Colombia was my first ever visit to South America and I was so excited to check a new continent off my list.  I wish we would have had time to explore more of the country, however, with less than a week, we decided to stay in Cartagena the entire trip.  I was a little bit worried we would have too much time and not enough to do, but I was definitely wrong.  I could have easily spent another few days eating and drinking my way through the city and/or relaxing on the beach.  However, in the 6 days we had, I think we got a great taste of Cartagena.

Top 5  – Cartagena

1 – Walking the wall

The Old City of Cartagena is built inside a stone wall. The wall took almost 200 years to build, finishing in 1796, to protect the city from possible pirate attacks.  It still surrounds the city today, making it feel old and historic. The wall has multiple entry points where you can climb up and walk along the top for panoramic sea and city views. It really makes Cartagena so interesting and different from the many other cities I’ve visited.

Try to time a walk along the wall with the sunset and end up at Café del Mar for an opportunity for beautiful pictures while enjoying sunset cocktails and music (it’s also much cooler later in the afternoon than during high sun hours!). Café del Mar sits on the westernmost part of the wall and is THE hot spot for catching a sunset. If for some reason you rather not sit in the outdoor bar area or don’t want to enjoy a sunset cocktail, you also can walk right to the area of the wall where the bar area starts, and still get a great view and photo op.

2 – Exploring the Old City

The Old City of Cartagena is beautiful. It’s old and so charming. Walking anywhere within the walls of the city takes less than 20 minutes; and there are tons of plazas, shops, bars and restaurants to explore along the way. There are also several old and beautiful buildings and churches to explore, many of which are free to enter. Spend at least one day just wandering through the city’s narrow streets, stopping along the way for people watching, food and drinks and enjoy the rich history and charm of the city.

3 – Day trip to Playa Beach

We did a day trip to Playa Beach with Backpackers Cartagena.  Playa Blanca is on Isla Barú, which is a part of the Rosario Islands.  We booked in advance on Viator.com for $29, which included hotel pick up/drop off and lunch. There are many tours to choose from, by land and by sea. This particular tour included an air conditioned van to the island (via a bridge). It took about an hour to get to the beach from the city center. Once we arrived, our tour guide Jose, had us walk about 10 minutes to the hostel where we were staying for the day. It was further away from the crowded area, which was great. The hostel was directly on the beach, and we had access to their sun chairs, bathroom and tables for lunch. Although we were away from the crowds, there still were many people walking around selling things, however it was easy to just ignore them. Who we didn’t ignore, were the ladies offering foot and body massages. We bargained and were able to get a 30 minute foot massage for $15,000 pesos ($5 USD), which was glorious.

For lunch, they served rice and plantains with your choice of fish or chicken. We both ordered fish, however were not expecting the entire fish to come out cooked on a plate. Just like when I attempt to eat bone-in chicken wings, it wasn’t pretty. Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one at our table struggling, so I felt better about it.

The day was perfect. Beautiful, crystal clear, turquoise water, a nice ocean breeze, sunshine and cocktails. I’d highly recommend this particular tour because it was about $25 cheaper than most of the others that appeared to be exactly the same. Save your money and put it towards a massage or cocktails on the beach instead.

4 – Happy hours

You can’t believe how great of deals you can get on drinks in Cartagena. Most happy hours started between 12-2pm and ended between 10pm-midnight.  Majority offered 2 for 1 drinks, which ended up costing around $6-8 USD (total). Wander through the city and stop to cool off in the AC and take advantage of as many happy hours as possible; because you won’t find that great of a deal many other places, particularly in the US.

5 – Chiva tour

We read about the Chiva tours through Cartagena Connections, which is a website with tons of great information on things to do in and around Cartagena. We paid $15 USD for the night time Chiva Rumba tour, which included live music on board and unlimited rum drinks. You’ll see and hear the Chiva buses all over the city, as they are colorful, wooden, open air buses with loud music and rowdy passengers. There is basically no English spoken, but even still the tour was a lot of fun.  The one thing that disappointed me was the amount of time on the actual bus was less than we anticipated. They stopped twice, once for about 45 min at a plaza area on the wall and again for an hour at a night club in Getsemani. The plaza stop was okay, as it was nice and breezy while we people watched on the wall, however we decided to bow out of the night club as it was way too crowded and hot for us.  If your expectations are for a few short bus rides with music and booze, and you don’t mind a few stops along the way, you’ll love it.  And if a late night tour isn’t your thing, they also offer day time Chiva tours.  It’s something different and a fun way to see the city.

Honorable Mention

Castillo San Felipe de Barajas

The Castillo San Felipe is an old fortress just outside of the Old City. It was about a 20 minute walk from our hotel and entry was $25,000 pesos (about $6 USD).  There isn’t actually much to see inside the fortress, but it is great for photo ops and views overlooking the city and the sea. A tip…there are tons of vendors trying to sell water and drinks before you go in. Buy a bottle of water because there is only one place to purchase water once inside, and it is all the way at the top. Surprisingly, souvenirs inside the fortress were super cheap, so if you wanted to get some chotchkies for yourself or others, it may be the place to do it.

Getsemani and Bocagrande

Take time to explore the neighborhoods outside of the Old City as well.  Getsemani is a 5 minute walk from the clock tower and has a different, more hipster vibe than the Old City.  Some of what we read about it says it’s the “Williamsburg of Cartagena,” and we agree with the comparison.  We ate at 2 amazing restaurants and spent time people watching in Trinidad Plaza.  It’s definitely worth spending an afternoon/evening exploring.

Bocagrande is the area near the beach.  It feels like you could be in Miami because it’s much more modern than the Old City.  I wouldn’t recommend staying here the entire trip because you miss out of on the quaintness of the Old City, however a couple of days at a beach front resort never hurt anyone.  The beach in Cartagena is not nearly as nice as the Rosario Islands, but it’s decent, and most hotels had pools.  And let me tell you, the Colombian heat was much more manageable while submerged in a pool with a cocktail in hand.

Cartagena is amazing with lots to explore.  If you are looking for a cheap vacation spot with great drinks, even better food, friendly people, beautiful sights, clean beaches, history and culture, look no further than Colombia.