What to do in Manizales: Tourism and tourist sites to visit

Manizales is well known for its culture, its history, and its events. In it you can do historical tourism for its monuments since they are symbols of the paisa culture that reflect the origins of its city, you can also visit one of the cathedrals with the most beautiful architecture in Colombia and finally know its incredible natural resources such as the Nevado del Ruiz, one of the main active Colombian volcanoes.

Because this beautiful coffee city has a very wide range of tourist sites, we have put together this guide grouping them by proximity so that you can see several per day. Once you know about our tour of Manizales, we leave you a list of the sites mentioned in this tourist guide in case you want more information about any of them.

Day 1:

Visit the Cathedral Basilica of Manizales, visit the Gold Museum, the Monument to the Colonizers, and other emblematic places in the history of Manizales

Start the tour by heading towards the historic center of Manizales in Plaza Bolívar, which is located on Carrera 22 with Calle 21. This is a large pedestrian square that adjoins the Caldas Government building, the Palace of Justice, and the Basilica Cathedral. Our Lady of the Rosary of Manizales. In the center of the square you can take a photo with the statue of the condor or also called the "Bolívar Condor"; a particular monument tribute to the Liberator Simón Bolívar that was elaborated by Rodrigo Arenas Betancourt on December 10, 1991.

To the south of the square is the entrance to the Metropolitan Basilica Cathedral, it is a construction with incredible Gothic-style architecture, and its 106 meters high makes it the tallest cathedral in Colombia. Inside it, you must go to "The Polish Corridor" which is a caged corridor with 464 stairs that when going up allows you to have a panoramic view of the entire city.

Once you leave the basilica, go to the Gold Museum which is located diagonally to the square inside the Banco de la República building in Manizales. It is a museum with a very beautiful exterior that is preserved and protected by the bank, its access is free and inside the place, you can see exhibitions of goldsmith pieces from the Quimbaya Culture.

While you go through each site and take good pictures, you can spend about three hours, then continue the tour walking two squares to the Caldas Art Museum, which is located next to the main entrance of the Los Fundadores Theater. It is a museum of Colombian popular art that has approximately 280 works in its permanent collection. Its hours are from Monday to Saturday from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm and admission is free.

Walking 20 minutes from the museum is the Cyprus Viewpoint. It is a panoramic tower located in the Chipre neighborhood that was previously a water tank. In this emblematic park, you can go up to the top of the tower to have a panoramic view of the city and the snow-capped mountains while you have lunch in the restaurants on the square.

In the afternoon, the tour ends by visiting the monument to the colonizers located on Avenida 12 de Octubre, three blocks from the Torre de Cyprus. It is one of the icons of Manizales, it represents the founding of the city by the Antioquian colonizers. Access is free but we recommend that you visit it with the guides who are at the entrance, they tell you the history of the paisas that colonized Manizales and how they crossed the mountain.

Day 2:

Walk through the aerial cable station, go to the Torre de Herveo and walk through the important parks in Manizales

Start the second day riding the Manizales cable car. Although it is a means of transportation for the inhabitants of the neighborhoods located on the mountain, the aerial cable has also become one of the things to do when visiting Manizales. The route consists of three stations that cross the city; To begin, go to the Fundadores station located on Santander Avenue with Calle 32 near the Immaculate Conception Basilica. There you take the cabin that will take you to the other stations, you go through each one without getting off until the last one where you arrive at the town of Villa María, and in this one, you return.

After the ride through the cable car system, you should go to learn about the history of the old railway station located in the current building of the Autonomous University of Manizales near the Palogrande stadium. You can walk from the Fundadores station because it is only 40 minutes away. There is the Torre de Herveo which, due to its antiquity and its history, was declared a National Monument of Colombia.

On the way to the old station, you can make a stop at Parque de la Mujer as it is one of the two most important parks in the city. It is located on Santander avenue halfway; in it, you can spend a pleasant time in the food court, have lunch at noon in the restaurants, and if you are a woman look for your name in different places in the park.

In the afternoon, take a taxi to the water park, which is located at the opposite end of the old railway station. It is a recreational space with 6 interactive fountains designed to raise awareness about water care. It has paths in the middle of beautiful gardens ideal for walking and two viewpoints with views to the east of the city. This park was previously known as Parque Olaya Herrera and is located on Centennial Avenue near the Manizales bullring.

Day 3:

Visit the hot springs of Manizales

On the third day, make the perfect plan to relax with your partner, family, or friends, and that is to visit the hot springs. 30 minutes from Manizales in the direction of the snow different spas have built natural pools with the waters of the thermal springs. Since the Nevado del Ruiz is an active volcano, it causes the water to sprout in this area known as the Iron Mine and is channeled into the pools at an average temperature of 38 °C.

Most of the spas also function as hotels where you can buy a pass to stay in the hot springs during the day. Some of them have restaurant services, massages, and accommodations for travelers. The two best-known places are Termales Tierra Viva and Termales el Otoño.

Day 4:

Trekking in the Los Nevados and Nevado del Ruiz National Natural Park

If you are a lover of sustainable tourism and appreciate the wonders of nature, a plan that you must do on the fourth day is to visit the Nevado del Ruiz within the Los Nevados Natural Park. The entrance to the park is 90 minutes from Manizales; As this is a plan that you cannot do in a single day, we indicate different alternatives.

The Nevados Natural Park is made up of several snow-capped peaks such as the Santa Isabel Nevado, the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, the Tolima Nevado, and paramillos such as the Paramillo del Quindío. If you want to do a one-day tour, you should only go to the Santa Isabel snow-capped peak, which is 4,700 meters above sea level, where you can reach the edge of the Glacier. To make this plan you must go to Santa Rosa de Cabal in Risaralda the day before because most tours leave at 4:00 am.

Some agencies can sell you medium and high mountain trekking tours in Los Nevados National Natural Park heading towards Nevado del Ruiz but they last between 3 and 4 days.

You will find tropical glaciers and páramo ecosystems with cloud forests where water is produced. Remember that to do this type of plan you must wear sportswear suitable for the cold and have a basic level of physical condition.

Other tour options take you by car to the closest part of the snow where it is allowed to enter by vehicle. They are also plans for a day where you can take photos of Nevado del Ruiz and appreciate a part of the ecosystem.

Day 5:

Ecoparks, nature reserves and more nature parks

There are other ecological parks that you can visit very close to Manizales. In some you can spend the whole day so we leave several of them for you to schedule:

• Pen of Thought
• Los Alcázares Arenillo Ecopark
• Black Lagoon Theme Park
• Río Blanco Nature Reserve
• Los Yarumos Ecopark
• El Prado Popular Forest