Parque Los Arrieros

Last updated on March 12, 2025.

Parque Los Arrieros is an entertaining theme park in Colombia’s UNESCO World Heritage listed coffee country aimed at protecting the Coffee Region’s culture and heritage. It’s located on the road between the towns of Quimbaya and Montenegro.

Introduction to Parque Los Arrieros

When traveling through the Coffee Region, you don’t hear much about Los Arrieros and it isn’t well publicized, but it has been around since January 2014. The park features several different shows and activities, including comedy shows, singing and dancing, a skills demonstration by arrieros (muleteers) and cowboys, and a nature walk.

Parque Los Arrieros is a relatively new player in the region and it’s a surprisingly good time. It’s a very different experience when compared to more well-known parks such as PANACA and Parque del Café, which although great attractions seem more commercialized and corporate. Los Arrieros is a breath of fresh air and a great way to experience the Paisa culture and humor without the distractions of roller coasters or farm shows. It’s all about the people that make Colombia’s Coffee Region such a wonderful place to visit.

Getting to Parque Los Arrieros

To get to Parque Los Arrieros, having your own transportation is best. If going by bus from Armenia, you can take one heading to Quimbaya and ask the driver to let you off at the entrance to the park. From there, it’s a long walk down a gravel road to the entrance. There’s a hotel at the park if you wish to stay overnight. You can also take a taxi from Quimbaya.

Visiting Parque Los Arrieros

Admission is COP$63,000 for adults and COP$45,000 for kids (as of December 2024). It includes an enjoyable organized day in the park, where you can catch each show by following the directions of the park’s employees. It’s better to arrive earlier to make sure you don’t miss anything. We arrived on a Sunday at around 11:15am and missed half of the first show. Check the official website for more info.

What to Do at Parque Los Arrieros

It’s possible to walk through the park at your own pace, but you would miss the shows so it’s best to follow the suggestions of the employees. The shows are excellent, but unfortunately for non-Spanish speakers, everything is in Spanish. Anyone who isn’t fluent in Spanish would miss a lot of the humor, and that’s the main reason to visit the park.

Characters

There are several characters that visitors become familiar with during their visit to the park and by attending the shows. Each character interacts with guests in a humorous manner and audience participation is encouraged. There’s the town police officer, a sleeping security guard, town drunk, village idiot, and more. They’re quick to think of jokes and good-humored insults to throw at each guest as they walk by.

Shows

Of all the shows, our favorite was the last show at the “town square” where all of the characters put on a hilarious “wedding”. Another favorite was the demonstration by the arrieros, who told about life in the old days and their desire to keep their culture alive.

The very first show is a theatre show. It was fun but it lasted a bit too long. For kids, there’s a puppet show. The ad-lib songs full of jokes and insults aimed at visitors are also a hit.

Cultural Demonstrations

In addition to the shows, there’s an area where you can see panela being made. They crush the raw sugar cane right at the park, and you’ll see the vats filled at different stages of the process.

Another section pays homage to the tradition of alumbrados in Quimbaya. Locals make spectacular homemade lanterns every holiday season on December 7-8. This is done all over Colombia, but Quimbaya is one of the most famous places to see them.

Lunch

Lunch is done cafeteria style, where you pay in advance and get a ticket to pick up your meal. We went directly to the restaurant to put in our order immediately after entering the park.

Our lunch was ready at 1:30. The food was fair at best and some was a little too greasy. The prices were a bit high but that’s to be expected at a theme park. Plates are huge so it’s possible to share. Marisol and I shared a fiambre and an order of chorizo.

Map of Parque Los Arrieros