The Best Day Trips from Manizales, Colombia
The small city of Manizales is located in the Colombian Coffee Region, between Salento and Medellín. It’s an increasingly popular stop with travellers due to its pleasant atmosphere, beautiful views of the Nevado del Ruiz Volcano and an amazing and diverse array of day trips. If you are planning a trip to Manizales and want to get out and experience the surrounding areas, here are some great day trips to consider.
Los Nevados National Park
The most popular day trip from Manizales is up into the high-Andean National Park of Los Nevados. The active Nevado del Ruiz Volcano can be seen from the city on a clear day, but there’s nothing quite like getting up into the wild, windswept moors of the park and experiencing the wonderful nature firsthand. A day trip usually includes a stop at Laguna Negralake and the main park entrance centre, and you will also have the chance to explore the páramo, the high-altitude moorland that is unique to the northern Andes.
Rio Blanco
Termales del Ruiz
Being a city surrounded by volcanos, Manizales has its fair share of thermal baths and hotels, but none are nicer than Termales del Ruiz. This wonderful luxury hotel, with thermal baths and a hummingbird observatory, is an easy day trip from the city, and for just US$10 you can spend the day swimming in the natural thermal pools and enjoying beautiful views of at least 10 different species of Andean hummingbird. There’s also a restaurant and bar on site, so you don’t need to worry about meals.
Hacienda Venecia
A gorgeous coffee farm just outside Manizales, Hacienda Venecia is, with good reason, one of the most well-renowned boutique hotels in the region, but you don’t have to stay over to enjoy a visit to this working coffee farm. Hacienda Venecia also offers a guided coffee tour, for which they organise transport to and from Manizales. You will learn all about the coffee growing process, before sampling some of the Hacienda’s finest product.
El Recinto del Pensamiento
A nature park just 11 kilometres (seven miles) from downtown Manizales, Recinto del Pensamiento is set in a beautiful cloud forest and is the ideal place to spend a lazy day in nature just outside the city. With a great café and restaurant on site, as well as guided tours through a cloud forest trail, a hummingbird observatory, a butterfly house and a natural orchid garden, El Recinto is a peaceful and tranquil place. There are also early morning birding tours, so check in advance if you want to attend.
Salamina
One of the longer day trips on this list, the pretty little Heritage Town of Salamina lies around two hours from Manizales by bus. However, if you’re looking to escape the tourist trail for a day and experience one of Colombia’s most delightful and overlooked little towns, then it’s absolutely worth getting up early and making the effort to visit Salamina. Its beautiful historical buildings and famous carved wooden balconies are unlike those of any other town in Colombia.
Nevado de Santa Isabel
Part of Los Nevados National Park, but worth a separate day trip, Nevado de Santa Isabel is one of the only snowcapped peaks in the park to which there is still access. Day trips to the glacier of the Nevado are an incredible way to experience high mountains in Colombia, and trekking on the surface of an actual glacier is always an unforgettable experience.
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Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.
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