CARTAGENA · COLOMBIA
Walled city, open Caribbean, salsa nights.
A UNESCO walled colonial city on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. Cobblestone plazas inside the walls, a coral archipelago an hour offshore, and a mud volcano half an hour up the road. Day-by-day reviews of every tour worth your time.
Only in Cartagena
Three experiences you’ll only find here.
Beaches and walking tours exist in every Caribbean port. These three don’t. The walled old town, the reef archipelago and the mud volcano are particular to this stretch of Colombia. Plan the rest of the trip around them.
Inside the colonial walls
The Walled Old Town
Cartagena’s old town is one of the most intact walled colonial cities in the Americas, UNESCO World Heritage since 1984. Cobblestone plazas, bougainvillea spilling off balconies, a church every other block, and the city wall itself walkable end-to-end for the sunset. You can lose two days inside and not run out of corners.
- 1 Cartagena: Historic Center and Getsemaní Shared Walking Tour
- 2 Private Walking Tour in Cartagena Walled City & Getsemaní
- 3 Walled Cartagena: Group Tour with Live Audio System
Out on the open Caribbean
The Rosario Archipelago
A coral archipelago an hour off the coast by speedboat, declared a national marine park in 1977. Turquoise water, white-sand cays, snorkelling stops, lunch at Barú. Most tours combine three or four islands in a single day. The Caribbean as the postcards promised.
- 1 Cartagena Island Hopping: 5-Stop Rosario Islands Tour with Lunch
- 2 Cartagena: Rosario Islands Catamaran with Lunch and Snorkel
- 3 Full-Day Rosario Islands Including Barú, Bocachica & Playa Blanca
Half an hour up the coast
Bathing In A Mud Crater
A 50-foot cone of warm geothermal mud an hour north of Cartagena. You climb the wooden ladder up the side, ease into the crater, get worked over by a local masseur, then rinse off in the lagoon below. Strange, slightly absurd, and a uniquely Cartagena half-day.
- 1 Half-Day Tour to Totumo Mud Volcano from Cartagena
- 2 Cartagena: Totumo Mud Volcano Experience
- 3 Full-Day Mud Volcano from Cartagena
By place
Pick where to spend the day.
Cartagena breaks into a few distinct stretches. The walled old town for cobblestones and history. Getsemani next door for the street art and the late ceviche. The Rosario Islands and Barú for the postcard Caribbean. And a mud volcano half an hour up the coast that is its own kind of half-day.
What everyone books first
The booking that defines the trip.
If you only have one tour locked in before you fly, this is usually it. The single most-booked experience in Cartagena, by a long way.
The flagship tours
Cartagena’s Most Popular Tours
Walled City walks, Rosario Islands by speedboat, sunsets over the bay, Bazurto market food, and the mud volcano up the road. Ranked by traveller popularity across the booking platforms.
Two halves of a day
Inside the walls. Outside the walls.
Cartagena’s old town is so contained that the city has a clear inside and outside. Cobblestone walks, churches, Getsemani street art and Bazurto food on the inside. Speedboats to the Rosarios, Barú beach days, sunset bay cruises and the mud volcano on the outside.
UNESCO old town and Getsemani next door. Walking tours, the city wall at sunset, San Felipe Castle, ceviche carts on Plaza Trinidad, and Bazurto Market for the local kitchen.
- Walled City Historic Center & Getsemaní Shared Tour in Cartagena
- Getsemani Cartagena Antigua & Barrio Getsemani group with audio system
- San Felipe Castle Cartagena: Guided Tour, with La Popa Convent, and San Felipe
- Street food Cartagena: Guided Street Food Tour with Tastings
An hour offshore the water turns Caribbean blue. Speedboats and catamarans to the Rosario archipelago, beach days at Barú and Playa Blanca, sunset cruises swinging back into the bay, and the mud volcano half an hour up the coast.
- Rosario Islands Cartagena VIP Boat Tour: Rosario Islands & Snorkel
- Playa Blanca Visit in Cartagena Playa Blanca in Baru Island
- Sunset cruise Sunset Cruise in Cartagena
- Totumo Mud Volcano Route Totumo Volcano + Galerazamba + Beach Club
By experience
Or pick how you want to spend the day.
Speedboat if you want range. Walking if you want the cobblestones. Snorkel if you want the reef. Salsa class if you came for the rhythm. Plus mud volcanoes, sunset cruises, beach clubs, and the rest.
After dark
When the sun drops, the city changes.
Cartagena warms up at night. Sunset on the wall. Bachata pouring out of Getsemani plazas. Bay cruises swinging back at golden hour. Salsa classes followed by chiva bus tours through the old town. Our picks for after six.
Out on the open water
Rosario Islands by boat.
A coral archipelago an hour offshore, declared a national marine park in 1977. Speedboats, catamarans and slower full-day cruises that stop at three or four islands with snorkelling and a lunch at Barú. Three we’d put on any first-time itinerary.
The food trail
Eat your way through Cartagena.
Bazurto Market in the morning, ceviche carts in Getsemani by night, lechón asado off the grill, Colombian chocolate workshops, and home-kitchen cooking classes. Three we’d send a hungry traveller to.
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