Grand historic hotel in the walled city
Sofitel Legend Santa Clara Cartagena
A seventeenth-century convent of the Poor Clares turned hotel: cloister, tropical garden, spa and a pool ringed by galleries.
Bolívar
Cartagena de Indias
Cartagena is not a city you visit; it is a city you walk. Inside the walls the Crown raised against the corsairs there are courtyards of bougainvillea, wooden balconies and a thick heat that lifts only at dusk — the hour you ought to be up on the bastion, looking out at the Caribbean.
Why go
What makes this destination unique
No other Colombian city keeps a walled quarter or a system of fortifications on this scale: UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site in 1984. To that add a Caribbean cuisine that has stopped being folklore and turned into research, a hotel trade installed in convents and colonial mansions, and the Rosario archipelago an hour away by boat.
- When to goDecember to April: the dry season, with less humidity. January brings the Festival Internacional de Música and, at the end of the month, the Hay Festival. October is the wettest month; December, the fullest.
- Getting thereRafael Núñez International Airport (CTG), fifteen minutes by car from the walled city. From Bogotá, a direct flight of an hour and a half with Avianca and LATAM, several times a day.
What to see
What you should not miss
Where to stay
Hotels we recommend
A selection of houses with character. We work with others too: tell us what you are looking for and we will propose the one that fits.
Luxury boutique in the historic centre
Hotel Casa San Agustín
Three whitewashed seventeenth-century mansions, with a stretch of the old aqueduct above the pool and the restaurant Alma in the courtyard.
Patrician house, a member of Relais & Châteaux
Casa Pestagua
The eighteenth-century palace of the Count of Pestagua: eleven suites, a courtyard of royal palms and a roof terrace facing the bell towers.
A classic facing the plaza de Santa Teresa
Hotel Charleston Santa Teresa
A seventeenth-century former convent on the plaza de Santa Teresa: cloisters, colonial art and a rooftop pool facing the sea.
Design boutique in the centre
Tcherassi Hotel + Spa
A colonial mansion reinterpreted by the designer Silvia Tcherassi: seven rooms, a vertical garden and a spa. Intimate in scale, not a grand hotel.
Where to eat
The destination's table
The kitchens worth a reservation. We take care of the booking and the transfer.
Colombian Caribbean, research-led
Celele
Jaime Rodríguez's project in Getsemaní: ingredients and recipes recovered from the Caribbean coast. An essential reference point for Colombian cooking.
Contemporary Colombian
Carmen
In a colonial house on the calle del Santísimo. A tasting menu built on Colombian produce and a serious cocktail list.
Modern Colombian
Alma
In the courtyard of the Casa San Agustín hotel, open to the public. Local produce, the day's fish and a dining room kept low-lit.
Caribbean seafood
La Cevichería
On the corner of the plaza de San Diego, no reservations and a queue. Ceviches and a cazuela de mariscos — seafood stew — that justify the wait.
Traditional cartagenera
Candé
Rooted Cartagena cooking in a colonial house: mote de queso, the yam and cheese soup, coastal rice dishes and slow stews. Music and traditional dance at every service.
Does this destination interest you? We build it into a tailor-made route.
Request a proposalHotel and restaurant information is for reference and is confirmed at the time of booking. The recommendations do not imply any commercial relationship with the establishments mentioned.
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