Pereira

The undisputed coffee king of Columbia sits perched high betwixt the soaring peaks of the Colombian Massif, the Cordillera Central to the east, and the Cordillera Occidental to the west. It’s washed over by the temperate breezes that flow through the central corridor of the country’s so-called Coffee Zone: a land of rolling plantations, charming fincas (old Spanish farming houses) and alluring Termales de Santa Rosa and Termales San Vicente nearby.

In the city itself, palm-lined plazas abut advancing apartment blocks, students bond around aromatic brews in the cafes of the Avenida Santander and quindio wax palms pepper the parks at Olaya Herrera and El Mirador. Weaving through, Pereira tourist guides escort clusters of travellers between the exhibits of Matecana Zoo, the historic reaches of Bolivar Square (where the town was founded way back in 1540!) and the buzzing central vein of the Avenidas Las Americas. What’s more, here flavours also take on a vibrant note, with spicy chorizos from Santa Rosa de Cabal suffused with juicy gaucho steaks and trout river fish from the mountains, all washed down with oodles Columbian cerveza and tamarind-touched cocktails in the bars about the Avenida Circunvalar.