The walls and the bastions
The walls ring the old town in a circuit of coral stone. Walk them late in the afternoon, as the sun drops behind the Baluarte de Santo Domingo.
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
Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas
The fortress crowning the cerro de San Lázaro. Its underground tunnels, conceived as a labyrinth and a trap for the enemy, explain how the city withstood its sieges.
Getsemaní
The quarter beyond the walls where the real city lives: the plaza de la Trinidad, the murals, the drums at nightfall and some of the most interesting kitchens in the country.
Rosario Islands
A coral archipelago protected as a national natural park, an hour by boat from the La Bodeguita jetty. Clear water, mangroves and diving over living reef.
Convento de la Popa
Founded by Augustinians in 1607 on the highest hill in the city. From its lookout the geography makes sense: the bay, the old city and Bocagrande.
Palacio de la Inquisición
Seat of the Tribunal of the Holy Office, today a history museum facing the parque de Bolívar. A baroque doorway, instruments of torture and an uncomfortable reading of the colonial past.
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.
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.
Boutique in the Centro Histórico
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.
Let's begin
Ready to design your journey?
An advisor will reply with a first proposal and the alternatives available for your dates.