Location: Manizales
Top Things to do in Manizales
What to do and see in Manizales, Colombia: The Best Places and Tips
Manizales (Spanish pronunciation: [maniˈsales]) is a city and municipality in central Colombia. It is the capital of the Department of Caldas, and lies near the Nevado del Ruiz volcano.
Restaurants in Manizales
1. Cafe Tio Conejo
Overall Ratings
5 based on 77 reviews
Come visit us! We are providers of memorable experiences expressed with coffee. Everything you want to know about coffee is here and we want to share with you a great time, while walking along the trails, eating our famous food or drinking delicious coffee. Sharing our life, our culture and what we do opens spaces to also know you and become friends. We provide a tailored experience, that is why, an appointment must be made before getting to the farm
Reviewed By rapha_y_nici - Canton of Zurich, Switzerland
We read several reviews for different fincas and decided to do the two day tour of Tio Conejo due to it's familiar set up. On their page we just wrote them a quick message that we are interested and they replied immediately by e-mail with...MoreThank you so much for such detailed report!! We appreciate it a lot!! We are very sorry coffee was not available all the time, we will make sure in the future, coffee is presented more often
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 637 reviews
Reviewed By JOHNsit0 - Manizales, Colombia
When you learn that this Cathedral is the largest Church built in concrete in the world, you think that people in this town located so far and so high in the Mountains is really brave! At that time Colombia did not even have roads to communicate to the world
3. Nevado del Ruiz
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 334 reviews
Reviewed By GuanabanaTeam - Medellin, Colombia
Visiting the Nevado del Ruiz will be forever one of the greatest experiences of our groups lives. The sceneries on the way up are beautiful and fascinating. At the top we felt like we are in another planet. Park rangers were totally professional, friendly, and very knowledgeable. This was a great expedition, a must-do experience for everybody visiting the region.
4. Recinto del Pensamiento
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 337 reviews
Reviewed By podrozniczka60 - New Jersey
Amazing hidden gem became available to us when we stayed a few days in the local hotel. Recinto del Pensamiento is interesting and delightful. It was created by the Caldas Coffee Producers Committee.There are a few options on how you can visit it. The best is to choose is "Hiking with Chairlifts: $ 21,000". The chairlift travels over the lush impressive canopy. At the top of the hill one can visit a coffee house. It is a great place for amazing bird-watching. You can sit in a comfortable chair, sip your cup of coffee, take in the aroma of fragrant flowers surrounding you and watch the tropical birds right in front of you. That is usually followed by visiting the Gardens and hiking the trails down . Do not miss the butterfly pavilion. Orchard of aromas, bonsai garden, Ecological path, Orchid forest, Mirador de las aves are just a few of the enchanting attractions of the Recinto del Pensamiento. The guides are pleasant and knowledgeable. Our tour was in English.
Upon descending you can stop in the large bamboo pavilion (Pabellón Zeri) and the charming chapel or watch emus and other animals.
5. Cable Aereo Manizales
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 149 reviews
Reviewed By Wendy W - East Greenbush, New York
The Cable Aereo of Manizales was very easy to get on to, along the way it shows you a wonderful view of Manizales. It has stops depending on where you need to get off. We were heading to Villa Maria it was a fast and economical ride.
6. Monumento a los Colonizadores
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 215 reviews
Reviewed By podrozniczka60 - New Jersey
It took for sure the pioneer spirit and courage to first settle in this beautiful mountaneous region of Colombia. Monumento a los Colonizadores portrays this very well. It reminds me somewhat similar monument in Lisbon, Portugal - Padrão dos Descobrimentos.People come here for the views of the city.
7. Coffee Tour Hacienda Venecia
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 214 reviews
Betwen Medellin and Salento Located 20 minutes away from Manizales, Hacienda Venecia is a working coffee farm with the intention of providing an educational and informative experience of both the coffee making process as well as coffee farm life. Whilst sharing our coffee knowledge it is important and valuable for the local community to be inspired by the worldwide experiences your visit brings. Also we offer accomodation in a Hostel, Guest House and in Main House fiting all bugets, with meals and open kitchen, swimming pool, Coffee book library, WIFI, hammocks, games, honesty bar, perfect place for hiking in coffee plantations.
Reviewed By MBtlr - Brisbane, Australia
We did the coffee tour of Hacienda Venecia and had an enjoyable experience. They provide tons of information of the process of growing coffee and the various stages of processing the beans.
At the start of the tour, you sit in the on-site coffee shop and sample the coffee grown on the farm while the guide explains the various types and origins of coffee. Afterwards, you go for a walk through the coffee trees and see some of the different varieties that they grow on-site. Then you make your way down to the buildings where they process, dry and roast the beans, getting them ready for export.
It was great to get to see the various stages of the production process, and getting to sample some of the coffee grown on-site was a treat as well. The guide we had, while knowledgeable, was pretty lack-luster as far as the energy and enthusiasm was concerned.
It was also bucketing down rain on the day we did the tour and the roads into the farm and throughout the property were a muddy disaster. I was surprised that they didn't offer rubber boots for the tour, which they did on other tours we did in the region (Jardin). There were people wearing flip-flops and street shoes that were destroyed by the end of the tour. If it is/has been raining when you go for the tour, definitely wear hiking boots or something that you don't mind getting super muddy.
The strangest part of the tour was at the end, when they explained the options for getting back into Manizales. They offer transport out of the farm at 2PM and 5PM. If you leave at 2PM (which we did), they will drive you up to the top of the farm access road and literally drop you off on the side of the highway. You then have to wait for a local bus (and hope that you're able to flag one down) or try your luck at finding a taxi. I was pretty surprised that they just unceremoniously kicked us out on the side of the highway in the pouring rain and then took off - not exactly what I would expect as far as door-to-door transport goes for a tour in this price range (50,000 COP per person). Apparently if you wait until the transport at 5PM, they will drop you off in the center of Manizales, but that is a long time to spend at the farm after the tour has finished.
It's certainly a cool tour to do if this is the only opportunity you will have to see a coffee farm in Colombia. With some improvements it could be a fantastic tour but it's not quite there yet.
8. Plaza de Bolivar
Overall Ratings
4 based on 156 reviews
Reviewed By podrozniczka60 - New Jersey
Visiting Manizales is impossible and incomplete without the visit to the Bolivar Plaza. Graceful and well designed square seems to be the hub, The main landmark is Bolívar condor - meaningful and loaded with symbolism central monument. On the eastern side of the square, near the Banco Agrario building there is another interesting accent - Adam and Eve by famous Guillermo Botero. On the north side of the square there are two murals also by the sculptor Guillermo Botero. Basilica Cathedral Our Lady of the Rosary of Manizales is definitely the anchor the south side. There are also eye catching art deco buildings.
9. Torre de El Cable
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 124 reviews
Reviewed By podrozniczka60 - New Jersey
Originally called Herveo Tower this interesting structure exemplifies unusual but very fine concept of keeping an old no longer functional cable tower from another location like a monument to means of public transportation. In in 1996 it was declared a National Monument. The structure is wooden but well maintained and restored.
10. Iglesia de la Inmaculada Concepcion
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 51 reviews
Reviewed By Jeremarkus - Geneva, Switzerland
This is a beautiful church on a busy square/park next to a big shopping mall. The church is pretty inside and out.
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