The Entire Coffee Triangle
Description
Pricing
Itinerary
Sub Trips
Hotels
Take this Colombia tour, you’ll see the entire The Coffee Triangle, or Coffee Farming Region, a geographical area that consists of three Colombian departments, or states: Caldas, Risaralda and Quindío (represented by the capital cities of Manizales, Pereira and Armenia). You’ll take in cathedrals, museums and local roads lined with colorful, colonial farm houses; go on a full-day private tour through hillside coffee plantations; tour one of the area’s coffee producing farms and look in on the plantation and production system there. You’ll also check out a “trilladora” and observe the manual selection of the coffee grains and wrap up your tour with (drum roll) a tasting of some of the world’s finest coffee.
Day 1
Bogotá – Armenia
Transfer to the airport to take your flight to Armenia. Upon arrival transfer to your hotel. After check-in you'll take a private tour of the Quimbaya Museum, where you'll see a collection of gold, ceramic and wooden objects dating back to the first, local settlements.
Day 2
Filandia – Valle del Cocora – Salento – Pereira
After breakfast you'll take a private tour of Filandia (known for basket weaving and its “antioqueńo” architecture) and the Cocora Valley. Located within the central mountain range, the Cocora Valley is part of Los Nevados National Park, home to the wax palm (Ceroxylon quindiuense), a tree that can grow to be as tall as 60 meters. The park also boasts many species of birds—such as the hummingbird, the orejiamarillo and the endangered, palmero parrot. The local roads are lined with colonial farm houses with architecture typical of Colombian coffee growing regions. The colonizers, mainly from Antioquia, built houses with wooden columns, tile roofs, and bamboo and mud walls painted in bright colors during the period of the so-called Antioquian colonization. You'll take a short walk to see the palms before you continue to Salento, characterized by colorful, colonial houses. Transfer to Pereira.
Day 3
Pereira – Chinchina – Coffee Farming Region – Manizales
Full-day private tour through coffee plantations set on steep hills. You'll go to one of the area’s coffee producing farms to see the plantation and production system (harvesting, sun drying and processing). (Harvesting in Colombia takes place year round though the principal harvesting months are: October, May and June.) Colombian plants (mainly of the Arabica variety) yield a delicate, light (and well-appreciated) coffee. The coffee process starts after the beans are placed in a germination facility (for about 75 days) and then put in plastic bags (partially exposed to the sun) until they germinate. The small trees are then planted, and they yield their first fruit in about two years. The fruit is harvested once turns bright red (the indication that it has matured). Once the fruit is picked, the pulp is removed, and the beans are washed and sun dried. (Now, most big producers use machinery to clean and dry the beans.) The beans are roasted on-site, sold in grains, ground and exported (ready for consumption). Visit to a “trilladora” after lunch to observe the manual selection of the coffee grains and take part in a tasting. Transfer to Manizales.
Day 4
Manizales
After breakfast you'll set off on a private tour of the town of Manizales, where you'll see Bolívar Square (and a statue by the sculptor Rodrigo Arenas Betancourt), the cathedral, the Republican-style Palacio de la Gobernación, the former train station (now a university), the cable car station, the current seat of the Faculty of Architecture and the wooden cable-car Torre del Herveo, and more. (The cable car used to travel for 44 miles and mainly transported merchandise.) Transfer to the airport.
Suggested Hotels by City and Category *
|
Armenia (Quindio)
|
| 3-star |
Hotel del Campo o Villa Nora |
| 4-star |
Casa de Campo El Delirio |
| 5-star |
Bambusa |
|
Pereira (Risaralda)
|
| 3-star |
Hotel San Simon, or similar. |
| 4-star |
Hacienda San Jose (suite), Hotel de Pereira (standard room), or similar. |
| 5-star |
Sazagua (Jr. Suite), or similar. |
|
Manizales (Caldas)
|
| 3-star |
Hotel Varuna |
| 4-star |
Hacienda Venecia |
* Subject to confirmation at time of booking
4 days , from £1247
| Occupancy Type |
Standard |
| Double | £1247 |
| Single | £2080 |
Prices shown above are per person, in Sterling (Ł).