Colombia 2025 – Salento

Salento

Salento, nestled in Colombia’s Quindío department, is a charming mountain town that serves as the gateway to the country’s famed Coffee Cultural Landscape. Perched at nearly 1,900 meters above sea level, it’s beloved for its colorful colonial architecture, lush green hills, and proximity to the iconic Cocora Valley, home to the world’s tallest wax palm trees.

What we did there

Unfortunately, Salento is a bit too touristy by now, but still well worth it, especially for day trips to the Cocora Valley (Valle de Cocora), a breathtaking natural landscape in Colombia’s Quindío department, nestled in the Central Andes near the town. It’s world-famous for its towering wax palm trees, the tallest palms on Earth and Colombia’s national tree which rise dramatically from misty green hills and cloud forests. Part of the Los Nevados National Natural Park, Cocora Valley offers scenic hiking trails, horseback rides, and panoramic viewpoints that showcase the region’s lush biodiversity. It’s a must-visit destination for nature lovers, photographers, and anyone seeking Colombia’s wild, high-altitude beauty.

Santa Rita Nature Reserve (Reserva Natural Santa Rita) is another great trip from Salento. It is a serene reserve just outside Salento, with few visitors. Spanning 173 hectares, the reserve blends protected high Andean forest with sustainable farming practices, offering a rich mosaic of biodiversity and cultural history.

Then there are other nearby towns to see, but we never had time to see them.We used Salento as our starting point to visit the Cocora Valley

Day 1

We arrived in the afternoon after a beautiful ride from Jardin.

In town we got the chance to see a quite interesting display of vehicles, although our first priority was to get a good meal.

Day 2

This day we made a very long day trip in the Cocora Valley. The idea was to do the normal trip, a several long round trip, but we ended up taking a much more streneous hike up to a mountain top.

This was hard work with very little to eat, but getting there to the top was all worth it.

Day 3

This day we made it back to the Cocora Valley, to make the ordinary loop. This wasn’t as spectacular, partly because there was so many more people here, but it was certainly photogenic, and gave good view of the palm trees.

The loop then continued into some forests, and returned back.

Day 4

This day we visited the beautiful Santa Rita Nature Reserve.

The insects and flowers are quite spectacular.

There is lunch to have here, home made sausages. It is also really nice to meet people, and we found the smallest and cutest dog ever.