Welcome to the hiking paradise of Colombia. Jardín is perfect for shorter, easier day hikes around the village. Jardín is also one of the most beautiful villages in Colombia – or so it seems to us.

Cozy village life

We come to Jardín expressly to relax, as we could do with a short break after the two big cities of Bogotá and Medellín. Jardín is therefore well suited to this plan. The village itself has some pretty cafés and good restaurants, so at least our mouths don’t get bored during the break from traveling forward. The main square of Jardín is an eye-catcher with its beautifully designed green beds and many colorful chairs from the surrounding restaurants. And finally, the church in Jardín is also worth a look. The whole village meets here in the main square at any time of day to linger and chat. This also invites us to sit a little longer in a coffee shop than planned and watch the people.

Hikes around Jardín

Jardín lies in a valley at an altitude of around 2,000m above sea level. There are actually two options for hikes from the village. You can either choose the left or right side of the surrounding hills. For those who are really keen or have little time, both sides of the valley can be hiked in succession on the same day. We opt for two days, as there are beautiful viewpoints with cafés all along the way in Jardín, which invite you to linger and enjoy the magnificent view of Jardín.
The paths are partly steep, partly flat and lead through dense greenery, past banana plantations and along small rivers. We also discover a few waterfalls on our hikes.
For the national tourists, there are of course also jeep tours to the various hiking highlights such as waterfalls or viewpoints. However, we enjoy using our legs for longer distances to get some exercise.

Jardín – is it the village of sewing factories?

During our visit to Jardín, we see two large sewing workshops where at least 50 people are sewing the same T-shirts behind sewing machines in one hall. And we also notice an extraordinary number of other sewing workshops. It’s a good thing we have our pending sewing orders to hand and so we first ask our host family, where we park our campervan Ben, where the nearest sewing shop is. We don’t have to look any further, the sister can do it for us quickly. And so, it slowly dawns on us: could Jardín be the village of sewing shops? Just as many rural villages in Colombia are dedicated to one craft, it is clear to us that Jardín is the village of sewing.

With this decelerated break in Jardín, we are now perfectly recovered for the next adventure. While we are still in Colombia, we want to test the altitude suitability of our campervan Ben. Should something go wrong or not work as desired, Colombia is a country with a relatively good supply of spare parts or other equipment to prepare us for the heights of the Andes, especially in Peru and Bolivia. So, let’s go, our next destination is at 4100m – and we’ll manage this altitude with our own campervan!