Top things to do in Salento, Colombia

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 tiny town in the coffee region of Central Colombia, is also painted in color splashes. This quiet yet vibrant town is surrounded by picturesque lush green misty-top mountains. Salento is also the base for the iconic Cocora valley, home to the tallest wax palm trees in the world. If you are wondering how to spend your time there, here are some of the top things to do in Salento. Catch a glimpse of rural Colombia.

Top things to do in Salento

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/Explore 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 reach Cocora Valley from Salento town

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 purple ticket counter and the series of colorful 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 hike(s)

The duration of the hike depends 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 not quite like our 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 a small 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. The amazing part is that there are 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.

Trouts, beer and more

Although Salento is a small town, you will not be disappointed in the food choices available around. 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 you can go a bit more raw and 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 cheap local beer. Poker is a good choice, widely available in Salento.

Shopping from artesanal 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? That is where shopping comes to your rescue. There are many artesanal 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 for the 360 degree view of Salento town and the other side of the valley

The lane on the left of the church, the Calle Real, leads to a series of stairs to ‘el mirador’ or the view point. 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

Being in the coffee region of the country famous for their coffee, a tour of the coffee plantation and production can be a great experience. Book one from the town if you are interested.

Bird watching in the national park

Colombia has an impressive list of tropical birds. In fact, Colombia recently won the Global Big Day, a bird counting competition, fourth year in a row. Salento having access to the national park, makes for a great place for birding tours. Check out the birding tours of the well-reviewed guides from fogwalkers.

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 Los Amigos Tejo Bar. Even if you do not play, you can just buy your beer and get entertained by watching others play.

Salento – Make it happen

How to reach Salento?

Hop on to 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. Then take a private taxi or shared taxi or collectivo/bus to Salento. Otherwise, there are buses from Medellin to Salento as well.

Here is what we did. We flew from Cartagena to Perreira. We hired a taxi from the Pereira airport to the bus station. The lady at Pereira airport arrival help desk helped us by explaining 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.

Where to stay in Salento?

If you plan to spend a few days on budget, Salento is a great choice. In fact, you can plan your whole Colombia travel itinerary on a budget, of course with some occasional splurges thrown in here and there.

We stayed at a B&B named 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 white exterior wall painted with a green motmot.

The room was small but with all the amenities, 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.

Closing thoughts

If you are planning a trip to Colombia, reserve at least a couple of days for Salento. The palms of the Cocora valley, the picturesque mountains surrounding the vibrant Salento town and the tropical mountain climate definitely make the visit worth your time. Content with our idyllic days in Salento, we moved on to our next destination Medellin.

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