Armenia, Colombia 🇨🇴 Gringo's Guide

Everything you MUST know about this small Colombian mountain city...

The city of Armenia is located right at the heart of Colombia’s fabled coffee-growing region. In fact, the whole city itself managed to get itself designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site!

Of course, the above reads a bit like a travel brochure. In fact, this is what my friend who runs a travel agency told me about the place.

In real life, all cities have their positives and negatives. 

Armenia is definitely not for everyone, but you could also do a lot worse, inside and outside of Colombia. 

We're going to do a thorough analysis of this small city, so you can make up your mind on whether it's worth a stay, be it a short one or a longer one. Read on to find out everything you ever wanted to do about Armenia.

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Armenia, Colombia 🇨🇴

Population:

With a metro area population of  just around half a million souls, Armenia is way too big to be a town, and is definitely classified as a small city.

Climate and Topography:

Armenia is at around 1480 up to 1550 or so meters of elevation, and is roughly west of Bogotá, at 4.3 degrees of latitude. Because of this, it enjoys extremely pleasant temperatures year-round. Temperatures during the afternoon usually peak at around 23 C or 73 F. 24-hour lows usually sit at around 16 C or 61 F. 

The Achilles' heel of Armenia's weather is, of course, the rain.

Like its neighboring cities of Manizales and Pereira, it rains quite a bit in the city of Armenia. It's highly recommended to never leave your home base here without an umbrella. The more cold-blooded among you may want to also use a light jacket or sweater. 

Also, because of the specific elevation of this place, it frequently finds itself in the middle of a fog belt. People of course also have mixed feelings about this, as the fog can be beautiful and romantic, especially with the right person at your side! Of course, it can also be hard to get around the fog. And, since you're literally in the middle of a cloud, many people find the humidity to be uncomfortable when this happens.

The city itself is very hilly, once again, as is every place in this part of Colombia. It's not as bad as Manizales, though, where almost every street in the city has steep ups and downs.