Ultimate 4-Day Itinerary in Cartagena

Day 1: Cartagena

After a red-eye situation the past evening with TWO layovers, we finally made it to Cartagena!!! We arrived at 9 AM, and decided on our first day to drop our bags with the Airbnb and walk around the old city to get an idea of what this city was all about. I have to say the first few hours in Cartagena are pretty overwhelming due to the constant inquiries to buy something, book a trip or welcoming you into their restaurant, but by the afternoon I had a better handle on the, "No, Gracias," and learning to avoiding eye contact with everyone I passed.

Another word to the wise, Cartagena in June is about 99.9% humidity so there's no chance in making it more than three steps out of your air conditioned room without being a dripping mess, but it was worth every second. Definitely pack light breathable clothing, a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen and PLENTY of water. One of the greatest things about Colombia is that you can actually drink the water from the tap in the big cities such as Cartagena, Medellin, and Bogotá. We did as soon as we found out and had no stomach issues!

After walking around during the sunniest part of day, (which was probably not our greatest idea), we grabbed lunch at Cande and hung out in the air-conditioning. This was our first taste of Colombian cuisine, and it was perfect start! We tried the arroz apastelado and the cazuela de mariscos boquillera. I don't think you could go wrong with anything on their menu.

After lunch, we join the free bike tour in Cartagena.

Free Bike Tour in Cartagena

Although it was quite scary at times to be driving around, and what seem like rush-hour, it was a great way to learn the history of the wild city, and it's important to Cartina in Columbia, as well as give us a good layout of the fruit print of the city. Our guide gave us lots of insight About the dues and don'ts of nightlife food , Beaches, dancing, and museums to enjoy on our coming days in the city.

One of my favorite pieces of information that we learned in the wild city was about the door knockers that were on each of the residences. You would also see a very large door, and then a smaller door offer. One entrance the largest store for the horses, the second doors for the masters, and the smallest stories for the workers. The door knocker on the house were also significant to let people know the trade of the person that worked indoors. For example, if it was a fish, most likely it was somebody who worked in the harbor was a fisherman worked at the fish markets if it was a lizard it meant blank if it was a lion, it meant higher status.. all of the knockers were made out of brass were absolutely beautiful. We tried finding one for ourselves to bring back to the US and put on our home. Someday we were ideally looking for a rooster I didn't find one..

We ended the night at catching the sunset at Town House Rooftop Bar to watch the sunset. You have to try their passion fruit colada, it was a perfect way to cool off after a hot day in the city and get yourself an order of the fried seabass bites, they were delicious!

Day 2:

We started day two with Coffee Tasting at Café San Alberto which had beautiful views of Plaza Santo Domingo. This was such a treat because it allowed us to taste San Alberto's coffee brewed in three different ways; as a drip, a pour over, and a siphon. It was very neat to learn from the Barista's presentation about the profiles, regions and roasting techniques used for each type of preparation. We also enjoyed some delicious pastries with our coffee.

Next thing on the agenda, per recommendation from our bike tour guide from the previous day, was to spend some time at Museo Naval del Caribe. When you purchase your ticket you're asked if you would like an English tour guide or if you want to enter the museum on your own. We lasted about 4 minutes on our own reading all the information in Spanish, and realized we would've been there for MONTHS trying to read all the information so we returned to the main desk and were matched with the greatest tour guide.

I find it very fascinating to learn about wartime in certain countries and to hear from the locals how their countries were developed and how the people there persevered. Cartagena and the walled city were crucial to the foundation of Colombia's success. This tour gave us a greater appreciation and understanding of the importance of the waterways, fortresses, and even the materials used to protect this city against the invasions.

later that evening, we took part in our very first Air BnB experience, which was a Tango, Salsa and Bachata class on a secret rooftop in Getsemani. This class was an absolute blast, and it turned out to be one of the worst weather for everyone else and Cartagena but we got to watch thunderstorm from a covered rooftop and literally in the rain. It also helps that we enjoyed wine, Colombian beer and Colombian rum to make sure that everybody was having a great time.

After two hours of dancing in the rain, we had worked up quite the appetite and asked our dance instructor for any recommendations in the area. He recommended Sayle, but said we had a fat chance of getting in without a reservation. This was a restaurant that was also recommended by our first taxi driver coming from the airport.

Celele Restaurant

We were so lucky to walk in and ask if they had a table available turned out they had one in the back by the bar, but I had a time limit of an hour as there was a reservation booked for later that evening we ordered drinks ordered food and enjoyed every bite. This is probably our most expensive dining experience in Columbia, but was worth every single penny and if we were to have food of this quality in Chicago, it would've had a Michelin star along with many other accolades.

Day 3: Boat Excursion

Three, which was our last day in Cartagena he went all out on the water we spent the morning and early afternoon island hopping Cartagena Boca grande, grande Boca Pequeña. Learn about the significance of this place and it's protection of Cartagena.

our next stop, was the party aisle, which was crowded with tables, full of people having cocktails in the water. Although it wasn't necessarily our vibe, it was a great way for our tour group group to get to know another really quick manner, and made the rest of the day super enjoyable.

After the party is when we took a chance to go snorkeling. Not everyone in our tour wanted to snorkel so stem, stayed back on this island, which we joined them at later for drinks and ceviche. The rest of us did take a chance to see him fish in a calmer bay. Although it wasn't the most beautiful coral as most of it and highly populated, Taurus areas does get killed due to the changing climates of the water. We still had a chance to see some gorgeous fish enjoyed the beautiful temperature of the ocean.

At fourth and final stop on this tour was Isla de Rosario, which I found to be very crowded, was probably my least favorite of ours due to the amount of people dropping people on and off, was very touristy and not necessarily my vibe but I enjoy being able to say that we saw the different islands outside of Cartagena.

Once we got back to the harbor, we went back to the Airbnb took a quick shower before heading out to dinner. We enjoyed dinner at Mistura. We had the ceviche aventura, the solomito malibu and the tartufo roll. Their cocktails were also delicious so we had quiet a few!

Day 4:

We spent this day revisiting the areas we wanted to see one last time. Checking out the shops, grabbing a leisurely lulo or gulupa gelato, or a fresh squeezed lemonada in the park.

La Cocina de Pepina

before hopping on a catamaran for sunset. Again, I love any chance to be able to get on the water and Va city from the outside. It was nice to see the difference between the world city and downtown Cena that was filled with skyscrapers overlooking the ocean. I do feel like we got a understanding of the culture history by being in the wild city in Jets area .

Then we grabbed dinner at Mar de las Antillas. They had great live music and we really enjoyed sitting back and taking in the last our evening in Cartagena.

Early the next morning before having to go to the airport, we grabbed a quick breakfast at

Epoca Café and enjoyed our last minutes in Cartagena with coffee in hand.