valle de cocora, CO

You’ve seen the pictures of this place. You know what it is. It is widely blasted all over Instagram by your favorite or least favorite travel influencers and bloggers. It’s the place with the really tall, skinny palm trees. I wasn’t all that excited to go here, I thought it was going to be a lot of touristy hype bullshit. But I was so surprised by it. It’s a stunning piece of nature here. The valley is full of these huge skinny palm trees that are so dauntingly large they don’t look real. The fog and clouds come into the valley covering and uncovering the forest that feels like it engulfs you. Making you feel small. It’s an awe dropping thing to see. I nearly didn’t go because I thought it was a lot of tourist hype and I will say it’s worth it. Now when you are there, there is some bullshit going on. There’s a lot of weird touristy things they have done all over the place for people to take pictures with. Like a big hand that people walk up to and stand on for a picture like some giant is holding them over the valley. I think this kind of stuff is really dumb and it seriously detracts from the natural beauty of the place but hey, it is what it is and it is Colombia. They love to build things like this in tourist locations. When you are in the park you can take a few different hiking routes. Some are longer than others and some are shorter. There’s a 4 hour or so loop that will take you all around the valley and if you have time, it’s the best way to see the whole valley. But you don’t need a guide or anything so you can go as far or as short into it as you want. There are beautiful views and lookout points all along the path and you can turn around whenever you want. 100% should be on your list for a day trip.

GENERAL OVERVIEW

LOCATION - The Valle de Cocora or the Coroca Valley is one of the most popular destinations in all of Colombia. To get here is really easy, thats assuming that you are already in the town of Salento. No one really comes here without first coming to Salento. So you might want to head over to the Salento page if you dont already know how to get there. To get here from Salento however is the only thing you will need to know or will learn here.
- BY RED JEEP - there are these jeeps around Salento, they are primarily red jeeps and all you need to do is find one of them to take you over to the Valley. Once in the valley its pretty straight forward as the place is 100% set up for tourism. The Jeeps are called Willys, and they will cost you about 6,000 COP or $1.5 USD. The ride takes about 30 minutes. These are shared cars and will leave when they are full.

ACCOMODATION - I wouldn't recommend staying here in the Valley. You can find relatively expensive hotels in the valley that are beautiful, but I would say stayin Salento.

EATS - This is more of a tourist attraction than a town. There are some little snacks you can get here but for the most part, you wont be coming here to do anything other than look at those huge palm trees.

NIGHTLIFE - This is a national park.

SIGHTS - You're here to see the world's tallest and skinniest palm trees. That's all. This place is the sight. Walk around, do the hikes and just awe at these amazing things. Check out the Alltrails for your options when it comes to hikes. Theres a bunch of different lookout points and stops along the way that are great for taking photos etc. NOTE - don't be one of those assholes that rides a horse. Just walk and don't be a lazy person.

SURFING - Sadly this place is full of palm trees with not a wave in sight.