Last updated on March 4, 2024.

Just the thought of an amusement park with a coffee theme was intriguing to me. Parque del Café, part of the UNESCO World Heritage listed Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia, is located in a beautiful green valley in the heart of Coffee Country near the town of Montenegro in the department of Quindío.

Parque Nacional del Café in Quindío, Colombia
Parque del Café

 

Getting There

Getting there is very easy. At the bus terminal in Armenia, there are minibuses buses directly to the park. The ride takes about 30 minutes. You can even buy your tickets for admission to the park at the bus terminal. The park is open until 6pm.

 

Admission

There are several options that allow you to enjoy all of the park or certain attractions. A day pass including all activities in the park costs COP$80,000 for adults and COP$58,000 for children 90 to 120 centimeters in height (as of July 2023). It includes horseback riding and unlimited use of most attractions, including a very colorful traditional dance program that should not be missed. Discounts are available if purchasing tickets online.

 

Entrance

The entrance to the park is at the top of a hill. Once you pass through the gates, there is a small museum about coffee if you are interested. To get to the rest of the park, you have the option of walking down a pleasant path to the attractions or ride either the cable car or chair lift.

Entrance at Parque Nacional del Café in Quindío, Colombia
Entrance
Cable car at Parque Nacional del Café in Quindío, Colombia
Cable car

If you choose to walk down the path you will have a great experience. Along the way, you will see coffee growing naturally and get demonstrations on the entire coffee harvesting and production process. It’s very interesting.

Coffee at Parque Nacional del Café in Quindío, Colombia
Coffee
Coffee seedling demonstration at Parque Nacional del Café in Quindío, Colombia
Coffee seedling demonstration

There is a small section dedicated to the indigenous tombs found in the area as well. It’s cheesy but informative.

Indigenous tombs at Parque Nacional del Café in Quindío, Colombia
Indigenous tombs

 

Plaza de Bolívar

At the end of the path and where the cable car ends is a reconstruction of a small Plaza de Bolívar, complete with a small church that has services on Sunday. All of the colorful buildings represent traditional colonial architecture commonly found in the coffee region.

Church at Parque Nacional del Café in Quindío, Colombia
Church

One side of the plaza has a long stretch of buildings with several reasonably priced restaurants serving traditional Colombian food and other fast food. Another building houses the train station which provides scenic rides around the park grounds.

Restaurants at Parque Nacional del Café in Quindío, Colombia
Restaurants
Train station at Parque Nacional del Café in Quindío, Colombia
Train station

 

Rides

In one path leading from the plaza, you will find such rides as go-karts and a spinning ride. Down another path there are kiddie rides, a rollercoaster, a couple of water rides, and a vertical drop. They aren’t exactly what you’d find at a Six Flags, but they’re fun.

Spinning ride at Parque Nacional del Café in Quindío, Colombia
Spinning ride
Kiddie rides at Parque Nacional del Café in Quindío, Colombia
Kiddie rides
Rollercoaster at Parque Nacional del Café in Quindío, Colombia
Rollercoaster

Further down are more attractions, such as a raging rapids ride, an exciting coaster called Krater, bumper boats, bumper cars, and more go-karts. This is also where the horseback riding begins and the location of a small archaeology museum.

Krater at Parque del Café in Quindío, Colombia
Krater
Bumper boats at Parque del Café in Quindío, Colombia
Bumper boats

 

Getting Out

Getting back to the bus terminal in Armenia can be difficult if you wait too long. There’s no special bus – a local minibus must be flagged down from the small souvenir shops across the street from the park. They’re usually completely full after 6pm. The last bus is at 7:30pm, but there are other options. A colectívo might offer rides for just a bit more money than a minibus, and as a last option there are taxis.

 

Conclusion

Overall, it’s an enjoyable and educational day and worth the price of admission. You have to get there early if you want to do everything, and that may not be possible with the large number of attractions at the park. If I compare Parque del Café to the other theme park in the area, PANACA, I would say overall PANACA is much better and more entertaining. For non-Spanish speaking visitors, however, PANACA is a little difficult to do.

Author

Owner of Paisadventure. World traveler. Chicago sports lover. Living in Colombia.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.