Cartagena colombia how many days

Great to see that you had so much fun in this beautiful country. They are both wonderful!! This is such a fab comprehensive guide! Ooooh, I hope you get to go to Tayrona next time! I never heard much of Medellin, but it really looks worth visiting. Colombia in always on my list and I am adding Medellin in the list too. It is interesting to know that it was dangerous city before 25 years but now an innovative town.

I would love to go Guatape as it is colorful, which is only 2 hours from Medellin. Colombia sits in the top bracket of my bucket list. The comprehensive itinerary that you shared covers a variety and is easy to follow.

Tayrona National Park appeals the most to me. I am sorry to hear that it was closed when you visited it. The packing tips are handy. I always carry bug spray. Steri Pen is a good idea. Ohhh how I would love to visit Columbia one day! I am absolutely loving the very bright coloured buildings — a photographers dream!

Good to know the bus system can be fun and not a bad option. But I think I might still opt to fly around to save a bit more time. Columbia has been on my travel list forever. I loved your pictures. So colourful so bright. Your itinerary seems to have everything I love — national park, beach, colourful houses. Love your photos!!! Planning my trip to Colombia this July and this has helped so much!!

Thanks so much, Krishna!! Love that we can help. Hope you have as much fun in Salento as we did! Awesome post! We missed out on Parque Tayrona to fit in the Lost City trek but your pictures are making me a little bummed about that choice…. Thanks, Claire! Amazing review, thank you! I plan to travel to Columbia in August for 2 weeks so your summary and advice is invaluable. So much to see and do, your tips are great, makes it a little less overwhelming as I try to plan haha.

Happy to help! Planning a trip to a destination for the first time can definitely get overwhelming lol. Hope you have an amazing time! Great post. I am planning to visit Colombia this summer and I have a couple of question: — How would you travel from Salento to Cartagena, by bus or plane? This looks super cool! The million dollar question- What was the approx budget for this itinerary? I have been backpacking for 9 months and wanted to get a sense of this could be done on a backpacking budget.

We were in Colombia for around a month and visited all the places on this Colombia itinerary plus a couple of others like Minca. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Planning your first trip to Colombia? Also, be sure to marvel at the ivy and rose covered balconies and big colonial doorways. Both museums are worth visiting. By this point, you should have worked up an appetite. There is no shortage of great restaurants inside the Walled City. All serve up traditional Cartagena favorites.

For some alternative options, you could check out La Cevicheria, made famous after the late Anthony Bourdain visited it or the Argentine grill with an eat vibe at Marzola, both located just off the Plaza San Diego.

The church is named after the Jesuit priest who spent much of his life preaching there. Pedro Claver was especially known for preaching to slaves and advocating for humane treatment of them. He was later canonized by the Catholic Church and is often referred to as the patron saint of human rights. In addition to seeing the inside of the sanctuary, there are some neat examples of religious relics and art on display inside the museum.

This is the best historical museum in the city. If you are more pressed for time or just not that big a fan of museums, I would encourage you to do this one over the better known Inquisition Museum. There are exhibits here on the colonial era, including the different attacks on the city, the best known by Francis Drake and Edward Vernon.

The models and maps help put into context what you saw in the morning at the Castillo San Felipe. Finally, there are exhibits on the modern Colombian navy, and some neat interactive models of a submarine and battleship that kids, in particular will like. Just outside the museum, you can also see the Parque Marina, one of the prettier green spaces in the Centro.

You can also marvel at the former Santa Teresa convent, now the Hotel Charleston. The restaurant inside has some amazing crab nachos if you have worked up another appetite for a snack or want to make a note to come back another day.

You can see much of the Walled City with the bay and the modern towers of Bocagrande in the background. Drinks and appetizers are good.

Occasionally, the bar is closed due to private events at the hotel. If that happens feel free to swap this with the sunset recommendation for day 3 below. You will want to make sure you make a reservation. I recommend trying the lobster empanadas for an appetizer and the seafood stew in a coconut milk-based sauce known as cazuela de mariscos.

The steak, seafood pasta, and shrimp risotto are all also terrific. Donde Fidel is practically a Cartagena institution. Inside, it gets quite crowded and the salsa gets turned up loud.

However, the tables outside are great to enjoy a cold beer, some fresh air, and some people watching. This is where you first day in Cartagena ends.

No trip to a Caribbean destination is complete without a day at the beach! The beaches in Cartagena proper are decent, and if you only have 2 days, for example, you could opt to spend only half a day at the beach in town. However, the nicest beaches are outside the city itself. If you have three days in Cartagena, you can afford the day to get the most out of the beaches. Below are 3 options for a beach day at the best beaches near Cartagena.

This is my top choice. This cluster of small islands lies about a minute boat ride away from Cartagena is part of a larger chain that includes the even more beautiful San Bernardo Islands several hours to the south. The islands are very pretty and are surrounded by crystal clear, Caribbean water. There are a few different ways to do the islands.

The best, if you can manage it is to rent a private boat for the day. This is most cost effective if you are a group of 7 or more. Companies offering rentals can arrange the perfect plan for you. A second option is to do a day pass at one of the resorts in the islands.

One thing that surprises many visitors to Cartagena is that much of the urban area around the old city is, well, kind of disgusting. Well mostly good news: It can make the issues of how many days in Cartagena you should spend a more difficult one to resolve.

I initially considered not visiting Totumo Volcano , because many fellow travelers I met in Cartagena said they had been disappointed by it. Whether you rent a car to get to the volcano, or go on an organized tour with your hotel and hostel, make sure and get back to the city before sunset so you can enjoy a local song and dance performance by the Clock Tower gate.

Stay safe, however—most crime in Colombia befalls drunk tourists! Because of the distance and cost associated in getting there, however, you should set aside at least a few days if you plan to visit the island.

Unfortunately for LGBT travelers, the only gay beach Cartagena seems to offer is whichever one you find gays on. As you can probably tell reading through this post, my original answer for how long to spend in Cartagena was three days.

With some exceptions, I think this is an ideal amount of time in the city, as it afford you one full day in the historical center, two day excursions one each to inland and offshore activities , with an evening each atop the old city walls in the Miami-like Bocagrande. However, there are some limitations to the 3 days in Cartagena framework, even if I think it works well as a base for shorter and longer trips.