Manizales sits high in the Colombian Andes, spread across a narrow ridge in the Cordillera Central with the snow-capped Nevado del Ruiz volcano looming to the south. At around 2,150 metres, the air is cool and the views are dramatic — this is coffee country at its most vertical.
The city has five universities, which gives it an energy that belies its relatively modest size. It's not a major tourist destination, and that's part of the appeal: you get a genuine Colombian city going about its business without the crowds. The central Plaza de Bolívar is anchored by the Cathedral Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, whose neo-Gothic towers reach over 100 metres — the tallest cathedral in Colombia.
For nature, the star attraction is outside the city. Parque Nacional Natural Los Nevados, about 44 km south, encompasses páramo highland, active volcanic craters, and some of the most otherworldly scenery in the Andes. Closer in, Recinto del Pensamiento is an eco-park on the road to the Magdalena valley where you can walk through cloud forest, visit a working butterfly house, and see hundreds of orchid species.
The city itself was largely rebuilt after a series of fires and a catastrophic earthquake in 1878, which is why it has a modern rather than colonial character. What it lacks in old-town architecture it makes up for in setting and atmosphere.