Cartagena was the most anticipated stop (at least for me) on our Colombia trip. A beautiful town, full of history, art and culture, delicious food, coffee and drinks at dusk, not to mention the paradisiacal beaches of blue water and white sand just around the corner. But... will my high expectations have been met?
Come with me as I share what to do in Cartagena de Indias, where to stay, how to get around town and enjoy the beaches of the Colombian Caribbean coast.
How to get to Cartagena de Indias, Colombia
We were in Bogotá, from where you can go by plane or bus to Cartagena. Since it is a 21+ hour ride by bus, we went by plane with VivaAir, a lowcost air company (now bankrupt!).
Everything went fine on the quick flight of about 1h30. The airport in Cartagena is not far from town and we took a taxi when we got there - not the friendliest taxi driver in the world, but it all worked out.
Colombian main air carrier is Avianca, which links Bogota with all major cities in South and Central America and with the main hubs in the USA and Europe. We flew from São Paulo, Brazil, to Bogotá with Avianca, on a direct flight, and it all went well.
Where to stay in Cartagena
Cartagena was part of our bigger Colombia summer trip, which included stops in Bogota (full post here) and Tayrona National Park (full post here). Here I share our complete 12 day itinerary for this colombian trip.
We chose to stay in an Airbnb in Cartagena - as in the other destinations of this trip we would be staying hotels, this was the place where we chose a house to enjoy the benefits of (1) having more space and privacy, and (2) wash the clothes, so we could travel only with ours carry-ons (if you’ve know us for a while, you know we’re obsessed about travelling light).
(1) Plaza Santo Domingo; (2) Side door of Iglesia de Santa Catalina de Alejandría, Plaza de la Proclamación; (3) street right next to our Airbnb
We stayed in the historic center (Old Town – Ciudad Amurallada), in a very nice apartment in Edificio Santo Domingo, just the right size for our family of 4 (here the link), located very close to the city walls, in front of the access to the famous Cafe del Mar.
The location was perfect: walking one block we would reach the lively area of the historic center, with several restaurants, cafes, shops, all very close by. At the same time, as the apartment faced the inner courtyard of the 3-storey building, it was silent, despite the view from the small balcony not having any special appeal.
There are serveral hotels in that area of town. Hotel Aguamarina Boutique has a lovely pool on the rooftop, as the charming and really well reviewed Amarla Boutique Hotel Cartagena.
Now, if you are like us and prefer to stay in an apartment during part of your trip, booking also has great options: this one seems to be in the building next to the one we stayed in, on the upper floor with a roof-top, and this one too, it's up to you to choose which one you prefer ;-)
Getting around in Cartagena
If you stay in Old Town (historic center), you can do everything on foot.
The main interest area of Old Town is compact and easily covered on foot, and the other historic district – Getsemani (where you can also find lots of accommodation options, as well as great restaurants, bars and shops) is also very close.
Except going to the beaches, we did everything on foot. We walked a lot, under the +30ºC (+86ºF) sun on our heads all.the.time. Merciless sun, be prepared. Don’t forget sunscreen and hats, use it everyday, all the time.
Cartagena scenes - Ciudad Amurallada
What to do in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia
Warning to the unwary: although Cartagena is on the Caribbean Sea, there are no beaches in town. The waves are strong and only in some places there is a tiny strip of sand, which, when we passed by (driving on the way to and from the airport) was absolutely covered by chairs, umbrellas and people, not to mention that the water didn't look pretty at all, far from that idyllic image we have of the Caribbean sea.
If you want that dreamy Caribbean beach, you have to go to some distant beaches and islands - I'll talk about that later.
(1) & (2) streets in Ciudad Amurallada; (3) on the walls of Ciudad Amurallada; (4) streets of Getsemani
Old Town - Ciudad Amurallada
The historic area of Cartagena is absolutely beautiful. Really gorgeous and charming, one of the most lovely historic colonial towns I've ever visited. I even played around trying to compare it to Brazilian Paraty (a historial town by the Atlantic Ocean, c. 200km south of Rio de Janeiro), but, despite being Brazilian myself and proud of my country, Cartagena easily beats Paraty (in my opinion, of course).
Cartagena was founded in 1533 and was for centuries one of the most important (if not the most important) port in the region, responsible for the flow of silver and other metals exploited in the Peru/Bolivia region and for receiving goods from Europe and enslaved Africans. For a long time, Cartagena was the seat of government of the Spanish colonies in America.
Simply enjoy walking and getting lost in the alleys of the historic town, which encompasses the neighborhoods of El Centro and San Diego, and also include a walk around Getsemani neighborhood.
Stop at all the cafes you feel like (if you are a coffee lover, you won’t be short in opportunities for a good coffee), let the kids have all the ice cream they want (after all, they're on vacation, right?), get to know the different churches and historical monuments scattered around the area and as the afternoon falls and the evening comes, stop for a drink at the many bars – Café del Mar (located literally on the old town walls) has great sunset views, but can get really crowded and with long lines, so be prepared if you want to go there. You can have the same sunset amazing views walking on the old town walls around there, which is free and easy.
When walking around Old Town and Getsemani, kids were starting to get bored (because there comes a time when not even ice cream can encourage the kids to walk through historic alleys under a 40ºC/104ºF sun), so I created a challenge that proved to be one of the best memories we all have of this trip: the search for the most beautiful door in town.
The doors of the houses in Cartagena are gorgeous, so we walked around the streets and taking pictures in front of all the doors that we thought beautiful. At the end of the day, each of us chose the door we liked best, and we sent the pics to our extended family for a vote: the one with the most votes would be the winner, and the one of us who had chosen that door would "set the rules" for the next day. I don't remember, now, which door I chose or which was the winner or who won the game, my memory is that it was a lot of fun and yielded beautiful pictures.
(1) street in front of Palácio de la Inquisición; (2) device used in the Spanish America inquisition era; (3) view of Iglesia de Santa Catalina de Alejandría from Palácio de la Inquisición
Palácio de la Inquisición and Museo del Oro
In Old Town, don’t miss Palácio de la Inquisición. What looks like a beautiful colonial house, was once home to the terrifying inquisition, whose aim was to eliminate heresy from town, burn witches and all that terrible things associated with that dark era. In addition to showing artifacts and stories about the Inquisition in Spanish America, the museum also houses pre-Columbian art and a very interesting exhibition about the history of Cartagena and its role as a port and fortress over the centuries.
Museo del Oro Zenú is on the opposite side of the same square from the Palácio de la Inquisición. We had already visited Bogota’s Museo del Oro, so we thought it best to leave this one for our next visit to Cartagena. If you haven't been to the one in Bogotá (or even if you have), the references we had were that this museum is fascinating and worth a visit.
Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas
Another Cartagena must-see is Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas - the largest fortress ever built by the Spanish in any of their colonies. It is located on a hill called San Lázaro and was built in 1657 during the Spanish colonial era.
In 1984, UNESCO included the Historic Center of the city of Cartagena, all of its fortifications and the San Felipe de Barajas castle on the list of World Heritage Sites.
The day we were there, the heat was hellish, the sun scorching, it’s a steep walk to the top of the fortress an there is no shade up there, so you can imagine what happened… Children and 50% of adults madly complaining, but that didn’t stop us from climbing to the top, walking along the walls, getting lost in the labyrinthine corridors and tunnels, learning a little more about the Spanish colonization in the region and enjoying the amazing views of town.
Around Cartagena
That Caribbean you've always dreamed of, with turquoise water white sand beaches and lots of shade and fresh water are there, just a short boat or car ride from Cartagena.
The best known and easiest beaches to reach are those of the Islas del Rosario, an archipelago about 35km southwest of town. It is easy to take a boat trip from Cartagena to go there.
We did it, but we opted for a tour that goes by land. A van picked us up at our Airbnb at 6 am and we went to Playa Blanca, a beach on the mainland very close to these islands. Once there, we took a boat to the islands. We went to Isla de San Martin de Pajarales, where there is an aquarium - Oceanario de Las Islas del Rosario.
Oceanario Islas del Rosario
"Another aquarium" you might think, but this one is different as the fish are kept in pools directly in the sea; you see them from above, on walkways between such pools. The guides are very friendly, talk about the different species of animals they help protect there (in Spanish, I am not sure if there are English tours, better check the website) and interact with the fish (including sharks), it's fun and interesting. At the end, there's a dolphin show, something I find nowadays a bit questionable, but the kids loved it.
Playa Blanca (“white beach”) lives up to its name: the sand is really white and the water is really turquoise blue. But - and I'm going to be very honest here - the attractiveness of the place ends there.
The strip of sand (at least when we were there) is very short and completely dominated by chairs and umbrellas from the bars that fill every inch of the waterfront. There is no free space. It is difficult to walk, in most parts you have to walk through the water as there is no space available on the sand.
There’s a lot of garbage, really an amazing and unbelievable quantity of trash all around the beach, the parking lot, the restaurants, eveywhere. And there's a lot of people. People everywhere, on the sand and in the water. Loud music, each bar/restaurant/group with its speaker competing with the speaker next to it.
To be honest, I found it hellish. We stayed in a bar that had these chairs a few meters away from the sea, the food was what I would expect for the place, beer was ok, but the overall experience was really far from a “paradisiac Caribbean beach club” type of place.
I wouldn't go back to these beaches, so much that the next day we didn't take the trip to the beaches we' planned to do and we stayed in town.
The pics you see here were taken the moment we got at the beach, before 8 am and before the hordes of people showed up. I didn't take pictures afterwards because I prefer to keep this paradisiacal image of the place - with time, I hope it's just these beautiful images and the memory of the laughs we had and the games we played in the water (delicious, by the way) that remain in my memory.
Playa Blanca at 8am
Answering the initial question, my high expectations were met. Cartagena is a unique and wonderful destination that is well worth a visit.
Just writing this post makes me miss the walks around Ciudad Amurallada, its alleys, cafes and shops, and it reinstalls the desire to go back there to learn even more about the history that pulsates in every corner of the town.
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