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OVERVIEW

Cartagena das Indias, situated on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, is steeped in history, romance and fun.

The city has been an important port on the Caribbean since it was founded in 1533. Gold and silver left the port bound for Europe, pirates looted the city, and a walled fort grew to protect both shipping and the slave trade.

Today Cartagena still draws interest, but nowadays from tourists who come to enjoy the history, the sights, the weather and the nightlife. The city has something for everyone.

Cartagena is divided into two main parts: the old town, known as Ciudad Murallada (the Walled City), and the new town (Ciudad Nueva). Cartagena’s colonial walled city was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. The walls that enclose the town are over 8km long and, within the walls, visitors can enjoy the old town’s busy narrow streets and Spanish colonial architecture, loud music and great restaurants.

One of the attractions of Cartagena’s new town is the long strip of hotels, shops, restaurants, nightclubs and art galleries fronting onto the beach, known as Bocagrande.

Caratgena is Colombia’s most fashionable seaside resort and there are some very fine beaches to be found around the city, where visitors can soak up the tropical sun.

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TRANSPORT

Most places in the old town are within walking distance. To reach other destinations, the city has a good bus service which is clean, cheap, frequent, and safe. Taxis are generally easy to find, although in the old city you may have to walk a few blocks away from the centre, toward the wider roads close to the wall.

A popular way for tourists to get to know the old city is by horse drawn coach. These can be flagged down in the street or can be found waiting at the Plaza Bolivar or close to the Santa Clara hotel.

If you’ve visited Cartagena for even a day you’ve undoubtedly seen the open air, colorful buses going through the city loaded with people having fun, drinking and enjoying the loud beat of local music. A good activity for couples, families or groups. There are various pickup locations mostly at tourist hotels.

Cartagena also has several harbours for boats which take tourists to nearby beaches and to the Islas del Rosario, a set of small islands off the coast.

ATTRACTIONS

There are good walking tours throughout nearly all areas of the old town. Some of the sites you should see are:

Clock Gate (Puerta del Reloj), the official entrance to old town which is the symbol of Cartagena, and often, Colombia, as well. The central gate was originally the only opening into the Walled City.

Coach Square (Plaza de los Coches) is situated just inside Clock Gate. Hundreds of thousands of black slaves, brought to South America from Africa were sold in this Plaza. Many were then shipped to the new colonies. Veracruz, Mexico and Cartagena were the only two official ports designated by the King of Spain, to trade slaves. The name “Coach Square”, dates to the past century, and applies today as well, as this is a designated boarding area to tour the city in a horse drawn coach.

Bolívar Park is located in the heart of the city. This park, which is named after General Simon Bolivar who liberated the Colombia in 1811, is a local and tourist favourite. The plaza is surrounded by some of the city’s most elegant, balconied colonial buildings. Under shady terraces outdoor cafes line the street. Not too far from the park is the Government Palace and across from the government palace is the Cartagena Cathedral which dates back to the 16th century. Before the cathedral was fully constructed, the pirate Francis Drake attacked the city, partially destroying what had been completed.

Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas is just a twenty minute walk from the centre of town. This is the greatest fortress ever to be built by the Spaniards in their colonies. The original fort was constructed between 1639 and 1657 on top of the San Lazaro hill. Numerous attempts were made to take the fort by storm, but none

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were successful. There is an extensive system of tunnels underneath the fort. These tunnels were used to distribute provisions and facilitate evacuation. Some of the tunnels are open today and can be viewed without a guide.

Near Cartagena coral reefs, and beautiful beaches, complement the historic and urban beauty of city.

Islas del Rosario — is a set of small islands off the coast. Several agents offer boat tours to Islas del Rosario. Usually the tour includes lunch, a visit to an aquarium and a few hours at Playa Blanca.

Playa Blanca — If you are interested in beaches, Playa Blanca is widely regarded as the best beach of Cartagena. With its white sand and crystal clear water, it is probably one of the best beaches in Colombia. It is worth staying on Playa Blanca for at least one night. There are several places where you can rent hammocks, get food and drinks.

Isla Baru — Farther down from Playa Blanca, on Isla Baru in the bay ofCholon, is Sportbaru, a place well worth visiting. This tranquil beachfront resort offers water sports, boat tours, eco hikes, gaming facilities, restaurants and bars.

Vulcão Totumo — the Mud Volcano of Totumo — is just 31 miles from Cartagena. This is a 49 feet high mini-volcano which spits out dense mud instead of lava. Hundreds of people climb to the top of this volcano each day in order to immerse themselves in its thick grey mud which, supposedly, has medicinal powers.

WHERE TO STAY

If money is no concern, Cartagena has many 5 star hotels where guests are pampered in total comfort. In the old town, the most famous of these hotels are the Sofitel Santa Clara and the Charleston Santa Teresa, both old renovated monasteries. Both offer fabulous facilities at fabulous prices.

If you cannot afford the five-star hotels, you may try the colonial houses turned into hostels. These are rather small and sometimes getting a room can be a question of luck. For the budget conscious, daily costs can be very low, even for an entire family. And for those on a really tight budget, room and board for a single person can cost as little as $10 per day.

Bocagrande, the newest part of the city, offers the largest number of hotels of all prices.

DINING OUT

Finding a decent place to eat is never difficult in Cartagena. Nearly 500 years of cosmopolitan history combined with the fact that Cartagena is a major seaport in the Caribbean, form the foundation of the culinary reputation of the city.

A typical dish consists of fried fish, chicken or meat, served with coconut rice (arroz de coco), fried plantains (patacones) and salad accompanied by a very good range of exotic fruits juices.

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In the old town, dozens of good restaurants can be found dotted around the streets. They are particularly concentrated close to the Plaza Santo Domingo in El Centro.

Local cooking is also readily available at the portable cooking stands, which like magic, appear on the sidewalks—during the day and in the evenings. There are also all kinds of food and drink available from peddle vendors, with their food carts on wheels.

SHOPPING

EMERALDS

Cartagena is famous for the quantity and quality of its emeralds. The main emerald sellers are in the Pierino Gallo Shopping Centre on the Bocagrande Peninsula. This two-story, air-conditioned centre with an open courtyard upstairs contains some of the city’s more reputable shops, some of which only open during high cruise season, from October to May.

HANDICRAFTSCartagena is also a good place to shop for inexpensive handicrafts, such as hand-stitched blouses (molas), nativity scenes, Christmas decorations, colourfully painted replicas of buses packed with people and produce. Prices are reasonable, and you can bargain in the more informal shops. Among the more interesting craft shops are those in Plaza de las Bovedas, vaults tucked into the northeast corner of the old town’s walls.

LEATHER GOODSIn the old walled city there is an interesting street called “calle de la moneda” with lots of shops selling leather handbags or shoes.

STREET MARKETSCartagena also has its popular street markets offering a variety of goods from fruit and vegetables to clothes, shoes, crafts and leather goods. It may be hard to walk between the stalls and vendors can be very insistent.

CURRENCYThe unit of currency in Colombia is the Colombian Peso (COP or, less formally, COL$). The peso is divided into 100 centavos. The available denominations for notes are $1000, $2000, $5000, $10000, $2000, and $5000, and for coins, are $50, $100, $200, $500 and $1000.

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5759

112119

COUNTRY CODE

CITY CODE

POLICE

FIRE STATION

TOURIST INFORMATION

6644229

INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

+57 (5) 656 92 00

FAX

+57 (5) 656 92 02

IMPORTANT NUMBERS