Travel Guide: Cartagena

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I traveled to Cartagena and Medellin to celebrate my birthday. I split the time between these two places to get a city, and Caribbean, fixes.

The second half of our Colombian trip was in Cartagena – a port city in Colombia’s Caribbean coast. The vibe in Cartagena is noticeably different than Medellin. I felt like I transported to Spain and Miami at the same time. There’s more humidity, colorful buildings and diversity.

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Stay.

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Cartagena offers completely different vibes, depending on where you’re staying. The main areas visitors book their accommodations are:

  • Old Town
  • Bocagrande
  • Getsemaní

Each area is good for different types of travelers:

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Old Town

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This is the main touristy area and the heart of Cartagena. Old Town is probably the most popular place to book an accommodation.

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Pros
  • Walking distance to almost everything in Cartagena (including Getsemaní, restaurant, bars, etc.). You won’t need to spend a lot, or any, money on transportation.
  • Beautiful and unique locally-owned hotels

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Cons
  • Expensive. Some of the accommodations in the walled city can be pretty pricey. However, since you’re cutting out the cost of transportation, the cost might be worth it.
  • Small pools. Most of the places I saw had relatively small pools. I assumed these pools would get crowded with guests, and sometimes non-guests, when it got too hot to explore.
  • Noisy. Since you’re in the heart of Cartagena, it can get loud.
  • Older buildings. Most of the accommodations in the walled city are in older buildings. This means some amenities or standard structuring might not be common. Think no elevators, uneven flooring, etc.

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Bocagrande

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Seen as the “new/modern” Cartagena, many people compare it to Miami because of the high-rise buildings and beach access.

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Pros
  • Proximity to the beach. I’m going to be honest here, the beaches by Bocagrande aren’t pretty. The sand is dark (and also looked very hard), water doesn’t look as clear and the beaches are fairly small. However, Bocagrande is probably the best option. Especially if you don’t have a lot of time to take a day trip to a nearby island.
  • Luxury-style hotels. Many of the hotels in this area are luxury-style. Offering really nice, big, pools and resort amenities.
  • Close to restaurants, mall and several supermarkets.

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Cons
  • Close to the beach, but not the best beaches. 
  • Very touristy. This is definitely the “gringo” area in Cartagena. There are a lot of international chain stores in this area.
  • Distance from main attractions. Staying in Bocagrande might be far away from the places on your itinerary. You’re about 15 minutes from the walled city via taxi/Uber. The one plus is that there are an abundance of taxis in Bocagrande.

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Getsemaní

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The “hipster” area, Getsemaní is perfect for backpackers and younger travelers. Getsemaní also isn’t far from Old Town.

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Pros
  • Cheaper than Old Town. Most accommodations I saw were cheaper than those in the Old Town.
  • Lots of trendy restaurants, cafes and bars.
  • Street art all over and colonial-vibes. Getsemaní boasts the colonial-vibes like Old Town. The only difference is that this area also has beautiful street art all over.
  • Walking distance from everything, including Old Town.
  • Great nightlife options.

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Cons
  • Noisy/crowded. Since it’s an up-and-coming area, it can get fairly crowded during the day. This might not be the place to stay if you’re looking for peace and quiet.

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My stay in Cartagena was short, and I booked tours for almost everyday of my stay. So, I really wanted an accommodation with amenities that’d be great to relax in after the day trips. After much research, I decided to stay in an Airbnb in the Bocagrande area. The accommodation was fairly cheap and included an infinity pool, perfect for relaxing. 

As mentioned above, Bocagrande is a bit further from the heart of Cartagena. But, this option worked for us since we basically only went out to grab dinner. Bocagrande also has supermarkets around, which was perfect since I needed to eat breakfast before the tours.

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Eat + Play.

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Old Town/Walled City

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This area feels like I traveled to Spain, the colonial architecture is everywhere. The streets in the Old Town are very picturesque. There are also many churches, souvenir shops, restaurants and cafes and boutique hotels around. The walled city is very touristy, with good reason since it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

My favorite place to eat in this area was:

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Townhouse Cartagena

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A rooftop bar located on top of the Townhouse boutique hotel. This rooftop bar boasts two small pools, food and drinks, and an amazing view of Cartagena. The ambiance at Townhouse is very chill, the music is a mix of old school hip-hop to pop. There’s also a happy hour everyday that includes different cocktails (e.g. Tequila Tuesday and Thirsty Thursday). I went on a Friday when their happy hour deal was Frosé Friday – Frosé for COP 19,000 (~$5.90 USD).

The Frosé was LIFE. I can’t even remember how many I ordered, but they were so good. Townhouse also serves their version of tapas. I ordered the mini-burger sliders, spring rolls and General Tso Seared Steak which were all delicious.

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Getsemaní

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Once a neighborhood with a high crime rate, Getsemaní is now considered a “hipster” area. Just like the walled city, Getsemaní offers colonial architecture. It also offers street art that the walled city lacks. Although Getsemaní is outside of the walled city, it’s still considered part of Cartagena’s center.

This area of Cartagena has cheaper food and drink options, as well as a vibrant nightlife. Our favorite place to eat in Getsemaní was:

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Caffé Lunatico

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This restaurant serves Spanish tapas and more. I went for brunch as they have a great daily bottomless mimosa deal. As long as you get something on their brunch menu, you can enjoy bottomless mimosa for two hours. This deal is available from 11am-3pm – the food is also reasonably priced.

My server, Oscar, was amazing, he was so attentive and made sure I had a great experience. The vibe was also nice, it feels like a cute/small coffee shop that also plays a good mix of reggae.

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Day trip to Playa Blanca

We decided to have a relaxing beach day at Playa Blanca since the beaches in Cartagena aren’t the best.

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You can get to Playa Blanca by:

  • Shuttle: 45-minute drive from Cartagena to Playa Blanca. The most popular shuttle is from Mamallena hostel.
  • Boat: I believe the boat is an hour ride, so I decided against this to avoid potential sea sickness. Also, I’ve read that going by boat can be more expensive.

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After much research, I decided to book our day trip directly through a hotel on the island. I stumbled across Nena Beach Club & Hotel on Instagram and saw their “Sea Day Package”. This package includes: a complimentary cocktail and coffee, lunch, beach bed, personalized customer service and access to their facilities. All of this for COP 175,000 with transportation, and COP 150,000 without. Booking with Nena Beach was seamless. I just reached out to them via Whatsapp to set up a day trip.

The customer service through this process was impeccable. For instance, they offered two different pick-up times based on where I was staying. The day before our trip, they reached out letting us know that one of the pick-up times changed. They wanted to see if I were interested in starting our day trip a little later in the morning.

Once I arrived at the beach, someone from Nena Beach came to greet us. I was immediately given a delicious complimentary drink once I picked the beach bed I wanted. The facilities and atmosphere at Nena Beach was amazing. I felt like I stepped into Tulum, Mexico – specifically at Coco Tulum. The music playing was a great mix, adding to the relaxing vibes. They also had treasure chest storage boxes next to our beach beds.

The food and drinks were AMAZING at Nena Beach.- I tried an assortment of cocktails while there. From a cocktail in a pineapple, to mojitos. For lunch, I ordered fried fish which came with a side of: tostones, white rice and a salad. I basically inhaled the fish and everything else on the plate.

All in all, I HIGHLY recommend doing a beach day through Nena Beach Club & Hotel.

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Playa Blanca Tips

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  • Get ready to say ‘no’ many times. The surge in tourism to Playa Blanca has changed it to a bustling marketplace. As soon as you step on the beach, vendors will come up to you selling everything. From massages, to oysters that they claim will help your man get erect. Yes, you read that correctly. Even when swimming in the water, vendors on jet-skis will offer to sell you things. The constant bombardment of salespeople can get quite annoying. Especially since some vendors can be somewhat forceful. For example, a vendor tried to touch/massage my back without permission. But, understandably, they’re trying to make a living. Simply say no and they’ll go away.
  • Try to go early or late in the weekday. I arrived fairly early on a Thursday and it didn’t feel super crowded. There were moments in the day when our area of the beach barely had folks around.

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Day trip to Palenque

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Not going to lie, this tour is the BIGGEST reason I wanted to go to Cartagena. Everything else was really just additional perks. I found out about San Basilio de Palenque through other bloggers that I follow. As soon as I saw the videos and images of the village I knew I needed to go.

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If you’re of African descent, this tour is a MUST! Palenque is the first free town for Africans in the Americas. This village was founded by a former African King, Benkos Biohó, long before Colombia even gained independence from Spain. He escaped the slave port of Cartagena into the swamps. Biohó eventually created a system to help free more slaves. Think of him as the Harriet Tubman of Colombia.

The history, culture and traditions in Palenque are so unique. In 2015, UNESCO declared San Basilio de Palenque a ‘Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity’. There were so many moments I wanted to cry during my tour. Not because I was sad, but because I felt like my ancestors were in this village. I saw SO many similarities in their culture and traditions to my own. It really re-affirmed, to me, that African culture and traditions were not lost through slavery. We got to hear and dance champeta – their traditional genre of music. Sip herbal tea and put organic black oil in our hair. See women braiding each other’s hair, and witness the community look out for one another – much like mine at home. And they have no police! As our tour guide, Victor explained, “our only crime is dancing and drinking.”

The palenqueras that you see in Cartagena in colorful dresses, and baskets on their heads, come from San Basilio de Palenque. Take the time to speak with them and learn about Palenque.

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Tours to San Basilio de Palenque

There are a bunch of tours that take you to Palenque, most operate on the weekend. Since we weren’t staying in Cartagena for the weekend, we had to find a tour company that could take us during the weekday. The two that I found, and really liked are:

  • Alex Rocha via Experience Real Cartagena. Although I didn’t book through Alex, I did correspond with him. Alex was very prompt in responding. He let me know that they do weekday trips when they have enough folks booked. Alex did reach back out to me with availability for a specific weekday, but unfortunately I had already booked through the company below:
  • Juan Ballena private tour. Angie, who’s part of their support team, was very prompt in responding. Even sent me an itinerary the day before my trip! The experience I had through Juan Ballena was amazing! My tour guide, Victor, was amazing – he’s a Palenquero.

Both companies are great to book your tour to San Basilio de Palenque. The only difference being, you’ll have to wait for weekday availabilities with Alex Rocha. But, he’ll follow up once there’re enough folks for a tour. Also, the private tour through Juan Ballena didn’t include lunch. Which was fine since I wanted to go to Townhouse Cartagena for tapas and Friday Frosé. You do get a free souvenir from Palenque through the Juan Ballena private tour.

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Additional Cartagena tips:

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  • Explore in the morning or late afternoon/evening. It can get HOT in Cartagena. I had a lot of warnings about this, but you don’t understand until you’re there. I’d suggest exploring when the sun isn’t directly above you.
  • Find a pool. Going off my point above, it gets hot in Cartagena, especially between 10am-4pm. You’ll most likely want to chill in a place with AC and/or a pool. Our Airbnb had an infinity pool we could relax in.
Getting around:

If you’re not staying in Old Town or Gestamaní, you’ll need a ride into the hot spots of town.

  • Uber: While Uber does operate in Cartagena, it doesn’t have many drivers. Unlike Medellin, where there were multiple drivers available, Cartagena only had 1-3 drivers available. It seems as though taxi drivers have really cracked down on Uber drivers in Cartagena. Thus causing less people to sign up with Uber.
  • Other ridesharing/taxi apps: There are other apps you can use outside of Uber. Easy Tappsi (Cabify) or Bolt (formerly Taxify) are other options. Although I didn’t use either, they might be an option for you if Uber drivers are scarce.
  • Taxi: This is your best option. Just be aware that taxi drivers in Colombia don’t have meters. This means you’ll have to negotiate a price before you get into the taxi.

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