The Cartagena Edit
Notes on a 16th century walled city on the Caribbean coast
This week and next might be a little quieter than usual on this Substack as we head off on our first big trip of 2025 (wish us luck!).
A year ago today, we headed to Colombia for the first time and spent a week in Cartagena. We had originally planned to split our time between Cartagena and Bogota, but a few Brooklyn friends who are originally from Colombia, convinced us to just enjoy Cartagena and spend a few days at the beach instead of hitting two cities. We pivoted pretty last minute, spent 5 nights in the walled city and 3 nights on the island of Baru (45 minutes from the old town) and had one of the best trips ever.
Before I get into how we booked the trip and all of my favorite things about Cartagena (SO MANY favorite things!!) let me just say that if you haven’t been to Cartagena, this is a perfect city to visit with school age (or older) kids over a long weekend or a week long break. It’s a small city full of history and gorgeous buildings, locals and tourists, and restaurants with a lot of vibe. You can walk almost everywhere, Ubers are only a couple of dollars and you’re just a short boat ride away from some of the most gorgeous beaches. Because the sidewalks are pretty uneven, this would be a tough city with a stroller, but not impossible. Try to stay somewhere with a pool if you can!
Read on for how we booked this trip, some thoughts on Cartagena, our favorite sites, shops, restaurants, etc., and photos of this gorgeous, photogenic city.