Things to do in Manizales: the tower you can climb, the cable car locals commute on, and the airport 59 kilometres away
Manizales is the coffee region city most people drive past, and the reason is partly that its own airport cannot take their flight. La Nubia is limited by the ridge it was built on: a 1.400 by 15 metre runway, aircraft under 20.000 kg only, visual operations only, twelve hours a day. So you land at Matécaña in Pereira, 59 kilometres away, and drive up. What waits at the top is a city at 2.153 metres with a cathedral tower you can climb, a cable car that locals actually commute on, and volcanic hot springs forty-five minutes out that are shut on Mondays.
The short version
Your flight lands in Pereira, not Manizales. Matécaña is 59 kilometres away down the Autopista del Café, with two tolls on the corridor.
La Nubia is not a normal airport. The state's own planning document records a 1.400 by 15 metre runway, no runway-end safety areas, aircraft under 20.000 kg, visual operations only, and night flying as technically unviable.
The cable car is public transport, not a ride. It connects steep neighbourhoods the way buses connect flat ones, and it is the fastest way to understand how the city is built.
The cathedral tower can be climbed and mostly is not. It is the single most underused thing in the centre.
The hot springs are closed on Mondays. Tuesday to Friday they run 9:00 a.m. to 10:45 p.m., and 9:00 a.m. to 11:45 p.m. at weekends and on public holidays.
On this page
Why your flight lands 59 kilometres away
Manizales has an airport. You will not fly into it. La Nubia sits on a ridge at the eastern edge of the city and is constrained by the mountain rather than by neglect, and the Colombian government set the figures out itself in CONPES 4026, the planning document approved on 8 March 2021 that argues for building a replacement.
| What CONPES 4026 records about La Nubia | Figure |
|---|---|
| Runway | 1.400 by 15 metres |
| Runway-end safety areas | None |
| Aircraft | Under 20.000 kg only |
| Operations | Visual only, twelve hours a day |
| Night flying | Described as technically unviable |
So the working airport for Manizales is Matécaña in Pereira, 59 kilometres away, and El Edén in Armenia is the fallback at 110. The road is the Autopista del Café, with two tolls on the corridor, Tarapacá 1 at Chinchiná and Tarapacá 2 at Santa Rosa de Cabal, at $17.800 each for a car in 2026.
Matécaña reopened on 25 August 2026 after the earthquake and has been running at reduced capacity since. Because that position keeps moving, we track it on the Manizales to Pereira airport page rather than here. Check it before you fix your dates, and if Matécaña does not work for your flight, Armenia is the other way in.
What is actually in the city
Manizales sits at 2.153 metres in the middle of the UNESCO Coffee Cultural Landscape. It is compact enough to walk and Colombians call it the City of Open Doors. The thing that surprises people is that it moves vertically as much as horizontally.
- The cathedral-basilica tower. The neo-Gothic cathedral on Plaza Bolívar has a tower that visitors can climb and mostly do not. It is the best view in the centre and almost nobody is up there.
- The cable car. Not a tourist attraction bolted onto the city. It is working public transit that links steep neighbourhoods the way a bus route links flat ones, and riding it is the fastest way to read how Manizales is put together.
- Chipre. The highest accessible point in the city, with its own tower, and the place the sunset happens.
- The historic centre. Worth slow attention rather than a lap. Plaza Bolívar is the anchor and the rest radiates off it.
Our Manizales city tour puts all four in one private day, with the cable car tickets, the basilica entrance and the Chipre tower entrance included, so nothing on the list turns into a queue or a separate payment.
The hot springs, and the day they are shut
Forty-five minutes out of the city, three volcanic-heated pools sit in the green peaks of the same UNESCO landscape. El Otoño is not a polished spa and does not pretend to be. It is where people from Manizales go to stop moving, and the pools run at different temperatures so you pick the one that suits you.
| Termales El Otoño | Hours |
|---|---|
| Monday | Closed |
| Tuesday to Friday | 9:00 a.m. to 10:45 p.m. |
| Saturday, Sunday and public holidays | 9:00 a.m. to 11:45 p.m. |
The Otoño hot springs trip is five hours door to door, of which about two and a half are yours in the water. Private pickup, no group to keep pace with, no guide because it does not need one. If you have spent a week walking Cocora and climbing coffee-town streets, this is the correct way to spend an afternoon.
Bring a swimsuit, a towel and dry clothes to change into. There is food and drink on sale on site, no fitness level is required, and it runs rain or shine, which in this part of Colombia is a useful property.
The two days we run
| Day | Total | What is in it |
|---|---|---|
| Manizales city tour: historic centre, cable car and Chipre | About 6 hours | An hour and a half in the centre on foot, an hour on the cathedral tower, an hour and a half on the cable car, an hour at Chipre. Private guide, tickets included. |
| Otoño hot springs | 5 hours | Forty-five minutes each way, two and a half hours in the pools. Private transport, entry included, no guide. |
They fit together in a single day if you want them to: the city in the morning, the springs from mid-afternoon into the evening, which is when the pools are at their best anyway. Any day except Monday, when the springs are shut.
Manizales or the Quindío towns
Honest answer: most people doing the coffee region base themselves in Salento or Filandia, and they are right to. Those towns are where the wax palms and the postcard streets are. Manizales is a working city of a different character, and it earns two days rather than seven.
Where it fits is at the start or the end. You land at Pereira, you take the Autopista up, you give Manizales the city day and the hot springs, and then you drop back down into Quindío for the rest. Or you do it in reverse and let the springs be the last thing before your flight out.
Getting into the region in the first place is Bogotá to the Coffee Region, Medellín to the Coffee Region or Cali to the Coffee Region, depending on where you were before this.
Common questions
Can I fly into Manizales?
In practice, no. La Nubia is severely constrained by its site and most flights route through Matécaña in Pereira, 59 kilometres away, or El Edén in Armenia at 110. The detail and the current status are on our route page for Manizales to Pereira airport.
How long is the drive from Pereira airport to Manizales?
It is 59 kilometres on the Autopista del Café, with two tolls, Tarapacá 1 at Chinchiná and Tarapacá 2 at Santa Rosa de Cabal, at $17.800 each for a car in 2026. We quote the timing against your actual flight rather than as a fixed number, because the corridor varies.
Is the Manizales cable car worth doing?
Yes, and not for the reason people expect. It is genuine public transport rather than an attraction, so what you get is the city as it works rather than the city as it is presented. It is included in the city tour.
Can you climb the cathedral tower?
Yes. The neo-Gothic cathedral-basilica on Plaza Bolívar has a climbable tower, entrance is included in our city day, and it is the most underused viewpoint in Manizales.
Which day should I not plan the hot springs for?
Monday. El Otoño is closed. Tuesday to Friday it runs 9:00 a.m. to 10:45 p.m., and to 11:45 p.m. at weekends and on public holidays.
Do I need to be fit for either of these?
For the springs, no, none at all. For the city day, it is a walking tour at 2.153 metres with a tower climb in it, so it suits most fitness levels but it is not nothing. Tell us in advance if that matters and we will shape the day around it.
How many days does Manizales need?
Two. The city and the springs. Then move down to Quindío for the wax palms and the coffee towns, or fly out of Pereira.
Tell us your flight and we will build the rest around it. We drive the Autopista del Café every day and both of the days on this page are ours, run with our own people, so the airport transfer, the city and the springs come as one arrangement rather than three bookings.
Sources
- CONPES 4026, Consejo Nacional de Política Económica y Social, approved 8 March 2021 — La Nubia's runway of 1.400 metros de longitud y 15 metros de ancho, the absence of runway-end safety areas, the 20.000 kg aircraft limit, visual-only operations over twelve hours, and night operation as technically unviable. The 59-kilometre distance to Matécaña is the national planning department's figure in the same document. Quoted in full on our route page for Manizales to Pereira airport.
- Tolls — Tarapacá 1 at Chinchiná and Tarapacá 2 at Santa Rosa de Cabal, $17.800 each for a car in 2026, as set out on the same route page.
- Termales El Otoño, the operator — closed Mondays; Tuesday to Friday 9:00 am to 10:45 pm; Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays 9:00 am to 11:45 pm; described as three-temperature hot springs.
- Matécaña reopening on 25 August 2026 after the earthquake, and El Edén in Armenia at 110 kilometres — both on our route page, which is where we keep the current operating position because it changes.
- Manizales at 2.153 metres, inside the UNESCO Coffee Cultural Landscape, and the contents and durations of both days — our own operations.
