Colombia’s coffee region (eje cafetero or zona cafetera) was the highlight of our Colombia itinerary. Yes, we’re coffee lovers, but we also love nature, quaint towns, friendly locals and endless green mountain scenery.
Salento and Jardin are two of the most popular destinations in this broad region – not too touristy, but with enough accommodation options and restaurants. Both have been called the prettiest town in Colombia, so you can’t go wrong.
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Salento or Jardin: which should you choose?
Well, the short answer is both! Salento and Jardin are both colourful, uniquely Colombian, beautifully situated colonial towns. But they’re not identical. Each has its own character and regional culture – Salento is in the department of Quindío and Jardin is in Antioquia.
The practical answer is, whichever fits with your plans. If you’re in Medellin, Jardin is an easy overnight trip. It’s 3 hours by bus from Medellin’s Terminal del Sur, with several daily departures.
For Salento, you need a bit more time. It’s 45 minutes’ drive from the town of Armenia or an hour from Pereira, which both have frequent direct flights from Bogotá. Or you can take a bus to Armenia from Cali (3.5 hours), Medellin (6 hours) or Bogotá (9 hours). You could spend several days in Salento, seeing all the area has to offer.
No but seriously, which was best?
OK fine. Personally, I preferred Jardin as a town, but Salento for its things to do. Jardin has probably the best plaza I’ve seen in South America – buzzing with life, coffee, and cowboys. It felt more like a real working town, while Salento is a holiday retreat – for Colombians as well as gringos – with its artisan souvenir shops and midweek quiet.
But Salento’s nearby Valle de Cocora was one of the best sights of our trip. This unique valley of wax palms, Colombia’s national tree, is iconic. Salento also has easy access to excellent coffee farm tours, and a fun, tourist-friendly place to try tejo.
Decided to do both?
It’s not straightforward I’m afraid. Find out how we travelled between Salento and Jardin here.
Salento’s public transport system 
Salento
Where to stay
There are many affordable options in Salento. We chose Luciérnaga, a nice hostel with a few private rooms. Get one without a balcony – the balconies cut into room space, so they’re really small. Ours was small anyway – in the en suite bathroom, I had to straddle the toilet to see my face in the mirror. But it has lovely views, location is good, it’s cheap (we paid £24/night), and the bar/restaurant looks like it’d be fun if it’s open; for some reason it was closed for our whole stay.
Also recommended is Hostal Ciudad de Segorbe (£39/night), which gets good reviews and helpfully arranged long-distance taxis for us.
What to do
Tour a coffee farm: There are several nearby, but Finca El Ocaso is probably the best; it’s a professional operation in a beautiful spot. We walked there from Salento, which took about an hour – from Luciérnaga, just follow the road straight out of town. The tour was fun and informative, and there’s a café with a few lunch options and, obviously, fantastic coffee. Tour times and prices here.
To get back to town, public jeeps pass the finca hourly (they claim it’s on the hour, but we were waiting for about 20 minutes); 3,000 COP per person.
Try your (muddy) hand at tejo: Tejo is a wonderfully weird Colombian game. Basically it’s like bowling, but with explosives. We did some research and decided Salento would be the best place for it – it’s authentic but accessible, with lots of other tourists trying it.
Go to Los Amigos on Carrera 4 (or BetaTown – it gets good reviews, but looked dead every time we walked past). For 5,000 COP per person you get a lane (is it called a lane?) for the whole night. The rules are written on a blackboard, but it’s just as much fun making up your own.
Walk up to the mirador: At the end of Calle Real there’s a staircase up to a lookout point, for views of the town and mountains in the distance. Face away from Salento and look to the right – if the weather is right, you can see the wax palms of the Cocora Valley.
The Valle de Cocora hike
The Cocora valley is stunning, and the hike (after reading a couple of horror stories) was easier than we’d feared. It took five hours, but our pace was fairly relaxed. Alternatively, you can just walk up to the lookout points – about 30 mins uphill.
If you’re doing the loop hike, I strongly recommend taking the clockwise route. Most people go anticlockwise, meaning the best views of the wax palms are at the end, but we started out with the views while it was early and hardly anyone else was around.
To reach the start of the hike, take a jeep from Salento’s central plaza. Times and prices are posted on the little ticket hut, but it looked like a jeep would leave whenever it had enough passengers. When it drops you off in the valley, carry on up the road and keep following it uphill (or for the anticlockwise route, turn off through the blue gate on the right).
After the lookout points, it’s a tiring but smooth track up to Finca La Montaña (really just a rest stop; don’t expect facilities), before descending through the trickiest part. The paths on this side of the mountain are muddy, rocky, and sometimes hard to navigate – going down was fine, but going up would have been a miserable slog.
Instagram station 
One of the more precarious bridges 
If it’s been raining heavily, or if it starts to while you’re hiking, turn back at Finca La Montaña and go back the way you came. That’s another advantage of the clockwise route – you can turn back to avoid the more dangerous paths, without missing out on those amazing views.
Start as early as you can; we took a 7.30am jeep from Salento. Bring enough water, snacks and cash: there are two separate “entry fees” for different sections of the trail, totalling 5,000 COP per person.
Where to eat and drink
Brunch is backpackery but brilliant, with satisfying food and relentlessly helpful staff. They were open for dinner when everything else was closed (it was Easter Sunday), breakfast is served all day, and they do a cute packed lunch that’s perfect for hike days (pop in before your jeep to Cocora; they open at 6am and will serve you within 10 minutes).
Rincon de Lucy: This great-value set-menu place used to only open for lunch, but we found it open for dinner on our last night (a Tuesday). For 30,000 COP (about £7), we got large beers, a soup starter and a generous dish of sausages, rice, two salads and patacones (plantains) in several different forms. For two people.
La Gran Trucha is a good place for trout (trucha), which the area’s known for. The pork dish I had was less impressive, but it’s a nice spot for a simple dinner.
Jardin
Where to stay
Jardin has fewer choices than Salento, but there’s a growing number of hotels and hostels.
We loved Hotel Plantación. It’s gorgeous, spacious, eco-conscious and friendly. If it were in Europe they’d be charging £200 a night; we paid £49. Breakfasts are vegan, but even as incurable carnivores, we didn’t mind – everything we tried was flavourful and filling. Literally my only criticism is the linen bath towels; too far, Plantación, too far.
Other options are Hotel Kantarrana Urbana Jardin (£45/night), which gets mixed reviews but is central. Or stay outside town for more peace and quiet, views and hospitality – Hospedaje Rural La Boira (£40/night) and Finca Agroturística Carrizales (£10/night) both get great reviews.
What to do
Sit in the plaza: the essential Jardin activity. Pick any café or bar, and watch the town go by. Apparently it’s best on a Saturday night, when the cowboys come to flaunt their horse riding skills, with street food and festivities.
Ride a cable car: there are two, but only one was running on our visit. At the southern end of Calle 12, a wooden yellow cage shudders its way up into the hills. From here there’s a great view of Jardin, and a pleasant walk back to town via the historic, cobblestone Camino de la Herrera.
Go up to the Cerro Cristo Rey. If this cable car isn’t working, you can hike or take a tuktuk to the Christ statue that looms over Jardin. Our tuktuk dropped us at the restaurant famous for its ‘I ♥ Jardin’ sign – stop for a coffee with a view, before continuing to the Christ and back down to town.
Watch weird birds’ mating rituals at the Parque Natural Jardin de Rocas. This unique reserve hosts a bizarre display at 6–7am and 4–5pm every day, as bright red gallitos de rocas (Andean cock-of-the-rock birds) flock and squawk. It’s on the edge of town, downhill from the yellow bridge; if you wait at the gate someone will let you in.
Cafe Macanas and its Instagram station – I mean courtyard 
La Cueva del Esplendor: we didn’t do this, but it’s a popular attraction about 3 hours’ hike from Jardin – a cave hidden high in the mountains, with a waterfall cascading through a hole in its roof.
Where to eat and drink
Cafe de los Andes is our pick on the plaza, with European-style coffee options and a balcony that’s a great vantage point.
Cafe Macanas sure is Instagram-savvy. Its colourful courtyard is irresistible (walk straight through from the entrance on the plaza, left of the church), but it’s not just a pretty face; the coffee and pasteles are tasty too.
Dulces de Jardín is famous around these parts. There are tables, but we loved getting some desserts to take away (try the arroz con leche) and sitting in the plaza.
La Parrilla de mi Pueblo is a bright and friendly place for dinner, with good traditional dishes and cocktails.
Bon Appetit has a cosy atmosphere and fantastic pasta, if you’re craving that kind of thing.
A word of warning, many restaurants seem to stop taking credit cards at random, so it’s always worth checking you have enough cash.
How many days should you spend in Salento and Jardin?
If you want to do everything listed above, you’ll need at least two full days in Salento and one and a half in Jardin.
For Jardin, if you’re visiting from Medellin, don’t try to do it as a day trip – the bus should take three hours, but it can be up to five if there are roadworks, so stay at least one night. From further afield, give it two nights. More than three, though, and you might get bored.
For Salento, I recommend at least three nights. It’s a good base to explore other parts of the region, so you could stay even longer.
Other popular places in Colombia’s coffee region
Obviously we focused on Salento and Jardin, but these are other places to consider.
Filandia is another pretty colonial town – it’s half an hour from Salento, so you could visit from there. Either arrange a taxi or take a jeep from Salento’s central plaza.
Jericó is an even more well-kept secret than Jardin. It’s a picturesque town with great hiking, history and café culture, and it’s said to be the best place in Colombia for paragliding because of the surrounding scenery. Like Jardin, it’s 3 hours by bus from Medellin.
Manizales is a pleasant little city with steep streets, a bit of nightlife and a mountain backdrop. You could visit the stunning Los Nevados National Park from here.
There are a lot of hot springs, and nearby boutique hotels, so the coffee region is a dreamy place for a spa retreat. Two of the most often recommended are Termales Santa Rosa de Cabal and Termales del Ruiz.
If you have kids, apparently Panaca is a great day out. It’s a theme park focused on animals and farming, about 1h 40m from Salento or 45 mins from Filandia.
Armenia and Pereira are both convenient transport hubs, but aren’t as interesting for tourists; I wouldn’t plan to spend time there.
Prices are in Colombian pesos (COP) or British pounds (£).
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