The Pink Gin Passport’s guide to Cartagena, the UNESCO city that doubles as a gateway to Colombia’s stunning Caribbean coast. This guide includes tips on where to stay, what to do, what to eat in one of the best cities to visit in Latin America.
Where to stay in Cartagena?
You want to stay in the walled city or Getsemani. I stayed in Selina in Getsemani and couldn’t recommend it more. Although not the most social, rooms are clean, common areas beautifully decorated and a stunning rooftop pool and bar. As always I booked through Booking.com.
If you’re staying in Cartagena for a few nights definitely try and stay on the Rosario Islands for a night or two. I stayed at Secreto Hostel in Isla Grande which was amazing. The hostel/hotel has a range of activities too.
What to do in Cartagena Colombia
Beyond Colombia Free Walking Tour
I booked this through my hostel. The best way to see the city and get your bearings. Bring some cash with you to give a tip at the end as it is a free walking tour they’ll only make money on what you think the tour is worth. Highlights of this tour was spotting monkeys and sloths in the park.
Sip and Paint class
I booked this though Viator. It was on a rooftop in Getsemani included brunch, 2 glasses of mimosas and a small canvas you paint guided by a real artist (and you can take home). It was a lovely way to spend a few hours and I always try to do at least one creative activity when I travel (like lantern making in Vietnam) as it’s a great way to unwind.
The same company also do sunset rooftop salsa classes and if I was staying longer I would have wanted to try that too.
Rooftop drinks at sunset
There are a number of rooftop bars where you can enjoy the sunset. If you’re staying at Selina the rooftop bar has a very impressive view.
Watch street performers
You’ll see performers dancing in the street outside the Walled City and around Getsemani. It’s great to see live music and performances in such a vibrant city.
Tayrona National Park
If you don’t have time to stay at Tayrona or Palomino (like me) you can do a (very long) day trip from Cartagena with Backpackers Cartagena. The trip is mainly all in Spanish but if you have google translate and follow the guide closely you’ll make it back to Cartagena no problem! I booked through Civitatis
It involved a 3am pick up, 5 hour drive there (and then back in the evening). It was 2 hours of jungle hiking there and then back after lunch. We saw monkeys, palm trees and Cabo San Juan was stunning. Be warned the current is really strong on the Caribbean coast so don’t go too far out.
Swim with bioluminescent plankton
You can do this as a trip from Cartagena but if you’re staying at Isla Grande you’ll be closer to the lagoon. I booked through Secreto Hostel who took us out to the lagoon around 7pm. You can only see the plankton with the naked eye so there’s something extra special about swimming with stars and having an amazing experience just for yourself and not for Instagram. The trip doesn’t run on a full moon as the light makes it too hard to see the plankton so keep an eye on that when planning your trip.
Snorkelling
When staying at Secreto I also booked onto the sub wing and snorkelling trips which were fantastic. We snorkelled down to an abandoned plane rumoured to be one of Pablo Escobar’s sunken drug planes.
What to eat
The food at Selina and Secreto was amazing and can highly recommend especially ceviche.
My favourite street food vendors were Colombitalia Arepas and plantain with cheese from a food cart opposite the restaurant Pezetarian.
One morning I went to Libertario Coffee Roasters had coffee and sourdough toast with tomatoes and burrata with pesto which was delicious. It gets very busy which shows it’s worth going to!
Also the national drink is Aguardiente which you can buy in the supermarket- it’s translated name means firewater and when you’ve had a few shots of it you’ll find out why.
How to stay safe in Colombia
Colombia has worked hard over the last few decades to improve its safety and open up to tourists. There’s a lot of people in the tourism industry who want you to have a great safe time. Like any city petty theft and muggins do occur. You’ll see warning on the UK foreign travel advice website around flash taxis in Colombia taking victims around to different ATMs at gunpoint until their cards are maxed out. Myself and my friends didn’t experience any such violent crime but there are certainly things you can do to avoid even petty crime.
Firstly, don’t take a taxi off the street. Either get your hostel to call you one or order an Uber which works great in Cartagena. I felt very safe in Getsemani but I would still never walk alone at night and would pay £2 for a 3 minute Uber back to my hostel.
I kept my phone and cards in a hidden compartment in my bum bag with a small amount of cash in the front to limit any losses if I did get mugged (which I did not). And I keep a spare debit card back in the hostel for a number of reasons including my card getting swallowed by the ATM or card cloned etc.
I also never had my phone out following Google Maps on the street. If I needed to check directions I’d step into a shop to check or I would keep one headphone in holding my phone in my pocket and listen to directions so it’s not obvious I’m a lost tourist.
I use these tips in any city/town where I know bag and phone theft is high but as stated earlier these types of crimes happen everywhere including London, Paris etc.
In my experience I felt very safe in Cartagena and as long as you take sensible precautions you can have a great time in this amazing city.
