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Salento: Colombia's Most Beautiful Coffee Village

Salento — 30 km from Armenia — is the jewel of the Coffee Region; the painted bahareque buildings, the flower-covered balconies, the walk to the Cocora Valley's wax palms, and the village's artisan crafts make it Colombia's most visited small town

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1
Calle Real Painted Houses
Salento's Calle Real – the main street leading to the mountaintop mirador – is lined with bahareque houses painted in vibrant yellows, blues and greens with carved wooden balconies overflowing with flowers; it is one of Colombia's most photographed streets
2
Valle de Cocora Wax Palms
Valle de Cocora - reached by jeep from Salento - is where the wax palms grow to their greatest concentration; the misty valley with impossibly tall palm trees emerging from the cloud forest is Colombia's most iconic natural landscape
3
Cocora Hummingbird Sanctuary
The Acaime Hummingbird Sanctuary - in the cloud forest above Cocora Valley - has feeding stations that attract up to 15 hummingbird species; the 3 hour hike from Salento to Acaime through the palm trees and cloud forest is one of Colombia's finest walks
4
Craftsmanship
Salento's craft shops on Calle Real sell the region's traditional handicrafts — wax palm fiber weavings, hand-carved wooden coffee accessories, and the coffee region's colorful handmade jewelry; the craftsmanship quality and cultural authenticity is high
5
Trout Farming and Kitchen
The mountain streams above Salento are farmed for rainbow trout (trucha) — the fresh trout from the farms above the coffee zone are prepared in Salento restaurants as trucha a la plancha, trucha al ajillo, and in arequipe (caramel) sauce
6
Hilltop Mirador View
The 253-step staircase at the end of Calle Real leads to the Salento mirador — the vantage point of the city's colored roofs, coffee hills and wax palms in the distance is Salento's most iconic view and one of Colombia's most beautiful panoramas