Cartagena travel guide: the walled city, Getsemaní and the islands

Is Cartagena worth the trip?

What the walls, the forts and the boats give you, and what each one costs in September 2026.

Sunset on the walls is the free part. You walk a stone rampart the Spanish began in 1586, the Caribbean on one side, the towers of Bocagrande across the water on the other. UNESCO listed the whole 192.32-hectare site in 1984, calling this the most extensive military architecture in the New World. ¹

Inside the walls the city runs on foot. Plaza de Bolívar holds the Palacio de la Inquisición, now the Museo Histórico de Cartagena, built for the Tribunal of the Holy Office, which had operated from rented houses on the site since 1610. Calle San Juan de Dios holds the Museo Naval del Caribe. Getsemaní sits just outside the gate, with a history of its own and guides who live there. ^{9, 3, 4, 10}

• The old city is the cheap part. A 1.5-hour walking tour of the historic center runs on tips, Monday to Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. from Plaza de los Coches. Book it ahead. ¹¹
• The islands are the expensive day. Packages out to the Rosario and San Bernardo islands start at COP 265,000 a person and reach COP 510,000. ⁶
• The heat sets the timetable. Highs of 31 to 33°C, nights of 24 to 25°C, and a dry season from December to April. ⁸
• The US advisory reads Level 3 for the whole country, dated 31 March 2026. The departments it puts on Do Not Travel lie elsewhere, and Cartagena sits outside them. ¹²

Every price below comes from a government or operator page, read on 28 September 2026, in the pesos those pages quote. MMT's Colombia travel guides carry the rest of the country, and the one month in Colombia itinerary sets Cartagena inside a longer route.

What does a day in the old city cost?

Three headline tickets and a walking tour, priced from each site's own page.

Three tickets in one day come to COP 86,000, about USD 26.01. Castillo San Felipe takes COP 38,000 of that. The two museums inside the walls take COP 24,000 each. The walking tour of the historic center costs whatever you hand the guide at the end. ^{2, 3, 4, 5, 11}

Getsemaní, the neighborhood that forced independence

On 11 November 1811 Pedro Romero led the Lancers of Getsemaní into the hall where the city's junta sat, armed with lances, rifles and daggers, and demanded absolute independence from Spain and an end to the Inquisition. Cartagena became the first province in what is now Colombia to declare itself free of the Spanish crown. ^{15, 16}

Plaza de la Trinidad is where that story stands today. On 11 November 2024, the 213th anniversary of the declaration, the city reinstalled the restored sculpture Grito de Independencia de Cartagena 1811 in the plaza. Nora Luz Quintana made it, and it shows Romero and the Lancers. ¹⁶

The tours here belong to the neighborhood. In September 2024 the Fundación Gabo and the Fundación Santo Domingo, backed by Corpoturismo and the city's tourism secretariat, launched three resident-created routes tracing Gabriel García Márquez's ties to Getsemaní. He reached Cartagena in 1948, and his friend Manuel Zapata Olivella helped him find his first job in journalism. ¹⁰

The launch announcement prints no ticket price for those three routes, so ask when you book. Getsemaní's Afro-descended artisan families are the actors in both stories, the one from 1811 and the one from 2024, and the city's own museum tells it that way. ^{10, 15}

Castillo San Felipe and the walls

COP 38,000 buys the fort on the Cerro de San Lázaro, open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Sunday. Colombians and resident foreigners with ID pay COP 33,000, about USD 9.98, and the reduced rate is COP 16,000. Resolución No. 005 of 9 January 2026 sets all three. The ticket covers entry, and guides hire out separately at the booth. ^{2, 5}

The walls themselves are the other fort, and they are free. Spain began the defenses in 1586 and extended them through the 18th century. UNESCO's 1984 inscription covers 192.32 hectares under criteria four and six, held by private owners, the Catholic Church, and national and local government together. Colombia had already made the historic center a National Monument under Law 163 of 1959. ¹

How do you get out to the Rosario Islands?

Boats leave the Muelle Turístico La Bodeguita on Avenida Blas de Lezo between 8 and 10 a.m. Parques Nacionales Naturales runs the protected area and charges COP 11,000 to enter the San Bernardo sector, about USD 3.33, on top of whatever the boat costs. ^{13, 5}

Carry cash for a park fee this page cannot quote. Parques Nacionales publishes COP 11,000 for the San Bernardo sector and no figure for the Rosario sector. Ask the park office or your operator what the Rosario sector charges before you sail. ¹³

When should you go, and how hot is it?

December to April is the dry season, and October is the wettest month of the year. Cartagena's average annual temperature is about 27°C, with daytime highs of 31 to 33°C and nights of 24 to 25°C. The rains run May to November. Those figures come from IDEAM by way of a press account dated 4 April 2026. ⁸

Getting around: taxis, electric carriages and your first hours

Cartagena is replacing the horse-drawn carriages with electric ones. Colombia's Ministry of Transport authorized electric tourist carriages nationwide on 2 October 2024, which gave Cartagena its legal basis to replace the horse-drawn ones. The city ordered 62 vehicles. The first 24 were due on 11 November 2025, to be driven by the same cocheros who drove the horses. ^{17, 7}

Taxis start at COP 10,800, about USD 3.27, with a COP 1,000 surcharge between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. that takes the night minimum to COP 11,800, about USD 3.57. Decretos 0764 and 0765 of 17 March 2025 set the fares and split the city into six zones, among them the airport, the historic center and Bocagrande. ^{14, 5}

Cartagena publishes its taxi fares by zone, with the airport as one of six. Agree the fare before the door closes and ask the driver which zone he is charging you for. ¹⁴

1. 01

   Land at Rafael Núñez and settle the zone first

   The taxi decree fixes fares by zone, with the airport as one of six. The minimum is COP 10,800, and the airport fare is worth asking for before you set off. ¹⁴

2. 02

   Reserve the walking tour

   Free Walking Tour Cartagena meets at Plaza de los Coches, under the statue of Pedro de Heredia, Monday to Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., for 1.5 hours in Spanish or English. Reservation is required and the guide works on tips. ¹¹

3. 03

   Buy data before you need a map

   Airalo's Colombia eSIM runs from USD 12.50 for 3 days to USD 92.00 for 30 days, with 5, 7, 10 and 15-day tiers in between. ¹⁸

4. 04

   Save 123 to your phone

   123 is Colombia's single emergency number, used the same way nationwide, dispatching medical, fire and police help through one call. ¹⁹

Three days in Cartagena, and what it costs to get here

One route, with the boat day in the middle so weather has somewhere to move.

Three days hold the walls, Getsemaní, the fort and one island run, for about COP 362,000 in tickets, park fee and boat, roughly USD 109.47, with the Rosario sector fee still to add. Put the boat in the middle. A rained-out morning then has a day on either side to move to. ^{6, 13, 2, 3, 4, 5}

Getting here costs less than the island day. Wingo advertises Bogotá to Cartagena from COP 177,805 one way, taxes included, into Rafael Núñez, about USD 53.77. Rápido Ochoa prices the Cartagena to Medellín bus at about COP 121,000, roughly USD 36.59, with ten departures between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. ^{20, 21, 5}

MMT's domestic flights guide compares the carriers and their bag rules, and the Bogotá city guide covers the other end of that flight.

• Ninety days on arrival, extendable once by another 90, for travelers from visa-exempt countries including the United States. ²²
• Check-Mig, free, filed between 72 hours and 1 hour before you fly. Colombian authorities describe it as a way to speed up entry, and the confirmation email is what the officer asks to see. ²³
• A working month changes the sums. MMT's remote-work travel budget prices the desks, the data and the backup you hope to leave unspent.
• The rate moves. Every dollar figure here uses COP 3,306.86 per USD 1, valid 26 to 28 September 2026. ⁵