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Travel guide
Cartagena
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: January to March, and July
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Welcome
Cartagena, in a few days
Cartagena works in two registers five minutes' walk apart: the walled city with its ochre fronts and wooden balconies, and Getsemaní, rougher and louder, with painted walls and tables set out in the street. Between the two come a heat that never lets up and touts who will follow you all day, two things the brochures leave out.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · The walled old town free · about 2 hA colonial grid of ochre fronts, bougainvillea-laden balconies and shaded squares, UNESCO-listed since 1984 and still lived in, with schools, shops and pavement dominoes.
- Afternoon · Sunset on the city walls free · about 1 hThe walls are open at all hours; the north-west stretch between the Santo Domingo and Santa Catalina bastions faces the sunset.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Don Pedro de Heredia€95 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Getsemaní and Plaza de la Trinidad free · an eveningThe old artisans' quarter of murals, umbrellas strung over Calle de la Sierpe and salsa bars; the square fills up every evening.
- Afternoon · Castillo San Felipe de Barajas · about 2 hThe largest Spanish fortress in the Americas, which held off the British in 1741, with ramps, batteries and narrow tunnels.
🛏️ Where to sleep · GHL Arsenal Hotel€110 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Cerro de la Popa · about 1 hA 150-metre hill topped by a convent founded in 1607, and the only place to see the walled city, the bay and Bocagrande together.
- Afternoon · Bazurto Market free · about 1 h 30Fish, meat, unfamiliar fruit, street kitchens, mud and noise, with no concessions to visitors: this is what the Caribbean coast actually eats.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Capilla del Mar€95 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Playa Blanca, Barú · a full dayThe best-known pale-sand beach nearby, an hour by boat or road; lovely water, but often packed and the selling never stops.
- Afternoon · The Rosario Islands · a full dayA marine national park of 27 islands an hour by boat, with real coral; a day on one island beats the three-stop mass tour.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Almirante€90 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Bandeja paisa: a heaped plate of beans, rice, minced beef, chicharrón, fried egg, plantain and avocado, from the Medellín region.
- Arepas: griddled corn cakes, eaten at every hour and made differently in every region.
- Ajiaco: the chicken and potato soup of Bogotá, served with capers, cream and avocado on the side.
- Empanadas: crisp fried corn pastries, most often filled with meat and potato.
- Coffee: grown on the slopes around Salento, and best tasted at the farm rather than in town.
- Fresh juices: lulo, maracuyá and guanábana, blended with water or milk.
⚠️ Best avoided
- No dar papaya, as the saying goes: do not make yourself an easy target by waving a phone or camera around in the street.
- At night, order a taxi through an app or ask your hotel to call one rather than hailing one in the street.
- Ask locally which neighbourhoods to avoid, above all after dark.
- Take your first day in Bogotá slowly: at 2,640 metres, the altitude can leave you short of breath.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ Spanish
| English | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Hello | Hola |
| Thank you | Gracias |
| Please | Por favor |
| Yes | Sí |
| No | No |
| Excuse me | Perdone |
| Goodbye | Adiós |
| Do you speak English? | ¿Habla inglés? |
| I don't understand | No entiendo |
| How much is it? | ¿Cuánto cuesta? |
| Where are the toilets? | ¿Dónde están los baños? |
| The bill, please | La cuenta, por favor |
| Help! | ¡Socorro! |
| Cheers! | ¡Salud! |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyColombian peso (COP)
BudgetAbout €90 a day, mid-range
Best seasonJanuary to March, and July
PlugA/B · 110V
Tap waterSafe in Bogotá and Medellín, bottled elsewhere
TippingA voluntary 10% is usually added to restaurant bills
Emergency123
EntryNo visa needed for stays of up to 90 days for EU, UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports, with proof of onward travel. Fill in the free Check-MIG form online between 72 hours and one hour before your flight.
HealthHepatitis A and typhoid are recommended. Yellow fever vaccination is strongly advised since the 2025 outbreak, and some national parks ask to see the certificate. Malaria is limited to low-lying rural areas, not the cities on this route.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/cartagena-colombia
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.