★★★★★
Nick was kind and made sure every translation landed. Even if you are not especially into coffee you will enjoy the day. We would book it again.
Melissa, United States · August 2026 · couple
Bogota Coffee farm tour · Be a Farmer for a Day
Bogota Coffee Farm Day: Be a Farmer for a Day
Nine hours, three of them with your hands in it
Breakfast brewed in an olleta
Campesino breakfast on arrival, coffee made the way the farm has always made it, on the stove.
You pick your own cherries
An hour in the fields learning which fruit is ready, then filling a basket that stays with the harvest.
Grind it and brew it yourself
A workshop on the beans, then a French press you make and drink.
Lunch cooked on the farm
Not a roadside stop. A plate made in the farm kitchen and eaten in the open air.
A bag of their coffee home
The farm's own roast, included, which no other departure from the city offers.
What the day is actually about
This is a small organic smallholding run by campesina women, and the day is built so that you do the work rather than watch it. Five thousand plants, no fumigation, and a morning that starts with breakfast and a short lesson about the farm before anyone goes near a coffee tree.
Then you walk the fields. You learn to read a cherry — green, yellow, red — and you pick, and what you pick becomes part of the harvest. In the right season you plant a tree that stays after you leave. Afterwards a campesina host grinds pre-roasted beans in front of you and brews a second cup on a French press so you can taste what the grind did.
Lunch is cooked at the farm and eaten there, and the day closes with the drive back into La Candelaria. It is the most hands-on of the coffee farm tour from Bogota options and the only one that sends you home with a 125-gram bag of what you have just been standing in.
Your day, stop by stop
- 08:30 — The Cranky Croc. Meet inside the hostel on Calle 12d and tell reception you are here for the tour.
- 90 minutes on the road. Out of the city and down into the hills, with the guide filling the drive.
- Arrival and breakfast. Half an hour, coffee from the olleta, and the story of the farm.
- The plantation walk. An hour on sloping ground, picking.
- Workshop and tasting. Forty-five minutes on grinding, brewing and what changes the cup.
- Lunch. Forty-five minutes, cooked on site.
- 90 minutes back. Returns to the same hostel.
What the fare covers
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Coffee and tea
- A bag of the farm's own coffee to take home
- Bilingual professional guide
- Air-conditioned vehicle
What it does not
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Personal purchases and extra coffee bags
- Tips for guides or farm hosts
Who this suits, and who should book something else
Book this if
You want to do the work rather than be shown it, you have a full day free, and the people behind the coffee interest you as much as the coffee. It suits couples, families with older children and anyone who has read a bag of beans and wanted to know what the words meant.
Book something else if
You have half a day, or an early start is out of the question, or someone in your party cannot manage an hour on uneven, sloping ground. In that case stay in Chapinero: the two-hour specialty workshop covers the same subject on flat pavement, with three tastings and a cupping sheet, for about half the price.
Know before you go
- Two travellers minimum. If it is not met the operator refunds in full — so a solo booking is safe, not risky. Contact them in advance if you are alone.
- No hotel pickup. Everyone meets at the hostel in La Candelaria, so if you are staying north, budget for a taxi at 08:00.
- Uneven ground. You walk through coffee fields and up mild countryside slopes. Sturdy footwear is recommended, not optional.
- Health note. The day is not recommended for travellers with heart problems or other serious medical conditions.
- Strollers manage; wheelchairs do not. Both are stated on the booking page.
- Tell them about food. Breakfast and lunch are both cooked for you, so dietary requirements need to arrive with the booking, not on the day.
Free cancellation up to 24 hours aheadAnd a full refund if the two-traveller minimum is not reached.
Check availabilityQuestions people ask before booking this one
Is this really a private tour?
It is sold as private, meaning the departure is your group rather than a coach of strangers. A shared option runs the same route, which is why a two-traveller minimum exists. Check which one you are booking.
What if I am travelling alone?
You are welcome, and the operator asks solo travellers to make contact in advance. If the two-person minimum is not reached you are refunded in full rather than left waiting. Booking a few days ahead makes it far more likely to run.
Do I need to like coffee?
No. Travellers who do not drink it say the day works anyway, because it is about a crop, a landscape and the family growing it. Breakfast and lunch are both included, which helps.
Will I actually pick cherries?
In season, yes, and what you pick joins the harvest. Outside it you will be planting or sorting instead. If picking is the thing you want, the month you come in decides it.
Is there hotel pickup?
No. The day starts and ends at The Cranky Croc Hostel in La Candelaria, and pickup is excluded from the fare. If you would rather be collected from your own address, the farm day that also stops at Tequendama Falls includes a return hotel transfer — see it here.
How much walking is there?
About an hour on planted slopes, plus moving around the farm buildings. Nothing technical, but the ground is uneven and often damp. Shoes matter more than fitness.
What travellers said about this day
★★★★★
I do not drink coffee and I still enjoyed it. Marcela runs the hands-on part and our guide translated whenever I lost the thread. The time goes because you are doing things rather than watching.
Elsa, United Kingdom · March 2026 · non-coffee-drinker
Bogota Coffee farm tour · Be a Farmer for a Day
★★★★★
Jaclyn knew the production side inside out and was good company with it. The food was excellent and the tour was thorough rather than rushed.
Miryan, United States · March 2026 · family
Bogota Coffee farm tour · Be a Farmer for a Day
Other ways into the coffee
If this one is not yours, the other two featured days are a two-hour specialty workshop through three coffee rooms in Chapinero and a farm day with hotel pickup that stops at a viewpoint over Tequendama Falls.
- Specialty Coffee Workshops in Bogota — From $49, 2 hours
- From Bogotá: Coffee Farm and Tequendama Falls Tour — From $96, 9 hours
- All Bogota Coffee Tours