Parque Nacional del Cafe

The coffee region's biggest family attraction sits on a hillside near Montenegro and does two things at once. Half of it is a straightforward amusement park with a wooden roller coaster, a log flume, fairground rides and a cable car that crosses the valley; the other half is a coffee estate turned into a walk-through exhibition, with a museum, a plantation trail, a demonstration of processing from cherry to cup, and a show building used for staged performances. It is unapologetically commercial and aimed squarely at Colombian families, but the setting is genuine coffee country and the cable car crossing is worth the ticket on its own.

What you actually see

• The cable car - a crossing over the valley between the two halves of the park.
• The coffee museum and trail - processing from cherry to roast, on a working slope.
• The rides - a wooden roller coaster, log flume and fairground attractions.
• The show building - staged music and dance of the coffee country.

When to go

Open most of the year but not every day of the week outside holidays, so check the calendar before driving out. Colombian school holidays in late June and July and again from December to January bring long queues for the rides. Arrive at opening and do the rides first, leaving the museum and plantation walk for the afternoon heat.

Honest expectations

It is a theme park, and anyone expecting a quiet farm visit will be put off by the queues, the loudspeakers and the food court prices. The full pass costs several times the basic entry, and basic entry alone leaves you watching other people on the rides. Queues in holiday season are long, and much of the walking is up and down a steep hillside.

Nearby

Armenia, Filandia, Salento and the Quindio botanical garden are all within an hour.