Guides & tips

Plan your trip like a local

Honest answers to the questions travellers ask us most.

Aerial view of a white sailing catamaran at anchor over pale turquoise shallows, dark patches of reef spreading around it, low wooded islands and a handful of yachts behind

When to Visit Cartagena: The Sky or the Sea, Pick Your Risk

February averages 0.3 mm of rain and one of the roughest seas of the year. October averages 236.5 mm and the calmest water. Cartagena's temperature barely moves — so the month you choose is a choice between two different risks, not between good and bad weather.

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A guide in a white T-shirt holding out a paper bag of golden fried pastries to a small group on a pavement, one guest filming with a phone, a yellow colonial façade behind

Street Food in Cartagena: What You Are Really Paying a Guide For

An arepa de huevo costs a few thousand pesos. The five food tours compared here cost €35 to €65. The gap is the whole point, and in one place it is worth every cent.

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A white sailing catamaran under mainsail on grey-brown bay water, the high-rise towers of Bocagrande lining the shore behind it under an overcast sky

Sunset on the Bay: Sailing Boat, Catamaran or Party Boat

Cartagena's sunset moves by only 52 minutes across the whole year, which makes the departure time the one thing worth checking. Six boats compared, and what the bay actually looks like.

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Two children and an adult snorkelling just below the surface, masks on, surrounded by a shoal of yellow and black striped fish

Cartagena with Children: The Heat Decides, Not the Season

Every month in Cartagena peaks at 31 to 32 °C and never drops below 24 at night. That, not the calendar, is what shapes a family day here — and the aquarium closing at 1.30 pm is the detail that ruins more island trips than rain does.

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A weathered stone cross on a whitewashed terrace, the city spread out far below with the bay, the container port and the towers of Bocagrande on the horizon

Castillo San Felipe and La Popa: What the Official Tariff Actually Says

The castle's full rate is COP 38,000 at 2026 prices and rises automatically every 15 January. The over-62 exemption does not apply to foreign tourists. Read before you book a tour that says entry included.

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A tour group of about a dozen people standing on a stone terrace in low evening light, an orange umbrella printed with the words FREE TOUR resting on the ground in front of them, a domed church and bell tower behind

The Walled City and Getsemaní on Foot: Which Guided Walk Is Worth It

Cartagena's most-reviewed walk costs €12.27 and takes two and a half hours. The four-hour bus tour costs twice that and rates a full point lower. What the ratings are telling you, and when to start walking.

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Three white parasols and rows of sun loungers on fine white sand, turquoise sea and empty horizon behind, hardly anyone in the water

Playa Blanca on Barú: Why the Cheap Day Trips Rate Worst

Five budget Playa Blanca trips in our listings rate between 3.1 and 3.8. The two expensive ones rate 4.5 and 4.8. The gap is not the beach — it is what you pay for once you are standing on it.

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Aerial view of a small wooded island with thatched roofs and a jetty, ringed by pale turquoise shallows and dark patches of reef, a larger low island behind it

Rosario Islands: What the "Five Stops" Actually Are

The stops on a Rosario Islands day are not five islands. Here is what the booking pages really name, why the €102 catamaran can work out closer to the €65.84 speedboat than it looks, and the one place out there that closes at 1.30 pm.

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Aerial view of dozens of speedboats moored in a horseshoe around a thatched floating bar in shallow turquoise water, mangrove islets behind

Rosario Islands from Cartagena: Speedboat, Catamaran or Party Boat?

Three boats leave the same pier for the same archipelago and deliver three completely different days. Crossing times, the cash fee nobody mentions, and the months when the sea decides for you.

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A tour group of about a dozen people posing under large painted letters and a red heart at a village entrance, two carved wooden posts with faces beside them, dry ground and a blue sky

San Basilio de Palenque: What You Are Paying Five Times More For

The same village, 50 km from Cartagena, is sold as a day trip at €22.82 and at €109.04. Both are real offers in our listings. Here is what separates them, what happened here in 1691 and 1713, and how to go without a tour at all.

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Island day trips from €12.27 · available today

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