Colombia’s main attraction is without doubt the stunning northern city of Cartagena. Is it in fact the most beautiful city in Latin America? The jury is out.
A former Spanish port on the Caribbean coast, Cartagena was founded in 1533 and the city’s old quarter is today a UNESCO heritage site. In 1533 the city soon became the depot in which gold, silver and emeralds, looted from all over the New World, were stored before shipping it back to Spain. After many attacks by pirates, and the siege in 1741 by the British Admiral Sir Edward Vernon with his 100 ship fleet, the fortifications took the form that we see today. One vessel, the San Jose, was said to have been sunk by the Spanish just outside Cartagena so that it didn’t fall into the hands of the British but the wreck has never been found.
The fortress is massive. Five miles of high battlements, 40ft high and 60ft wide, enclose the town and were built by 8000 African slaves to protect their colonial masters from the pirates. One of the best ways to get to know this city is to walk these walls, Las Murallas. This takes a little over an hour as you can’t walk the whole 5 miles. Cannons point out to sea between conical look-out towers and for more than 200 hundred years Cartagena grew rich on the plundered treasure.
One of the best ways to get to know this city is to walk these massive defensive walls - Las Murallas - which takes a little over an hour (you can’t walk the whole five miles…). Cannons point out to sea between conical look-out towers.
Make sure you visit the cathedral which was attacked by Sir Francis Drake in 1586 and also the Inquisition Palace where instruments of torture are still on show. And just wander not only on the ramparts but also get lost in the narrow streets which were laid out crooked intentionally o confuse the pirates. Mainly though just relax and enjoy the views across terracotta roofs and the highly decorated church towers.
Many former colonial mansions, monasteries and convents have been converted into hotels in recent years to welcome the growing number of visitors here. Along the cobbled streets horse-drawn buggies rattle along the way and beautiful coloured flowers (mainly bourgainvilleas) spill over from carved wooden balconies. It is picture perfect.
Colombia produces over fifty per cent of the world’s emeralds. To find some in Cartagena head to the Mercedes Salazar (Calle Ricuarte, 31-56) or checkout the craft vendors along the Calle de la Soledad.
It is almost always hot and humid in Cartagena. So perhaps a trip to the beach? Rather than the Cartagena beach we suggest you take a short boat ride to the Rosario Islands where you will find white sandy beaches.
Ultimately Cartagena is a romantic place to visit. You will find plenty of little spots to sit and watch the sun go down, before you perhaps decide to hit the one of the cities night hotspots and try some salsa dancing.
A short trip away from Cartagena, enjoying a mud bath in a volcano is the order of the day?! All the action happens in the Volcan de Lodo el Totumo and once you have indeed got the mud everywhere, the etiquette is to jump in the nearby river where you are helped to get clean by the ‘volcano workers’. Only in Colombia, eh?
In the heart of the walled Colombian city, one of the most beautiful in South America, you will find La Passion, a great hotel with a rooftop infinity pool that has blended the elegance of the original 19th-century Spanish mansion with stylish, modern detailing. More…
Hotel Sofitel Santa Clara is bang smack in the colonial heart of the town. It was a convent that ten years ago was lovingly converted into a hotel with 119 rooms. Today it is amongst the best in Cartagena. The rooms either surround the central patio or the swimming pool, plus there are two restaurants a bar, café. More…
Casa Quero is located in Cartagena’s walled district and in easy walking distance of all the main attractions. There are six double bedrooms all of them are ensuite. There a kind of blue and white theme going on here. More…
La Merced is another cracker of a boutique hotel in the historic centre and a stone’s through away from the city ramparts and the Plaza de la Merced and adjacent to the imposing Teatro Heredia and the Convento de la Merced. There are 8 very stylish rooms. More…
Islas del Rosario… More…
