GUIDE AND TIPS FOR A TRIP TO THE COFFEE AXIS

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It was one of the destinations we pointed out as essential when planning the trip to Colombia. And we were not wrong. The Coffee Axis called our attention especially, not only for its famous landscapes of green hills full of coffee plantations, but for discovering a unique culture, with traditions that go back hundreds of years and that are preserved today. And then, of course, we were dying to visit their colorful villages and make occasional tastings of their famous coffee! After spending 5 days here we can not recommend you come and then we will share a super guide with a few Tips and recommendations for traveling through the Coffee Axis:

The Coffee Axis is a region of central Colombia that mainly occupies the departments of Caldas, Risaralda and Quindío, and where it shares a culture that revolves around coffee. It is a territory with a special natural charm, with impressive green landscapes and with a model of agricultural exploitation that coexists and takes care of the environment, which has led it to be a UNESCO Heritage Site since 2011 as “Coffee Cultural Landscape”.

Coffee cultivation was implanted in Colombia approximately 300 years ago, but it took root especially in this region for having the ideal environmental conditions to produce an excellent quality coffee, so much that it is considered the best coffee in the world. At present, small coffee farms live with an emerging tourism sector, attracted by its natural beauty but also by its quiet villages, where it is not difficult to fall in love with its colorful architecture with an Antioquia influence.

All this, together with a gastronomy to suck your fingers, makes the Coffee Axis an unmissable destination on a trip to Colombia.

//wikimedia.org

To visit the Coffee Axis you will have to reach one of the three department capitals: Manizales (capital of Caldas), Pereira (capital of Risaralda), or Armenia (capital of Quindío). To do this there are basically two options:

By bus: we use the web www.redbus.co to check schedules and bus lines in Colombia. In our case, we arrived from Bogotá and by bus it was quite a few hours, so in the end we decided on the flight.
By plane: there are direct flights to the airports of Manizales and Armenia both from Bogotá and from Medellín. In addition to these two destinations, Pereira also has a connection with Cartagena and Santa Marta.

Once there, the best without a doubt to move is rent a car. As we will tell you later, the roads are in good condition, it is a safe area and traffic is not a major impediment (except in the two large capitals: Manizales and Pereira, where we do find some retentions). Having your own car gives you absolute freedom to organize your itinerary, change it on the fly and not depend on schedules or public transport.

Our plan was to pick up the car at Pereira airport, where we arrived on a flight from Cartagena, and 5 days later return it to Manizales. We reserve the car rental on the Autoeurope website, basically to find the best offer. We also believe that it is the best way to compare different rental agencies and choose the one you decide. Also in the booking process you can choose to take out insurance that covers the blows probably cheaper than the one offered by the agency itself, and the good thing is that you can cancel the reservation for free up to 48 hours before picking up the car. Do not forget to get the international card and carry a credit card (no debit card).

But if you do not decide to drive, there is also the option of public transport. There are bus lines that connect the main towns of the Coffee Axis, and to reach places of interest, such as the coffee farm, the Cocora Valley, etc., are the so-called Willys, some old Jeeps that serve as urban buses.

Actually there is no ideal station to travel to the Coffee Axis. The weather is humid and temperate throughout the year, so it will always be a good time. Although it usually rains more in spring and autumn. Of course, keep in mind that the weather on the same day changes rapidly, in the period in which we were used to be cloudy sunrise, then it cleared in the late afternoon it rained ... But from what they told us it is not a pattern that Repeat, but here it is very difficult to predict atmospheric conditions. Also remember to bring some coat, at night you can get to cool a lot, and do not forget the raincoat!

We leave you the graph of the climate throughout the year of the city of Armenia, both of maximum and minimum temperatures and rainfall.

There are lots of attractions scattered throughout the three departments of the Coffee Axis. After our time there, these are the places we liked the most:

Salento: It is the ideal point to base and discover the southern zone of the Coffee Axis. It has a lot of atmosphere, a lot of hotel and gastronomic offer, and places of interest in the surroundings.
Filandia: It could be perfectly the image of the typical town of the Coffee Axis, with its colorful houses, its central square full of cafes, and one of the most outstanding churches in the region.
Pijao: It is located in an incredible natural enclave, surrounded by green and coffee hills. It is also called a slow town, so here the rush does not exist. Walking through its streets is a real pleasure.
Car route for the most beautiful villages: it is one of the best plans to know the most interesting corners and the typical landscapes of this area of Colombia.
Trekking through the Cocora Valley: for us, the best we did. It is a trekking of about 12 km that travel this charming valley. You will pass through the mythical palm forests (the national tree of Colombia), through spectacular viewpoints, you will cross jungles, you will cross the river by hanging bridges, you will take a panela water surrounded by hummingbirds and you will take the best memories home.
Visit to one coffee farm: to know first hand the ins and outs of this business, of which more than 600,000 families live throughout Colombia (according to wikipedia data).
Hot springs of Santa Rosa de Cabal: to put the finishing touch to your trip nothing better than enjoying a very hot thermal pool, surrounded by nature and at the foot of a beautiful waterfall.

There are also several theme parks, zoos, botanical gardens, adventure centers, etc ... But we prefer to dedicate the time we had to other types of activities.

This was the tour we did in the Coffee Axis for 4 days:

Day 1: we arrived at the airport of Pereira from Bogotá and we picked up the car. We did not pass through the city and went directly to Salento. We visit the town and enjoy its nightlife. Here we would stay the next 3 nights.

Day 2: dedicated entirely to trekking through the Cocora Valley. We take our 6 hours, although it can be done in less time. You can not miss a good meal at the restaurant Where Juan B, in the restaurant area, at the end of the walk.

Day 3: very early we got into the car and made a route through the most beautiful villages of the Coffee Axis. We pass through Circasia, Buenavista, Pijao, Córdoba, Pueblo Tapao, Montenegro and Circasia, to return to Salento. We leave for the next day a visit to Filandia, although it could also be included on this day.

Day 4: We started by visiting the coffee farm of Sundown (visit in Spanish at 10 and 15), and then we pass by Filandia. After visiting its famous lookout tower and wandering through its beautiful center, we head towards Santa Rosa de Cabal. If it gives time, this same day you can finish it in the Hot springs, which close at 23:30.

Find cheap accommodationin the Coffee Axis here

On the fifth day we deliver the car in Manizales, from where our bus left for Medellín. If you have more time, you can include visits to the Barbas River Canyon, to the Peñas Blancas Ecopark, to one of the botanical gardens (the Pereira and Calarcá ones stand out), to embark on a traditional raft on the La Vieja river from Quimbayao, or even an excursion to the Los Nevados Natural Park for the more adventurous.

As we have told you, something you cannot miss in the Coffee Axis is to visit a coffee farm. There are several farms that open their doors and offer organized visits to teach the processes of growing and brewing coffee. We went to the El Ocaso estate, located near Salento, and we recommend it. The price for the tour is $ 20,000 and, after the visit, you can also buy the coffee they prepare themselves.

Here you have more information about our visit to the El Ocaso coffee farm.

If you intend to rent a car and tour this region at your leisure, you don't have much to worry about. In general, the state of the roads is good. There are a couple of main roads, such as Highway 29 linking North to South Manizales, Pereira and Armenia, which have several lanes in each direction, highway style, and are in excellent condition. The rest of the secondary roads that reach the smallest villages are also well found, with some exceptions, such as the track that reaches the coffee farms of Salento (including El Ocaso), or the last section of the Termas de Santa Rosa de Exact. But as we say, in general they are all paved and traffic is not important.

But friend, this has a price. More specifically the price of being one of the areas of Colombia with the highest tolls. Tolls here are fixed rates, regardless of where you come from or where you go. If you go through a collection booth, you will have to pay the established fee. We go through three tolls with these prices:

Toll Circasia: 13.800$
Toll Tarapacá II: 11.500$
Toll Las Pavas: 10.400$

You will see the specific points on the map we have placed above. More information: //autopistasdelcafe.com/

The influence of the culture of Antioquia can not only be felt in the design of the buildings so characteristic, but we also notice it in the menu menus and in their traditional recipes. But also the ingredients of the land such as trout and powerful dishes predominate to endure a hard day's work like the sancocho.

As we always say, to appreciate another part of the culture of an area, you also have to eat their traditional recipes. So here we tell you what are the dishes that you can not miss on a trip to the Coffee Axis:

Tray paisa: It is the quintessential dish of the Coffee Axis. Combine 9 ingredients in the same dish: beans, rice, ground beef, pork rind, chorizo, fried egg, arepa, fried plantain and avocado.
Warm up paisa: It is usually taken for breakfast and, as the name implies, it is a reheat of the leftovers from the previous day. Which may seem unpleasant, but believe us, it's great! Take an arepa, on which beans, lentils, meat stew and fried egg are placed.
Garlic Trout: mostly it is eaten in the Salento area, where this fish is raised. You can try it in different ways, although we were coaxed with garlic (and if you ask for it with shrimp, you already succeed).
sancocho: another star dish to eat and go directly to sleep. When we asked for it, we didn't give credit because it was giant! It consists of a soup where you will find everything: potato, yucca, banana and meats of all kinds, which is accompanied by rice, salad and avocado.
Tripe: It is another soup, although somewhat lighter, that is prepared with vegetables, rice and a main ingredient that is usually pork.
Sweaty: which refers to the way of cooking meat: cooked. You can try the sweaty chorizos (typical of Santa Rosa de Cabal) or the whole dish with different meats accompanied by rice, cassava, also cooked potatoes, and salad.

There are many restaurants where they prepare these specialties like a charm, here we tell you 5 restaurants to eat in the Coffee Axis.

It is the best memory you can take with you from your trip to Colombia. And it is not a secret that the best coffee in the world is produced here. But where to buy it? You have two options: good at the coffee farm you visit, where you will find your own coffees. Or in one of the specialized stores. These stores are dedicated to finding local farms with small productions but of high quality, so you will see a very varied assortment.

And what coffee to buy? There are many kinds of coffee, and the final taste depends on several factors, such as the type of plant and grain, the process of washing, drying, roasting ... In this way you will have the standard coffee from a plantation (usually called coffee origin) or more special ones, with more fruity touches, stronger flavors, etc ... It is best that you talk to the store or farm staff and they will give you their recommendations.

Here are other sites with useful information for planning your trip to the Coffee Axis:

cultural landscape routescafetero.com
www.colombia.com/turismo/sitios-turisticos/eje-cafetero/
www.ejecafeterocolombia.com.co

These are all ours tips and recommendations for a trip to the Coffee Axis. We hope that our guide of the Coffee Axis will encourage you and help you travel to this magical area of central Colombia, for us a must of the country.