Colombia is a country that has been on the radar for a long time. I will be honest.. I had little expectations for our time in Cartagena. We were doing the Blue Sailing San Blas Islands trip, traveling across the ocean from Panama to Colombia and Cartagena was our "landing" spot. I was totally focussed on the crossing the ocean on a sailboat part and had barely looked into Cartagena at all. We were here from mid to end of January.
We will certainly back to visit and explore the rest of Colombia, but for now.. here is Cartagena in a nutshell!
We arrived into the Yacht Port in Cartagena. Taxi's are super accessible whether you're arriving by land, air or sea. They have Uber here as well!
WHERE TO STAY:
This will certainly not come as a surprise that we opted again to stay at Selina's! Seriously, we have been staying at Selina properties around the world for years and they never disappoint! We stayed at Selina Cartagena in a private double room for 3 nights. Definitely take advantage of the accessibility here that they have so many day trips, excursions and amenities available. Coming off the sailing trip, we wanted some R&R. Our private room was perfect for that and we also got massages on site!
For the last couple days of our trip, we moved to Casa Claver. This was certainly on the pricier side, but we wanted to live in a bit of luxe for Jason's 30th birthday! The rooftop view and the pool was incredible. It was a fantastic location, quiet, a great view of the streets from the balcony, amazing service, and awesome breakfast delivered right to your room!
EAT & DRINK
There is certainly no shortage of beautiful places for food and drink in Cartagena. I could walk up and down these colourful streets all day. Side note, you can totally walk around with drinks in the city. Go to Plaza Trinidad at night and check out all of the street performers, fabulous street food, and the pina coladas from the stands on the side of the road in the square are to die for!
There are plenty of organized free walking tours around town where you can pay what you want after the tour. This is a great way to get a feel for your surroundings as soon as you land. As noted, we stayed in the Getsamani area so all of our recommendations are in this area. Definitely make your way to the wall along the water. for sunset at Cafe Del Mar. There was a huge line and we didn't want to miss sunset, so as per Cartagena style, we grabbed a drink from one of the street vendors and sat on the wall. If you're staying in this area of Getsamani, start in Plaza Trinidad after sunset, and take your time exploring and getting lost down all of the roads out of the centre. You will not be disappointed in all the beauty you will find.
Alright, some of the best food we have EVER had is at EPOCA. If you take one thing from this blog post, it's to eat here. We went back two days in a row for the falafel. So yum.
So much fun to pop in here and grab a pint of craft beer or a boozy slushie! You can walk around the streets with a drink here, so why not make it a fun one!
Some of the best coffee we had while in town. A super cute spot to sit for a coffee date too. The croissants are a total must. We grabbed croissants and a coffee two mornings in a row here.
Realllllly yummy sushi and great vibe. Super busy spot mid day, so come early or just be prepared to wait for a little bit!
We had the mixed bruschetta and some pizza! Cute spot for lunch and dinner in an older building located in the heart of Getsemani
This was on almost everyone's list that had been here prior to us, recommending that we visit! We can now totally agree. For whatever the reason, definitely pop in. We sat on the rooftop bar, but the inside of the building itself is also breathtaking! The food was incredible. We went with a group of 12 and tried a lot of the menu. The cocktails were amazing and the scenery/vibe was so much fun! We didn't stay super late, but apparently becomes quite a party after dinner!
If you know me, you know my first stop in a town is usually any local or craft beer. We had just come off of almost a week on a sailboat, and headed straight to the first craft beer spot we found. We had to tell the server that we still felt wavy coming off of the boat so that she didn't think we were already tipsy rolling in there! We had 2 of the crafts on draft each and all was awesome. We split a burger and fries too! It was the perfect comfort food and first stop in town before our first good night sleep in a real bed in awhile!
We sat in the beautiful back garden here with our entire group from the boat! (14 of us!)
Almost all of us had pizza and it was amazing! Cool vibes out back too. Would definitely recommend! This spot is centrally located right in the main square at Plaza Trinidad so can get super busy!
ACTIVITIES/TOURS
This was a super impulsive and random activity that we embarked on while in town. We also are total beach and ocean bums, so had we not been coming off of a week on a sailing trip we likely would've done those tours, but needed some time on land... or in the air apparently.
We did the Fly Cartagena tour and had opted to be picked up from our hotel in Getsamani and drove about 20 minutes to the beach area of town around the airport and went on a paramotor adventure.
I have to say, hopping into a guys lap essentially while they start up this machine and run on foot to pick up speed and launch you into the sky about 300ft wasn't necessarily my first choice of activity, but the staff and pilot were amazing and it was such a great way to see the city and ocean from the coastline with incredible views!
I searched far and wide to try and find something unique and relaxing for us to do to celebrate Jason's 30th birthday after coming off of the incredible sailing adventure that we did with Blue Sailing, to ACTUALLY celebrate his birthday.
I found this dinner cruise online and messaged them on Whatsapp to ask a bunch of questions and book directly. We met at the port for the designated time and embarked onto the boat. We had a 3 course meal and they even brought Jason a happy birthday dessert! The food. was amazing. We made sure to get different things for each course so that we could try each others and get a bit of everything! For the price- the city views, the food and the wine, I would certainly recommend this for a night out in Cartagena!
This was something Jason had planned before he knew I had planned another night out on a boat the night before! To be honest we were worried it might be a repetitive experience, but it was totally different! This had a drink included and was totally casual in a sense that you could sit and stand anywhere. There was great music on board and even ended up in a dance floor by the time we got back. We circled the harbour for sunset, which we didn't get to see on the dinner cruise since we went later in the evening.
The boat was absolutely stunning! I'd definitely recommend this for a couple or group of friends for sunset and drinks before dinner. It would also be an awesome option to rent out the entire thing for a larger group or event!
All in all, as mentioned we had almost no expectations for Cartagena. It was where our sailing trip ended and the best hub for us to fly to the next destination. We also thought that having 6 days here was too long. We were pleasantly surprised. We will certainly be back and also encourage you to look into the island trips from Cartagena. The people, the food, the music, the artwork, the ocean, all of the things made this such a beautiful city that we highly recommend visiting.
As we plan to explore the rest of the country this coming year, we cannot wait to hear your reccos for other cities around Colombia!
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Gallery of Cartagena photos below
