Cartagena de Indias

Buena Vida pairs Caribbean seafood dining with a separate brunch offering in the Centro Histórico.

The Torre del Reloj marks the main gateway into the walled city, opening onto Plaza de los Coches and the covered Portal de los Dulces.

Within Cartagena’s UNESCO-listed fortified ensemble, the Walled City brings colonial streets, plazas, churches and civic buildings into one walkable historic core.

Cartagena’s principal cathedral anchors the old town’s skyline and the historic buildings around Plaza de Bolívar.

At Banco de la República’s cultural center, Museo del Oro Zenú traces Indigenous material culture through goldwork, ceramics and other archaeological objects.

MUHCA occupies the former Palace of the Inquisition beside Plaza de Bolívar, using its galleries to explore Cartagena’s political and civic history.

Mar y Zielo serves contemporary Colombian cooking in La Escribana, a historic house in Cartagena’s Centro Histórico.

The Santuario Museo San Pedro Claver joins a church, cloister and museum around the life of the Jesuit who advocated for enslaved Africans brought through Cartagena.

Baluarte de Santo Domingo is a sea-facing bastion that shows how the old city’s wall meets the Caribbean waterfront.

Cartagena’s walls and bastions trace the old city’s defensive perimeter, with sea-facing stretches that open onto the Caribbean horizon.

Carmen serves contemporary Colombian cooking shaped by Caribbean ingredients in an intimate historic-center setting.

Alquímico is a multi-level cocktail bar in the historic center, with distinct rooms and a rooftop above the old city.

Di Silvio Trattoria serves Italian pasta and pizza in Getsemaní, with additional branches elsewhere in Cartagena.

Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas rises above San Lázaro Hill, where ramparts and defensive passages show how the colonial port was protected from landward attack.

Above the city, the Convento de la Popa sits on a hilltop with a broad view across Cartagena and its bay.

Sambal Bistró Caribeño gives Caribbean ingredients a contemporary bistro treatment in Getsemaní.

Getsemaní’s murals, music and public squares give this historic neighborhood a street-level counterpoint to the formal streets inside the walls.

At the center of Getsemaní, Plaza de la Trinidad is a neighborhood square beside the church of the same name.

La Serrezuela reworks a former bullring as a shopping and dining complex in San Diego, with its central hall known as Tentadero.

Along the San Diego wall, Las Bóvedas’ vaulted cells now house craft and souvenir shops.

Ábaco pairs coffee with a corner bookstore in the historic center, offering a quieter stop among the busy sightseeing streets.

El Barón is a cocktail bar on Plaza San Pedro Claver, with a menu of signature and classic drinks.

At this Centro Histórico café, empanadas, mote de queso, pastries and tropical fruit juices make a flexible pause near the civic core.

In La Boquilla, community canoe trips follow mangrove channels and show a coastal ecosystem beyond the city beaches.

Café San Alberto brings Colombian specialty coffee to a corner of Plaza Santo Domingo, a natural pause during a walk through the old city.

Plaza Santo Domingo is edged by cafés and restaurants, with the church and Botero’s Gertrudis sculpture at its sides.

Shaded by trees, Plaza de Bolívar sits among the cathedral, MUHCA and Banco de la República’s cultural center.

Just inside the clock gate, Plaza de los Coches opens onto Portal de los Dulces, a covered arcade of traditional sweet stalls.

Alma serves Colombian coastal cuisine shaped by Caribbean ingredients at Casa San Agustín in the historic center.

Donde Fidel Salsa Club puts salsa music within steps of the clock-tower gateway.