Salento is a quaint country town located 25km from the area's capital of Armenia. Renowned for its coffee plantations and jaw dropping landscape this is a perfect little getaway from all the hustle and bustle of some of the big buzzing cities of Colombia. With one main plaza and only about a dozen small side streets it’s extremely easy to navigate around. Don’t expect too much bumping night life, but do expect to see a town rich with country culture, almost straight out of an old western film.
There are several great accommodation options to pick from depending on where you are looking to stay. We ended up staying at a couple places, after unsuccessfully trying to get into La Serrana which is a well known hostel with a great reputation. It's said to be super relaxing because it’s out a bit from town and has some amazing views over the coffee plantations, grasslands and forest (make sure to book ahead). We stayed at Hostel Tralala which is right near the main plaza and was probably the nicest hostel I stayed at along my travels. With great brand new facilities, the most well equipped kitchens I had seen and even had free fresh coffee in the morning for you to brew up! It had a relaxing atmosphere about it, great if you want to escape the party crowds and just enjoy the serenity
Must Do’s
- A coffee tour of one of the many plantations, if you know a bit of Spanish I’d recommend Don Elias, an older cowboy hat wearing, machete hauling local with his own small plantation such a character and such an experience (most accommodation will be able to help with coffee tours)
- An Amazing hike through the Valle de Cocora which is home to the impressively tall Wax Palm trees, this was one of prettiest walks I went on while travelling through South America it was like nothing I had seen before
- Go for drinks at the Aussie owned Speak Easy, super friendly owners, often doing great dinner specials!
- Souvenir shop for some lovely Artisan goods
