Salento



Salento is a sleepy little town in Quindío department, in the Zona Cafetera region of Colombia. On weekends and holidays, the town is flooded by tourists from Armenia and Pereira.

Get in
There are two bus companies that go to Salento: Expreso Alcala and Cootracir. They both arrive and leave at carrera 2 between calle 4 and 5.

Armenia

There are buses from 5:30AM to 8PM every 20 minutes (COP$5,900 as of Oct 2023, 45 min).

There is no need to buy the ticket in any of the ticket booths, you board the bus directly in behind the terminal (next to a snacks booth).

There might also be Willys jeeps that take to you Armenia.

Pereira

Leaving from the main bus terminal in Pereira (COP$11,500, 1 hr, Mar 2024)
 * Monday to Friday: every hour (Oct 2023)
 * Weekends and holidays: 6:30AM, every hour between 7:30AM to 6:30PM

If you miss the last bus to Salento, the cheapest option is a bus to Circasia and then a taxi from Circasia to Salento for COP$20,000 (taxi company on the main square of Circasia).

If you're coming from Pereira then Bus Company Flota Occidental will drop you off in Circasia.

If you need to return to Pereira or Armenia, last service is at 6PM from the main square. You can reserve at the Salento bus station to ensure you will have a seat.

Get around

 * Hike
 * Mototaxi: There is one person, Alexis, who carries people around the town and farms in a Mototaxi (Colombia's version of a Rickshaw). Prices vary, but the mototaxi accommodates up to 3 adult people for the same price. Many people in town know the driver and even have his phone number at hand. +57 4-727-2141, 317-467-7735, 300-785-6349

Do

 * Visit one of the many Organic Coffee Fincas that are in the area (take carrera 5, opposite direction to the Mirador).
 * Visit the Mirador - the lookout point. It´s supposed to be one of the best views in Colombia. (Ask in Plantation House for the location of a house with an even better view)
 * Eat Trucha - Trucha is a fish abundant in the region. You can find a plate of Trucha with rice and other sides for COP$10,000 to 20,000, depending on the restaurant and the manner of cooking. Restaurants around the main plaza or "Centro" typically offer Trucha. You can also go to a fish farm and buy or catch your own. However, this may become more expensive.
 * Play Tejo - drinking, throwing metal weights and gun-powder!
 * Further afield - Butterfly house in Calarca or the Guadua (Bamboo research Centre) or even the very touristy National Coffee Park.
 * If you really want something different try pig racing at Panaca.
 * Salento´s fiesta is typically the first week of January. Salento transforms from a sleepy little village to party central.
 * Hike or horseback ride into the Valle de Cocora, one of the most striking landscapes in Colombia. To get there, take a Willys in the main square (COP$4,500, every hour, takes 30 min)
 * Hike or horseback ride into the Valle de Cocora, one of the most striking landscapes in Colombia. To get there, take a Willys in the main square (COP$4,500, every hour, takes 30 min)

Buy
Banco Agraro de Colombia and Bancolombia have an ATM each on the main plaza.

Plenty of local artisans in Salento. Specialities include jewelry, candles and guadua artisania (the local bamboo).

Eat

 * El Rincón de Lucy (on calle 2 between Carrera 4&5) has cheap but rich set lunches for COO$16,000 (Dec 2023).

Drink

 * Weekends - anywhere round the main square - all the bars have beer tents set up.
 * For something different, there's a Tejo bar two blocks from the main square (normally only open at weekends).

Go next

 * Don't miss Valle de Cocora. Here grows Colombia's national symbol, the 60 metre high waxpalms (palma de cera). Every day trucks or jeeps (also called "Willies") go from the plaza Salento to the valley and go back regularly until 6PM (more in weekends), cost is COP$4,000 each way. People who miss these trucks, can sometimes find room on the jeeps leaving the local elementary school at 2PM, bringing students back to their fincas. Likewise, tourists have the option of paying COP$24,000 for jeeps that leave whenever they want. Once at the park, there is a nice halfday hike up to finca Acaima through the cloudforest and back through the valley. The scenery is quite exotic and beautiful due to the wax palms and lovely jungle plants.
 * The nearby Parque Natural Nacional Los Nevados provide ample trekking opportunity. The way of life in the fincas in the park hasn't changed the last 200 years. Most of the fincas in the park offer food and beds for a bargain price.