more than 600 kilos per trip. Once at the farm, we will receive an introduction about the origin of coffee that will take us to discover the story behind each bean and how this region has become a world leader in the production of high-quality coffee. We will take a complete tour of the crop, exploring the various stages of the coffee production process, from planting to preparation. We will learn about traditional practices up close, participating in the harvesting, pulping, drying, threshing, roasting, and grinding. Each season will offer a unique and revealing experience about the transformation of the bean into the delicious cup of coffee we all enjoy. This one-hour itinerary offers a concentrated yet comprehensive experience for those wishing to explore a coffee farm from Salento, experiencing the production process up close and tasting the essence of the Colombian coffee tradition.