I have had many friends visit Colombia over the past year or so and they all raved about how great it was.  I knew I had to find out for myself, so when I found a round-trip flight for just over $400; I figured October 2017 was as good of time as any. My roommate Emily was up for accompanying me, so we booked it and started planning. Because it was a shorter trip, we decided that visiting only one place and making the most of our time was the way to go. It was a great trip and 6 days was perfect. (Check out my previous post with my Top 5 Cartagena recommendations here!) Although we were told by a fellow traveler that Cartagena is the most expensive city in Colombia, we still found it to be incredibly cheap. Meals averaged between $5-10 (and that’s not only the hole in the wall places). I was a little worried about safety with the history of drug cartels in Colombia, but can honestly report that at no time on the trip did we ever feel unsafe.

Accommodation

We stayed in the Old City for 4 nights and on the beach in Bocagrande the last night. It was a nice mix of culture and city and beach and relaxation.

Casa de los Reyes
Casa de los Reyes is reasonably priced, adorably quaint and in the perfect location…as in less than a 15 minute walk to anywhere we wanted to go in the Old City.  It only has 6 rooms so it was never crowded or too loud, which was good for us as our room was directly outside the reception and breakfast/common area. Communication with the staff proved interesting since neither of us speak Spanish, but somehow with each of us knowing a few words of each other’s language, we managed to get by. And the staff was, thankfully, very nice and patient with us as we attempted to speak Spanish.

The rooms were spacious and comfortable and the bed was huge. The bathroom was small but functional with a great shower. Breakfast was provided each morning, which included a made to order egg entree from the menu, fresh fruit, coffee and a daily fresh fruit juice.

The hotel has a cozy common area where breakfast is served daily, as well as a sun deck and a hot tub for use from 9am-6pm. It was way too hot during the day to spend even a minute up there, but if it was a cooler day, it could potentially be an option. I would highly recommend staying at Casa de los Reyes when visiting the Old City of Cartagena.

Hotel Dann
We splurged (again, splurged by Colombian standards) for a beachfront hotel in Bocagrande for our last night in Cartagena and I’m very glad we did. Hotel Dann is one of the the few hotels that was actually on the beach vs across the street. The beach in Bocagrande is nothing like Playa Blanca, so if you are looking for a beautiful, picturesque beach and clear water, this isn’t it. It was nice, clean and not overly crowded, but we still preferred the pool.

The hotel rooms are large and modern. We were on the 14th floor and had amazing views of the water and the Old City. It has a huge pool with plenty of sun chairs, overlooking the beach. An excellent breakfast was provided, which was buffet style with lots of fresh fruit and juices, several Latin food options, cereal, cheeses and breads. There was also a man making eggs in the style of your choosing. I’d suggest filling up on breakfast so you don’t need to get lunch by the pool. It was way overpriced and the food was only ok. Drinks at the pool were also overpriced. Instead, we purchased drinks from a hut on the beach that were much stronger and cheaper, and brought them back to the pool; which surprisingly the hotel allowed. Side note – The nice gentlemen running the beach hut bar also made us an offer to purchase cocaine, which definitely caught us by surprise. We thanked them, but passed, as getting arrested in Colombia was not on our list of experiences to have this time around. Although it did make for a good laugh while relaxing in the pool later that afternoon. Honestly, I was surprised to only have drugs offered once on the trip, but I guess that goes to show how safe and cleaned up Cartagena has become.

Bocagrande is seriously lacking the charm of the Old City. If you decide to stay in Bocagrande for the pool/beach, Hotel Dann is the place to stay. The hotel is beautiful and the pool was perfect, but make sure you venture into the Walled City for a more authentic Colombian experience.

Getting Around

The Old City of Cartagena is very walkable.  You can get anywhere you need within 15-20 minutes.  Walking to Getsemani was also very easy (10-15 minutes from the clock tower) and we always felt safe, even later at night.  However, if you are unable to walk for whatever reason or plan on leaving the Old City, there are taxis everywhere that are very inexpensive.  From the Old City to the far end of Bocagrande, it was about $8000 pesos (less than $3).

 

Food and Drinks

We ate and drank very well on this trip. Had we eaten more street food, we could have saved a decent amount of money, but even the fancy restaurants were very cheap in comparison to what we are used to, so we figured why not?! I had a very hard time narrowing down which places to recommend, because literally everywhere we went was so great. Take the time to stop frequently to eat all the food and drink all the drinks. It’s worth the calories and truly is a major highlight of the trip.

Restaurante Interno
This was one of the most unique dinner experiences I’ve ever had. The restaurant is located in the San Diego Women’s Prison, just off the San Diego Plaza. It’s run entirely by women in the prison, as a second chance program, to gain skills and take time off their sentences. For every 2 days they work at the restaurant, 1 day is taken off their sentence. The profits from the restaurant go to the families of the prisoners in the form of scholarships, food, clothing, etc. or back into the prison for things needed for the inmates. The restaurant is small but very cute. It is a pre-fixe 3 course dinner and a fresh juice to drink for $90,000 each (about $30); so on the pricey side for Colombia, but worth it. The food was incredible. Emily said the carpaccio starter was one of her top 2 dishes of the trip. We both ordered the fish of the day for our main entree, which came with 3 decent size pieces of fish, several shrimp and a mussel, in a coconut cream sauce. It was delicious, in my top 3 meals of the trip without a doubt. Definitely check it out, it’s for a good cause and it’s a great meal.

Bohemiano
This was the best meal of the trip for me. It’s located outside of the Walled City, in the hip Getsemani neighborhood. We stopped in for lunch and for $16,000 (less than $6) we had the most delicious fish filet, rice and beans, plantains and a drink. The fish came with a lemon garlic sauce that was one of the best things I’ve ever tasted.

We ended up stopping back here a few nights later because they had such a great happy hour. We each had 2 strong mojitos because they were 2 for $16,000 (again, less than $6 for 2)! That’s just crazy. Top notch food and drinks.  Go!

Demente
Also located in Getsemani, this is a great little tapas restaurant. We had read about this place in other blogs so we knew we had to check it out, and it did not disappoint. We had a zucchini pizza, a potato dish, a chicken dish and 3 strong cocktails for $120,000 (about $40). A fellow New Yorker who we met earlier in the day, joined us for dinner as she had also heard about Demente and wanted to check it out.  And something crazy, while we were having dinner, we ran into 2 German girls we met on our beach day trip to Playa Blanca. If that’s not a small world I don’t know what is! Also speaks to how great the restaurant is, because everyone had heard about it separately, and wanted to check it out.

Espíritu Santo Restaurante
We walked past this place and stopped in for lunch randomly one afternoon. It is huge and felt like a big cafeteria. We each ordered the chicken, which came with a buttery-lemon sauce that was to die for. For less than $5 USD, we had the chicken, rice, plantains (or fries), a salad and a juice or a beer. A happy accident to stumble across for sure.

La Cevicheria
Anthony Bourdain visited La Cevicheria on his tv show and really put it on the map. It is one of the most highly recommended place in Cartagena, so we had to try it.  I don’t eat raw fish, but was able to order the cooked fish of the day, which for the night was red snapper. It came served with grilled cherry tomatoes and a pesto sauce with a side of coconut rice and was fantastic. Emily had the Mexicano shrimp ceviche, which came with corn, avocado, BBQ sauce and surrounded by tortilla chips, and said it was also incredible.  This was also a pricey dinner by Colombia standards, around $25 each. However, a seafood dinner and a cocktail in NYC (or even Indiana!) would have easily cost $50-60, so it was still a steal.

Café del Mar
An outdoor bar located on the westernmost part of the wall. Someone was really smart making that area of the wall a bar because it is packed every night. It is definitely the place to go to watch the sunset. Drinks are on the pricey side ($6-7 each), but you’re paying for the view and the experience as well. Get there early to get a table and enjoy the beautiful Colombian sunset.

El Barōn
A craft cocktail bar. It also serves food but we were only drinking on this particular stop. I’ll be honest, I only wanted to go because of the name is the mascot for my high school (Go Barons!), but it proved itself as more than just a name, with a great vibe and a beautiful and strong mojito.

El Balcón
This ended up being “our bar” throughout the trip. It was steps from our hotel in the Old City, on the second floor overlooking the San Diego Plaza. We stopped in on our first day for a Welcome to South America mojito (I assume you see a trend in my beverage choice by now), and went back every day. The girls working were lovely, the cocktails were tasty and cheap (2 for $20,000 – 2 for $7), and the people watching in the plaza below was great.

Crazy story…one night we stopped in for a night cap on our way back to the hotel and the awning 2 restaurants down caught on fire! It quickly went from a few burning embers to large flames, to the point we were worried about evacuating. Thankfully, they were able to get a fire extinguisher and put it out before any of the buildings went up in flames. Definitely made for an interesting end to our day!

General Tips

1 – Learn some basic Spanish phrases before you go. I always assume people will most likely speak some English (stupid American, I know), but the language barrier was surprisingly challenging. We managed to get by with our limited memory of some high school Spanish, but we really struggled. Surprisingly my word finding strategies for my patient’s with aphasia came in very helpful when we were struggling to figure out a word in Spanish. Getting the most out of my SLP degree, even on vacation.

2 – Make sure you have some cash at all times. Colombia uses the Colombian peso and the exchange rate is roughly $3000 pesos to $1. Most of the bars and restaurants take credit cards, however you’ll need cash for many street vendors selling souvenirs or food/drinks. And a tip – when using cash at street vendors and cabs, don’t forget you can negotiate prices. Just make sure you agree upon a price before committing. I was unable to find an ATM in the airport, however there are plenty in the Old City. However, it may be wise to exchange a little bit of cash at the US airport before you leave, so you’ll have something for the cab ride to your hotel.

3 – Wear sunscreen and stay hydrated. I knew it would be hot, but this was a kind of heat I’ve never experienced before. A heat index above 100 degrees is wayyy too hot. We drank a TON of water and had to stop for frequent rest breaks in the shade to attempt to cool off.  Thank God for air conditioning!

4 – Unless you are very experienced with driving in a different country with insane traffic, I would avoid trying to drive yourself in a car or on a motorcycle at all costs. There are ZERO rules when it comes to driving in Cartagena and it was terrifying. The only time I felt the slightest bit unsafe the entire trip was in a taxi, with a driver who was texting and weaving in and out of traffic like a crazy person. Although riding with the drivers is scary, they are experienced driving in the crazy Cartagena traffic, so let them do it.

Colombia is a place I would encourage anyone to visit.  It’s beautiful, the people are so friendly, the food and drinks are delicious and it’s dirt cheap.  If you are able to spend more than 5-6 days in the country, try to visit other cities in addition to Cartagena.  Fellow travelers also raved about Medellín and Bogotá.  If I have an opportunity to go back, they will most definitely be on my list of places to visit.  Take the short trip to South America and experience all that Colombia has to offer, I’m so happy I did!