Zona Cafetera

Traditional countryside home in the coffee growing area. Colombia

Zona Cafetera, usually referred to as "Eje Cafetero", is a world heritage listed coffee-growing region in the Andino region of Colombia, which covers parts of four departments:

Caldas has many natural resources including mercury, gold, silver, coal, sulfer, zinc, and many other minerals.

Quindío

Risaralda is very well known for the high quality of its coffee, and a booming industry: clothes, food, trading of goods and services. The territory is very mountainous and has many kinds of climate in a very small area. It is a fast growing economic center.

Tolima

Cities and towns

Caldas

• 1 Manizales - The capital with a population of 430,000.
• 2 Chinchina

Quindío

• 3 Armenia
• 4 Calarca
• 5 Quimbaya
• 6 Salento — A sleepy little town of 4000 or so inhabitants, perched on a hill in "La Zona Cafetera", 24 km from Armenia and 60 km from Pereira (pronounced Pay Ray Da), beside the valley of the river Quindío, after which the department (state) of Quindío is named.
• 7 Valle de Cocora

Risaralda

• 8 Pereira - capital
• 9 Santa Rosa de Cabal

Tolima

• 10 Ibagué — "the musical city of Colombia" is home to one of the nation's classic conservatoriums
• 11 Melgar — a popular weekend retreat for the inhabitants of Bogota

Other destinations

Large rivers originate from the perennial snow of the Parque de los Nevados

• Los Nevados close to Manizales is where you have to go if you want to touch snow or if you want to see that one can climb an altitude of 5000 m by car.

Get in

La Nubia Airport (MZL ^IATA)

See

Risaralda

• The Farm of Noe
• Otun Lake
• Hot springs of Santa Rosa de Cabal
• Marked Stones of Alto del Toro
• Natural park "Los Nevados"
• Natural Reserve "Otun - Quimbaya"
• Orchids Garden Tsubota

Do

Quindío

• To the north-west of Quindío's capital lies the spectacular Valle de Cocora where visitors can walk amongst forests of the world's tallest palm tree and the national tree of Colombia; the wax palm.
• For further natural excursions, the expansive Los Nevados National Park provides high mountain peaks, topped with snow; the perfect habitat for the elusive but majestic Andean Condor.

Colombian National Coffee Park

• The National Coffee Farm offers theme-park rides and tours
• The Panaca animal petting farm
• The "Mariposario" or Butterfly Park