Salento, Colombia and Cocora Valley Itinerary: Kid-Free Couple's Getaway

If you’re looking for the most beautiful views in Colombia, you need to add Salento, Colombia and nearby Cocora Valley to your bucket list.

My husband and I took a kid-free trip to South America in 2023, and this was one of our stops. It had everything we were looking for in a couple’s getaway: adventure, insane views, one of the coolest hotel rooms we’ve ever experienced, cultural experiences, and amazing food.

Salento, Colombia is a bit more remote and harder to reach, so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this as a weekend getaway, but it would be perfect as one stop on a longer itinerary around Colombia or other stops in the Caribbean or South America.

As a mom of 4, I LOVE traveling with my kids. I travel with my kids every spring break, every summer vacation, and I even take them on individual birthday trips. But sometimes it’s nice to reconnect as a couple and experience new places without having to worry about getting snacks or chasing after little ones.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time as a couple in Salento, but make no mistake! The entire time we kept saying how much the kids would love both Salento and Cocoro Valley, the willy Jeeps, the colorful town that inspired Encanto, and the crazy views. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if I returned someday to experience this place alongside my kids.

But for now, I’m sharing exactly how to visit Salento Colombia, where to stay, what to do, and tips to know before you go.

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About Salento

Salento, Colombia is the gateway town to Cocora Valley where you’ll find the tallest wax palm trees in the world!

Salento itself is magical, too. It’s the inspiration behind the town in the Disney movie Encanto with colorful buildings and a lively plaza where the Willy Jeeps wait to take visitors to Valle de Cocora.

We stayed for 2 nights in Salento, but we arrived super early on our first day, so we almost had 2 and a half days there. I would recommend 2 or 3 nights - that should be plenty of time to do everything you want to do!

Getting There

We flew United Airlines, and Colombia was a stop on the way back to Chicago from our longer stay in Ecuador.

We flew into the Armenia airport via Bogotá, then hired a taxi through our hotel to take us to Salento, the gateway town to Cocora Valley. The airport taxi was an add-on service for an extra fee when we booked our hotel.

If your hotel doesn’t offer transportation, you can take a bus or book your own taxi. After landing at the airport in Armenia, take a taxi to the Armenia Transportation Terminal where you can take the bus to Salento.

You can also book your own private transfer via GetYourGuide.

Where To Stay

We stayed at Mirador del Cocora in Salento, Colombia.

This hotel is at the top of a hill in Salento, giving it the best panoramic view in town. From the front of the hotel it looks like just another cute hotel in town, but the view from the back will take your breath away.

We booked the best room in the hotel - the Balcón del Río which has a private balcony with a jacuzzi, and floor to ceiling windows with remote controlled curtains.

Instead of heading to the breakfast area, we ordered room service so we could enjoy coffee and breakfast on our balcony. Nothing like an alfresco breakfast with the sounds of nature and stunning views!

The service was excellent. They helped us arrange transportation to and from the airport, and stored our bags before we checked in and after checkout.

The only downside of this hotel is that it’s located at the top of a hill, so anytime we were walking back from an adventure or a meal in town, we were huffing and puffing from the exertion of climbing a hill!

Things to Do in Salento and Cocora Valley

Hike in Cocora Valley

To get to Cocora Valley, you need to head to the town square in the morning and buy tickets for the colorful Willy Jeeps. Looking at the time stamps from my photos, it looks like we bought our tickets at 8:40 for a 9:00 a.m. departure.

The process is very informal, so get to the plaza 20-30 minutes before you want to leave to give yourself time to stand in a short line to buy tickets, then wait for the Willy Jeeps to start filling up. The drivers will shout out where they’re going, and people hand over their tickets and climb into the Jeep.

We loved riding in the back of the Jeep with several other passengers, and if you’re brave enough you can even hang off the back of the Jeep as it’s driving.

After about a 30 minute drive, the Jeep will park in a parking lots, and the drivers will point you in the direction of Cocora Valley. Just follow the crowd from your Jeep if you’re confused.

Eventually you’ll reach the entrance where you’ll pay a fee to enter and you can study the 2 main hiking trails on the map. We chose the shorter hike, choosing just to do the loop instead of hiking all the way up to the finca.

The views of the wax palms towering above you set against the backdrop of rolling green mountains and moody clouds is like nothing else I’ve ever seen in the world.

There are also so many fun, albeit cheesy, photo ops along the way to enjoy.

We noticed other people doing horseback riding tours, so if that’s something you’re interested in there are plenty of options to book.

Mirador de Salento

One of the best viewpoints within Salento itself is Mirador de Salento. Lucky for us, it was right by our hotel! We walked over on our first evening and grabbed some food and a cocktail at one of the restaurants. I think it was Café y Otras Delicias, and we sat on the upper deck enjoying a view of the city.

Tour a Coffee Farm

Salento is located in Colombia’s Coffee Region, known as the Eje Cafetero. There are several coffee farm tours to choose from, and we ended up choosing Finca el Ocaso.

We took another Willy Jeep from the main plaza, but you could also walk from Salento, as it’s a nice 1.5 hour walk. We chose the Jeep because there was a chance of rain (and it did POUR on our way back to town).

On the tour we learned all about how coffee is made, saw the machinery they use, and we even got to pick our own coffee beans! I learned my lesson the hard way, though: BRING BUG SPRAY. We didn’t, and got eaten alive as we were harvesting beans.

At the end you get to make and sample your own coffee, which was so fun. Make room in your suitcase to bring some coffee home!

Walk around Town and See the Colorful Houses

Salento is one of the towns that inspired the movie Encanto, so we spent some of our time just wandering around town taking pictures and videos for our kids.

The town is just so colorful, bright, and cheerful, and every time you turn a corner you want to gasp at how beautiful the buildings are.

Go Shopping on Calle Real

If you’re on the lookout for souvenirs (to bring back for your kids, maybe?), Calle Real is the best spot. There are endless shops with toys, magnets, clothes, postcards, textiles, and more.

Be sure to have some cash on you, just in case. We found that several of the vendors took cards, but you always want to be prepared.

Plaza de Bolivar

The main square where you go to buy tickets for the Willy Jeeps is called Plaza de Bolivar. If you have some extra time, be sure to come here just to walk around, visit Carmen Church towering over the town square, or stop in one of the restaurants along the square for a cup of coffee.

We loved our visit to Salento, Colombia and hope to return someday with our kids!

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Emily Krause is a Florida-based travel blogger who writes about exploring the world with kids. On A Mom Explores you’ll find best family travel destinations, Disney World tips, and how to make travel with babies and toddlers a little easier.

Emily believes that exploring starts in our own backyards, and adventure can happen anywhere with the right mindset.