Cartagena's walled old town is a UNESCO-listed maze of colonial mansions and plazas that comes alive at night with street music and open-air bars. It's hot and humid nearly year-round, so plan for slower midday hours and a boat trip to the nearby islands.
Good to know
- Heat and humidity are intense year-round; plan walking tours for morning or late afternoon, not midday.
- Negotiate or agree taxi fares before getting in — meters aren't standard, and Old Town hotels can call a reliable driver.
- December–April is driest; August–November brings the most rain and higher humidity.
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Balconies dripping with bougainvillea behind 16th-century stone walls — the whole old town is a UNESCO site best explored on foot.
Walk the ramparts to a Baluarte bar for a sunset drink looking out over the Caribbean.
Small, free museum of pre-Hispanic Zenú goldwork and pottery from the region's indigenous cultures.
Women in bright dresses balancing fruit bowls, descendants of San Basilio de Palenque, the first free African settlement in the Americas.
A restrained colonial cathedral beside a museum documenting the Spanish Inquisition's grim local history through original devices.
Once the rough part of town, now covered in murals and full of street food carts — the square fills with music most evenings.
A deep-fried corn arepa with an egg cooked inside — the classic Cartagena street breakfast.
Café Havana and similar clubs pack a small dance floor with live salsa bands most nights of the week.
Coconut-lime ceviche and whole fried pargo rojo — the Bazurto market is more authentic, the Bocagrande stalls easier for a first visit.
High-rise hotel strip along a city beach — less charming than the Old Town, but the rooftop pools are the better swim option.
The largest Spanish fort in the Americas, a tunnel-riddled hilltop built to repel pirate raids — climb it for a city view too.
An hour by boat to a coral-reef archipelago for snorkeling and a beach-club day away from the city heat.