The pretty little town of Jardín was probably our favourite place in Colombia. There’s just something about this town that makes you happy. Maybe it is the lively main plaza where locals congregate at colourful tables drinking coffee or beer, or the pretty cobbled streets and their perfectly painted houses. Maybe it is the local gauchos cantering down the street on their horses, the luscious green hills or the constant sunshine. (I’m sure it does rain in Jardín, as the surrounding hills are so green and lush, but I just can’t think picture it.) Or maybe it’s a combination of the above. We just loved it all.
While Jardín is only a 3.5 – 4 hour bus ride away from Medellin, surprisingly the town doesn’t get many tourists. And maybe this is the best part of all?!
Things to Do / See
Our favourite activity was sitting at one of the cafes in the main plaza, sipping a cold cerveza and people watching. Whilst it was tempting to do that all day long, we did move and explore the town and some of its surrounds.
Jardín’s quaint streets, colourful houses and stunning scenery are a photographer’s dream and I struggled to put the camera away.
From the town you can take La Garrucha Cable Car up into the hills. This is a bit of an adventure as the cable car is an old rickety wooden thing but the ride is short and it is fun. Once at the top you are rewarded with beautiful views of the town, there’s also a little café where you can grab a cold drink. We skipped the café and wandered further up into the hills, although we didn’t find much apart from a few houses and a few cute stray dogs.
The dogs of Jardín (as we found to be the case with most dogs in South America) are pretty friendly. Show them a bit of love and they become your best friend. One dog in particular took a real liking to Daz and followed us on several occasions. We would eventually lose her but never for long. Each time she spotted us again she would sprint straight towards Daz basically pushing me out of the away. Although we would call them stray dogs, it really felt like they were the town’s dogs and we saw locals playing with them and feeding them.
Speaking of animals, in Jardin we encountered one of the most unusual birds I have ever seen, Gallitos de las Rocas (in English cock of the rock birds) which can be seen at Reserva Natural Gallito de la Roca. The reserve is on a private property which can be accessed for a small fee. The lovely owner which we met and who briefly took us around only spoke Spanish but from what we understood the birds just fly down to the forest from the mountains at certain times of day. The opening times of the reserve coincide with the usual timing of when the birds fly in. The reserve is located on the outskirts of town and from memory is open from 4-6.30pm.
For another view point and a little exercise you can hike up to Mirador de Cristo Rey. We attempted it but due to lack of directions got lost and ended up abandoning the walk.
One of the main attractions around Jardín is La Cueva del Esplendor (the Cave of Splendour). The cave is usually visited as a day trip with a guide and you can either hike to it or go by horse. We opted not to do it in favour of some needed trip planning time but I do regret not going. Firstly, because this was one of our chances to do horse riding in Colombia which was on my list but we didn’t end up doing anywhere. And secondly, because the cave with the waterfall inside it are meant to be quite special. It is the cave of splendour after all!
Where to Eat /Drink
A cerveza in the main plaza is a must and all the bars look good.
For food, there were some very good places:
- Café Europa de Jardín – tiny little restaurant with delicious pizza. The place is always full so it is best to arrive early.
- La Trucheria – as the name suggests the restaurant specialises in trucha (trout). The place is also a trout farm. We visited for lunch and had the restaurant all to ourselves. The trout was deep fried but tasty and we had a number of side dishes including patacones (double friend plantains).
- Bon Appetite – simple but fresh pastas and Asian type stir-fries. We ate here a couple of times.
- Trigo y Centeno – savoury and sweet crepes. Delicious!
Where to Stay
Little tourism means that there are not many hostel options in Jardín. We stayed at Sgt Pepper’s Hostel which was not far from the main plaza. The hostel was nice and clean with a comfortable room, friendly staff and a decent breakfast. The WiFi was pretty bad though so we did most of our travel research in the main plaza where there was free WiFi open to everyone.
Isabel
Loved it and the photos are amazing as always and to think that is so near Medellin!
jennyval82
Thank you as always for your lovely comments Isabel 🙂