There is a camaraderie between colors and Colombia. The graffiti of Medellin, the hues of the Guatape town or the colonial town of Cartagena make us imagine that you cannot be far from colors when in Colombia.
Salento, a small town in the coffee region of Central Colombia, is also painted in color splashes. This quiet and pretty town is surrounded by picturesque lush green misty-top mountains, and is also the base for exploring the iconic Cocora valley, home to the tallest wax palm trees in the world.
Visit Salento and catch a glimpse of rural Colombia. If you are wondering how to spend your time there, in this travel guide, we share our recommendations for the best things to do in Salento, along with other details such as how to get there and where to stay.
Salento, Colombia: A Quick Overview
🌟 Top Things to Do:
✅ See the world’s tallest wax palm trees in Cocora Valley: go hiking on your own, or book this guided tour.
✅ Explore town on foot: colorful streets, artisanal market, local food.
✅ Go on a coffee tour
✅ Birdwatching with Guide: local by walking or go to a reserve in search of endemic species
🏨 Where to Stay in Salento:
Casa Salento: Cute and comfy inn, centrally located. We stayed here and loved our breakfast at the balcony.
Hotel Kawa Mountain Retreat: Luxury stay in a beautiful setting, yet within walking distance from town.
📍 How to Get to Salento:
✈️ Domestic flight to Perreira or Armenia, the two nearest domestic airports, each located about 1 hour from Salento.
🚌 Direct bus from Medellin to Salento. Use our promo code PARADISE5 and get a 5% off.
Top Things to Do in Salento, Colombia
A small town yet offering a variety of activities, Salento can keep you busy. You choose from whether you want to burn some calories by taking up hikes or be a silent observer of the passage of life in this quaint town or get drunk and play local games, or do them all!
Hike in the Cocora Valley (Valle del Cocora)
If you make it to Salento, you cannot miss the Cocora valley. Thousands of wax palm trees, the world’s tallest, pin the carpet of the undulating lush green hills of the valley.
A page from childhood
We had read a poem in Bengali during our childhood, the first few lines of which roughly translate to:
Palm tree stands on one leg, rises above the trees, and peeks into the sky
It wishes to pierce through the dark clouds, and fly away.
But alas, where will it get the wings.
– Rabindranath Tagore
Pardon my unpoetic translation!
We never imagined that we will ever experience this simple childhood poem on the dreams of a palm tree, near a small town halfway across the globe from home. The metaphorical lyrics, which probably resemble our life dreams, were waiting for us in Salento.
How to Get to Cocora Valley from Salento
🌴 We visited Cocora Valley on our own, but if you wish to skip the planning logistics part, book this highly rated Cocora Valley Tour.
If you go on your own, you can take a shared jeep from the Salento town to reach Cocora valley.
The jeeps start every 20-30 minutes. So book your ride from the ticket counter beside the town plaza in front of the church. It is difficult to miss the ticket counter and the series of colorful Willys jeeps waiting next to it for their turns.
You will get two tickets, one for onward and the other for return ride. The jeeps take around 30 minutes to reach Cocora valley parking area from the main plaza of Salento.
We sat on the backside of the open jeep and enjoyed the sweep of breeze on our faces as the jeep moved along a narrow road with green fields on either side.
For your return journey at the end of the hike, you can get on to any jeep from the same parking area. Remember to retain your return ticket until this ride.
The Hikes in Cocora Valley
The duration of your hike in Cocora Valley will depend on what you wish to do there.
The entire circuit from the parking area through the cloud forests, which includes crossing streams and a short detour to a hummingbird reserve area, can take 6 or more hours, of course, depending on your pace and stops.
The hike ends in the palm tree zone where the trees stick out of the ground for miles and disappear in the sky.
If you are short on time or if you want to stick to the palm tree zone only, turn right and hike up the hill after walking few minutes from the parking area. It is not a difficult hike, if you follow the hiking path.
However, we tried to be a be a bit adventurous and climbed our way up a green hill instead of taking the designated hiking path. As a result, it was an arduous climb up a steep slope, although nothing like the Huayna Picchu hike in Peru.
But definitely a test of balance, phew!
This circuit can be completed in a couple of hours, taking into account some relaxation time on the hill.
The Palm Trees
You start noticing the tall wax palm trees as soon as you arrive at the ticket counter. But the best view is gradually revealed as you work your way up.
At the entrance, you get a view of the trees from a distance. During the climb up the hill slope, the trees tower over your head. Look up and get intimidated by the heights of the trees.
Finally, when you reach the hill top, you can see the series of world’s tallest wax palm trees adorning the green valley from your eye level.
We sat at one spot for a while and looked in awe at the dark green wax palm trees rising high above the white clouds floating over the light green valley.
Other Information about Cocora Valley Hike
There are restaurants and snacks stalls near the entrance. Keep some cash for the entrance fee, and in case you want to pick up water and snacks from the stalls. Those are essentials to carry, particularly if you are going for the longer hike.
Explore the Colorful Town of Salento
The primary activities of the Salento town are in and around the main plaza, Plaza Bolivar. The central park is surrounded by the town church, restaurants, cafes, fast food and fruit stalls, and local handicraft stores. Colors everywhere!
Walk across the street down the Calle Real. Shops and houses bordered with bright colors line the narrow street on either side. Rugged antique looking seating areas and street lamps of complementary designs further enhance this old world charm of the town.
Walk along these streets and blend in the crowds for the best way of exploring the town of Salento.
Try a Trout
You will not be disappointed in the food choices available around in Salento.
Start your day with a hearty typical breakfast with eggs, arepas (corn cakes) and Colombian coffee.
During the day, if you get tired of all the walking and hiking, stop by one of the many colorful fruit stalls that adorn the center of the town. Grab a mug of milkshake or juice to revive your energy.
For lunch and dinner, choose from the cute restaurants and cafes in the town, with some of them having outdoor seating arrangements. Or go grab your dinner from one of the food trucks.
After returning from our Cocora Valley trek, we treated ourselves to a big dinner of a full trucha (trout fish) each.
Apparently, trout is a must-try when in Salento. Our truchas were accompanied by superpatacones. We are familiar with patacones as they are common sides to typical Costa Rican dishes. Flat pounded plantain slices are fried to make these chips like snacks.
Superpatacones are basically extra large patacones. For a completely local experience, pair your superpatacones with sips of some local beer. We tried Poker that night.
Shop at the Artisanal Markets
When you are in a place where everything looks pretty, you would want to take a slice of it back home, ain’t it?
There are many artisanal markets along Calle Real, the colorful street leading towards El Mirador. Homemade products made by local artisans are referred to as artesanal in most of Latin America.
Walk along that street, browse at the various shops and choose your pick from various artesanal products, ranging from magnets to handbags, and from earrings to pump shoes.
Hike to El Mirador
The lane on the left of the church, the Calle Real, leads to a series of stairs to El Mirador, Spanish for “the viewpoint”. From here, you get a 360 degree view of the town, the yellow church, the red-tiled roofs and surrounding lush green hills.
While coming back, instead of taking the stairs, take the alternate path to your right, facing the town. A short walk and you will reach another view point that opens up to a deep valley with a river flowing below.
We visited in the morning when there weren’t too many people and were welcomed by birds chirping in the trees down the hill.
Coffee Tour
Sitting in Colombia’s Coffee Axis (Eje Cafetero in Spanish), Salento has great coffee and you have the chance to learn all about it by going on a coffee tour.
Book a coffee tour with Finca El Ocaso for an all-round coffee experience at the farm, from learning about coffee harvesting to watching the wet mill in action to finishing with a guided coffee tasting.
By the end of the experience, you may be able to learn how to distinguish between citrus and chocolate notes in coffee.
Timings: Finca El Ocaso runs this coffee tour 4 times a day, and the tour typically lasts for about 90 minutes.
How to Get There: To get to Finca El Ocaso, you can hop on a Willys jeep from Salento town square or, if you are up for it, enjoy a long scenic walk in the countryside from the town to the farm.
Tips: Reserve ahead for weekends and peak season dates. Wear closed-toe shoes, Apply insect repellent.
Book the Coffee Tour here →Birdwatching
🦉 Did you know that the country with the highest number of bird species in the world is Colombia? It is home to more than 1900 species!
Throughout Colombia, there are various regions offering great birdwatching opportunities, and each region has its own endemic species too.
Salento is no exception. So, if you enjoy birdwatching, consider this as one of your top things to do in Salento.
You can just pick up your camera and tripod or binoculars, and head out for a walk early in the morning or late in the afternoon, to spot birds on your own in and around town. That is what we do, most of the time.
However, for better sighting opportunities, we recommend you to go birdwatching with an experienced and knowledgeable guide.
In Salento, based on what are looking to get out of the birdwatching tour, you can pick from these two options:
✅ Birding in Salento: Explore the countryside of Salento on foot on a small group tour, and look for birds like Andean motmot and Emerald toucanet.
This birding tour includes breakfast, snacks, coffee/tea, and use of binoculars, and of course, the services of a guide.
Book the Birdwatching Tour here →✅ Endemic Birds in Salento: Take a bus ride from Salento with your guide to a nature reserve nearby on a small group tour for the chance to spot some endemic birds of the region, such as Andean Cock-of-the-rock and Multicolored tanager.
This endemic birds tour from Salento includes breakfast, snacks, use of binoculars, travel insurance, and the services of a guide.
Book the Salento Endemic Birds Tour here →➡️ Related Reading: Spotting Cock-of-the-rock birds in Jardin, Colombia
Playing Tejo
Tejo is a fun game, the key components of which are beer and gunpowder!
Usually played in the evenings, you pay for your beer at a tejo bar and get to play Tejo for free. The game goes somewhat like this: you keep drinking your beer while throwing metal discs at packs of gunpowder, resulting in explosions.
Tejo is popular among locals and tourists alike. When in Salento, you can try a round at Cancha de Tejos Los Amigos.
Even if you do not play, you can just buy your beer and get entertained by watching others play.
Where to Stay in Salento, Colombia
After splurging on a suite at a beachfront hotel at Rosario Islands, we chose a comfy inn for our accommodation in Salento: Casa Salento, also referred to as Posada Casa Salento.
Fusing well with the colorful scheme of things in Salento, it is a cute little house with tiled roof, wooden balcony, hanging flower pots and a white exterior wall painted with a green motmot.
Our room was small but nicely appointed, and had all the amenities, such as an attached bathroom and a private balcony overlooking the street below.
The front desk manager explained us the details about Cocora Valley trek and other things to do in Salento.
☕️ What we loved the best about our stay at Posada Casa Salento is the hearty breakfast served at our private balcony every morning.
Other accommodation choices in Salento:
| Luxury | Hotel Kawa Mountain Retreat |
| Mid-range | Terrazas de Salento |
| Glamping | glamping rustiko |
How to Get to Salento, Colombia
You can get to Salento by domestic flight or by bus.
By Air
Hop on a domestic flight from one of the Colombian cities like Bogota, Cartagena, Medellin for Pereira or Armenia. These two are the domestic airports that are closest to Salento.
From the airport, take a private taxi or a shared taxi or collectivo/bus to Salento.
We flew from Cartagena to Perreira, and here is what we did to get to Salento from the Perreira airport: We got a taxi from the Pereira airport to the bus station. The woman at the Pereira airport arrival help desk explained us what we needed to do to get to Salento and provided the bus schedule. We booked the tickets for Salento and boarded the bus on time.
By Road
If you are coming from or going to Medellin, you can also consider traveling by bus. We took the direct bus from Salento to Medellin, and although the journey was longer than expected, it was pretty comfortable.
🚌 You can book your bus ticket on Bookaway. Use our promo code PARADISE5 and get a 5% discount.
Where Next?
We fit the quaint town of Salento in our first Colombia trip itinerary between two big cities, Cartagena and Medellin.
If you are visiting Salento, most likely, you will continue next to Medellin or Cartagena or Bogota.
Refer to our destination guides, activity reviews and route recommendations for planning your own trip:
- Things to Do in Medellin
- Medellin 3-5 Day Itinerary
- Why Avoid a Pablo Escobar Tour
- More than Escobar Tour
If you enjoy reading our free travel guides, tips and stories, you can buy us a coffee and help us create more such travel planning tools for you. Thanks for supporting Paradise Catchers.
Travel Resources
- Flights: Skyscanner
- Hotels: Booking.com | Expedia
- Tours: Viator | GetYourGuide
- Travel Insurance:
- Heymondo (get 5% off)
- SafetyWing Nomad Insurance
- eSIMs:
- Transfers: Bookaway. Code PARADISE5 for 5% off
Disclosure: Please note that this post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase or a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you.
Like the post? Pin it!
Thank you for helping me have my explicit tour to this part of COLOMBIA by a typical transportation, my mental eyes, exclusively with the help of your vivid and elaborate description of the placse.
I factuality feel that I am cherishing my experience and entertainment while visiting the places.
Thank you very much. Please serve us more and more of your experiences like this.
Thank you very much for the kind words and for the encouragement, as always. 🙂
Beautiful photos! We truly enjoyed our vacation in Colombia, but did not know about this jewel. Some of the houses remind of Villa de Leyva, another wonderful small town in Colombia.
Thanks Rudy. We have not been to Villa de Levya – may be to be included in our next Colombia trip (whenever that is).
Beautiful photos and nice description of this part of Colombia. I will tuck this article away for a planned trip to Colombia in the next year.
Thanks Kenya. Glad that the article can be of help for your Colombia trip.
This looks like such a beautiful area. I would love to see this in person one day. The picture of you looking at your food made me giggle. You looked so delighted! 🙂
Hehe, yes I was amazed to see the size of the patacon. 😛
Sounds like a great town to visit! The hiking looks fabulous too….and a great way to burn off all those calories from eating 🙂 I love visiting cities!
Yes, we loved our time in Salento. 🙂
Calle Real is so vibrant!!! Love all the color! We would love to take a trip to Columbia on of these days! I think that fabulous B&B looks perfect. Did it use to be a private home before it was a B&B?
Hi Michelle, yes I think the B&B could have been a private home before. That is how the construction and the interior looked – like that of a residential home. Good observation! 🙂