/

Please enter your feedback

Close

Thank You For Registering

We sent an official communication to your email address provided during your registration. Please check your email and follow the instructions.

You must be logged-in to do that!

Close
Close

Trip Guide to Lively Cartagena, Colombia

© David Nicolas Maracas

Photo: Maracas

Do you
want to go?

Tell us your favorites
Take a dash of faded colonial grandeur, then add a dose of sultry nightlife and an influx of cosmopolitan travelers seeking the next great Caribbean hot spot. Read the article

Destinations: Lasarte-Oria · Cartagena · Old San Juan

Inspired by: Cartagena, a Hidden Retreat — by Oliver Schwaner-Albright, Published Mar. 2008

Please note: Your comment will not appear immediately.

Hotels (7)

Open / Close
  • No_image

    Casa Pestagua

    This small, chic, and stylish hotel let's guests sleep under frescoed ceilings, then wake to take their breakfast in the lush, columned courtyard. ... More
    User Rating:
  • No_image

    Sofitel Cartagena Santa Clara

    In 1995 Sofitel opened the Santa Clara, a 121-room luxury hotel in the shell of a 17th-century convent. Located in a peaceful part of town with vie

    ... More
    User Rating:
  • No_image

    La Merced Hotel Boutique

    On a quiet corner by the Cartagena's walls, the hotel is located across from the Teatro Heredia Adolfo Mejía, one of the city's architectural gems. More
    User Rating:
  • No_image

    La Heróica

    User Rating:
  • No_image

    Hotel Charleston Cartagena

    Known as the Santa Teresa, this former convent has serious character. More
    User Rating:
  • No_image

    Hotel Agua

    Stay in this small, stylish, and private hotel complete with frescoed-ceilings. The rooms are filled with dark antiques and soft white bedding. Her... More
    User Rating:
  • No_image

    El Marques Hotel Boutique

    The most reasonably priced of the small Cartagena hotels. More
    User Rating:

Restaurants (4)

Open / Close
  • No_image

    Restaurante La Vitrola

    In this convivial spot with potted palms, a dapper six-man Cuban band is always stationed at the door. It's Cartagena's unofficial clubhouse, a pla

    ... More
    User Rating:
  • No_image

    Restaurante Casa de Socorro

    Traditional Caribbean cazuelas - spicy seafood stews - are served without fuss at a restaurant that deserves its reputation for having the most aut... More
    User Rating:
  • No_image

    Palma

    A nominally Italian restaurant (there's foccacia in the breadbasket), with refined South American dishes like cevice of corvina - a white-fleshed f... More
    User Rating:
  • No_image

    8-18

    The sophisticated Caribbean fare draws a chic crowd. The best tables are upstairs and the mero comes with crema agria, something like a spice crème... More
    User Rating:

Activities (6)

Open / Close
  • No_image

    Palacio de la Inquisición

    A museum full of historical dioramas and crude 18th-century portraits of governors and generals. The first floor displays torture devices that illu... More
    User Rating:
  • No_image

    Iglesia de San Pedro

    User Rating:
  • No_image

    Catedral de Cartagena

    The tropical-fruit-colored façade hides a marble interior that offers a cooling respite from the hot city streets.
    More
    User Rating:
  • No_image

    Quiebra Canto

    A lively bar just a short taxi ride from the central city with music on Fridays. Dancing couples spill out onto the balcony and salsa music lasts l... More
    User Rating:
  • No_image

    Café Havana

    There's dancing almost every night at this bar deep inside the iffy part of Gesemaní - take a taxi here and back.
    More
    User Rating:
  • No_image

    El Castillo de San Felipe del Morro

    More commonly known as El Morro, this stone garrison is the oldest freestanding fort in the Americas. Built between 1539 and 1797 by Spanish settle

    ... More
    User Rating:

Similar Trips (4)

Open / Close
  • Dining Scene in San Sebastián, Spain

    San Sebastián, Lasarte-Oria

    The small, wealthy city is in quiet transition, recapturing its glory days as the preferred summer resort of the Spanish aristocracy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and of Franco in the 5

    ...

  • Christmas in Puerto Rico

    San Juan, Old San Juan

    Christmas joys in Puerto Rico include suckling-pig feasts, shopping for santos (carved wooden saints), and bands playing salsa renditions of "Jingle Bells."

  • Affordable Caribbean Resorts

    San Juan, Vieques, Alligator Pond, Treasure Beach

    Whether you're staying in an expensive luxury resort or a smaller scale, more affordable hotel, these hotels offer more than enough in terms of amenities, experiences and comfort, with a much lower

    ...

  • Trip Guide to Adventure Travel in Puerto Rico

    San Juan, Old San Juan, Condado

    This simple-to-reach isle is a rapid remedy for adventure-seekers craving an adrenaline rush. Rappel 250 feet into the prehistoric Camuy Caves, 60 minutes west of San Juan, or hike El Yunque rain f

    ...

Comments (0)

Open / Close
Please note: Your comment will not appear immediately.

What's your favorite thing to do during an airport layover?

  • Browse duty-free
  • Read gossip mags
  • Grab a bite
  • Take a nap
  • Catch up on email
  • Listen to my iPod

Advertisement
Advertisement

Marketplace