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The town of La Unión is located in the northern part of the department of Valle del Cauca in Colombia. Its main attraction is Grape National Park (Parque Nacional de la Uva).
Introduction to La Unión
La Unión is the home of the largest wine producer in Colombia, Casa Grajales, and an agricultural center known for its abundance of tropical fruits. The town was founded by Juan Jacinto Palomino on January 28, 1604.
Getting to La Unión
There’s frequent transportation to La Unión from Cali and Pereira. We used Trans Andina from Pereira and arrived in less than two hours. Transportadores de Occidente runs the 30 minute route to Roldanillo where you can catch other buses to Cali, Armenia, and Pereira. Buses leave roughly every half hour.
Getting Around La Unión
In town, you can get around on foot. There’s not much to see and you can cover everything in a half hour. The entrance to Grape National Park and the Grape and Wine Museum at Casa Grajales is quite a long walk in the heat but a Tuk Tuk or taxi can take you there quickly if you don’t have a vehicle.
Where to Stay in La Unión
We’ve stayed overnight twice in La Unión. In our experience, the options aren’t that great.
Primaveral del Parque
On our first visit to town in July 2015, we stayed at a small hotel on a corner of the plaza, Primaveral del Parque. It’s not much of a hotel but it was very cheap. The biggest problem was the noise level until the early hours of the morning. Imagine putting a bed in the middle of a nightclub and trying to sleep. On a positive note, it was fairly clean. (Note: apparently, the location of the hotel has changed and it is now located about a half block away from the park.)
Hotel La Cascada
On our second visit to La Unión in December 2021, we stayed at Hotel La Cascada. It has a convenient location just two blocks from the town plaza as well as a parking lot.
Unfortunately, during our stay it barely passed as a functioning hotel. First of all the info at booking was misleading. Our room was supposed to have a sofa and double bed and only had a bed and a pouf, which the guy who checked us in called a sofa (seriously!). We also booked another room for three with a double bed and a single bed. Staff put them in a room with a double bed and a pullout underneath that bed, then offered a bait-and-switch to pay a higher price for a room with three beds.
In the bathroom there was no foot towel to step out of the shower and no hand towels. Also, they should have had enough towels ready for everyone in the room at check-in. If there are two people on the reservation it’s not hard to put two towels in the room. There was one tiny bar of soap to use for both the shower and washing hands. The toilet paper roll was nearly finished at check-in without a replacement in the bathroom. Cockroaches appeared in the bathroom at night.
After a long day traveling the last thing we wanted to do was track down staff for things that should have been done right in the first place. Finally, the hotel contacted me the morning of check-in via WhatsApp to send a bank transfer when I expected to pay at the property as stipulated on Booking.com. I hope my negative review allows them to reassess their practices and change for the better.
Where to Eat in La Unión
There are some good choices for food in La Unión. A few are geared towards tourist visiting Grape National Park but the places locals frequent are also decent. We had a hard time choosing where to eat for dinner.
La Cava Restaurante
La Cava is located next to the entrance of Grape and Wine Museum. It took over the location from Parador Grajales, which we visited on our first trip to La Unión in July 2015. Old magazine clippings and photos adorn some of the walls, and a classic car sits just inside the entrance to the restaurant.
Thankfully, the quality of food has greatly improved with this restaurant. I had chicken topped with a mushroom sauce. It was served with rice, a patacón, and small salad. Marisol had a sandwich. Both of us enjoyed our meals and we would go back again.
Yo Soy Mister
A great place to have dinner is Yo Soy Mister. This large outdoor restaurant has a nice fun vibe that both adults and kids can enjoy as well as excellent service.
Some of the features include a large bamboo building and a playground. They also encourage visitors to take selfies at the umbrella-covered entrance and post it to social media.
The food was delicious. I started off with a cream of mushroom soup and had a Mexican-themed roast beef sandwich filled with beans and caramelized onions. Marisol had a creamed corn soup and a Cuban sandwich. I think we’ll have to visit again if we’re ever in the area in the future.
Panadería Los Marinillos
If you’re looking for a quick and easy breakfast, head to Panadería Los Marinillos, which is on the corner opposite the church on the main plaza. They serve eggs and fresh bread and pastries.
Parador Grajales (Permanently Closed)
Casa Grajales runs a restaurant called Parador Grajales. They serve typical Colombian food. The meal was not that great and neither was the service. Seriously, how appealing is that egg and greasy steak below?
What to Buy in La Unión
Visitors to La Unión can buy locally made products such as grape juice, wine, liqueurs, and sweets. There’s a row of stores selling a good variety of these things across from the Grape and Wine Museum and Casa Grajales factory.
Parque Argemiro Escobar Cardona
The main plaza, Parque Argemiro Escobar Cardona, is a nice space with tall trees to shade visitors from the heat.
In the center of the plaza is a gazebo and bust of the park’s namesake, Argemiro Escobar Cardona. He was a local engineer.
Church of San José
The Church of San José (Iglesia de San José) sits on the southern end of the plaza. It has a nice tall bell tower above the entrance and a beautiful wooden ceiling on the interior.
La Unión Town Hall
The plaza is surrounded mostly by ugly modern concrete buildings, but the old Town Hall (Casa Consistorial) retains its historic look. It’s not in the best of shape but features an upper floor with wooden doors opening out onto balconies.
The Hermitage
A few blocks from the plaza is a small church on a hill, The Hermitage (La Ermita). It was built between 1640 and 1641 by master builder Juan Jacinto Palomino. The church is officially named the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Las Lajas (Santuario de Nuestra Señora de las Lajas) and is a national historic landmark. From the church, there are excellent views of the town and countryside.
