7 Underrated Experiences to Have in the Zona Cafetera, Colombia

The ‘other’ Cocora Valley, the Samaria Valley is a stronghold for the endangered and endemic Quindio Wax Palm (the giant trees that made Cocora so famous). Samaria, however, boasts three times as many of the palms as Cocora, and a fraction of the tourists. It’s an unknown and vastly underrated alternative to the Zona Cafetera’s biggest tourist draw.

Salento, and to a lesser extent Filandia, tend to attract the vast majority of the tourists in the region in search of an authentic small-town vibe and some local architecture. But with equally lovely and much more undervisited towns like Salamina, Aguadas, Marsella, Pijao, Buenavista, and Genova all in the Coffee Region, there’s no reason why you can’t have those experiences without the tourist crowds.

The annual Jeep parades in the Quindio town of Calarca (similar parades also happen in Armenia, and in smaller towns like Buenavista) are a raucous and riotous celebration of the Coffee Culture of Colombia. Participants load up their Jeep Willys – an iconic vehicle inextricably linked to the Coffee Region – and parade them through the streets, often doing incredible acrobatic jeep tricks as well! A unique and little-known way to enjoy the Colombian coffee culture.

The company Globos Colombia offer a truly unique and underrated travel experience in the Zona Cafetera: the chance to fly over the stunning landscapes of Quindio in a hot air balloon. The flights leave from near Montenegro, south of Armenia, and take in the stunning central Andean Plain with stunning views over the Central and Western Andes. It’s a pricey trip, but a worthwhile one.

The Andes of the Coffee Region is home to some excellent hot springs and thermal baths. The most famous – but still generally underrated compared to many activities in the region – are those at Santa Rosa de Cabal near Pereira, but there are some fantastic thermals near Manizales too: the hotel Termales del Ruiz is especially amazing.

Birding – or birdwatching for the uninitiated – is one of the most interesting and unique tourism activities throughout Colombia, but the Coffee Region is home to a huge number of bird species, and a trip birding to one of the myriad reserves and natural parks dotted around the region is a truly underrated travel experience in the Coffee Region. Even if you’re no birder, it’s a great way to get out into nature and learn a bit more about the natural world.