CARTAGENA
With it's crooked and colourful colonial streets, ancient history, assortment of accommodation, food and shopping for every budget, and sunsets to die for. Cartagena is no longer Medellin's poor neighbour.
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getting there
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Domestic Flights | You can fly from almost anywhere to Cartagena internationally or domestically. We flew back from San Andres for £60 (with baggage) which is toward the top end of prices. It takes an hour. You can pick up flights for less than £20 from other cities within Colombia.
From Santa Marta | You can get the bus which costs 45,000Cop (£8) and takes around five hours with Expreso Brasilla. Alternatively you can take a mini bus with Berlinstur or Marsol for 60,000Cop (£11).
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To Stay
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The backpackers head to: Getsemani or the Historical Centre.
We stayed in both areas and enjoyed them both but preferred the historical centre due to the closeness of everything. Getsemani is still only a ten minute walk.
When we were looking for hostels it was quite obvious that Cartagena was going to be more expensive and things get booked up quickly. If you are heading there in peak season like we did in January then try to plan a bit further ahead.
Casa Zahri Boutique Hostel | First we stayed at Casa Zahri Boutique Hostel which was lovely. It has a small pool area, a kitchen, on-site bar and an upstairs chill out area. We paid £33 for two beds in an 8 bed dorm and breakfast was included. Breakfast was really good, you could choose from 4 options each day and got a juice, fruit and coffee. The only downside was the lack of seating and comfy spots considering the amount of guests. But it had a great view over the marina and you get a 10% discount if you pay cash. We stayed for three nights and then moved hostels because it was fully booked.
Viajero Cartagena | Our next hostel was the Viajero in the Historical centre. We preferred this location and the hostel overall. It has a very small pool, courtyard area, kitchen and bar, air con, tv room, and more in the way of social areas. We stayed in an eight bed dorm and paid £30. Breakfast is an extra 15,000COP and the menu changes daily. Their website is usually cheaper than Booking.com or Hostelworld and don't forget the 10% discount code WEBVIAJERO at checkout.
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To do
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Pick a Hole in the Wall | You will hear that the best spot to watch the sunset is a table at Cafe Del Mar. This is a nice place to sit for a great view and over priced drink but forget it, it gets booked up months in advance - so we have a better option. Grab a few beers from a Mini Market and find an old cannon hole in the wall of the old ramparts and have your own little space to watch the sunset. The surrounding area gets very busy during the sunset so arrive slightly earlier if you want a spot facing the sea. If you run out of cold beers the guys pushing the mobile bars will sort you out.
Island Hop | You will have a lot of people trying to sell you boat trips to the Rosario islands or beach clubs on Baru. Having just come back from San Andres we weren’t too fussed about heading to an island. A full day luxury catamaran tour to the Rosario Islands will set you back around 360,000Cop (£63). Be aware that it's a place of tranquility, no roads, no street lights with limited places to eat and drink.
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To Eat & Drink
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Just Wander | There are so many cafes, restaurants and bars around it’s hard to pick which ones to visit. Our favourite place to sit with a drink was Calle 28. This street was small, colourful and filled with people enjoying a drink. The cocktails are also some of the cheapest we found in the city. Plaza Trinidad is another spot to sit with the locals enjoy a drink and you can find street vendors selling kebabs, beer's and arepas.
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Terraza Municipal | Situated here on the harbour you can watch the yachts coming and going and even the odd pirate ship. Its 10,000Cop (£1.80) for a small beer and if you really want you can sit on the harbour wall just outside the Terraza and save some money. We did both. There's trailers offering Sushi, Pizza and everything in between. the circular bar at the centre is a great spot to make new travel friends.
NEXT STOP
The gateway to the Lost City, and probably the first beach town you will find on the Caribbean coast. It is a good base for a day trip to Tayrona National Park and its hiking, diving and beaches. Step off and hop the coastline to Buritaca, Palomino - as far as Venezuela.