Cartagena 5 Day Itinerary (Old City First)
Five days keeps the same Walled City, Castillo San Felipe, Getsemani, and market spine as the 4 day itinerary and adds the one day trip actually worth taking from a history-first Cartagena trip: San Basilio de Palenque. Want Bocagrande and a second Getsemani night too? Move up to the 6 day itinerary , or read the Cartagena guide first.
Book these before you go
- Book a Castillo San Felipe tour , 38,000 to 50,000 COP entry plus a tunnel-history guide.
- Book a Walled City walking tour for the colonial and slave-trade history.
- Book a San Basilio de Palenque day trip , a small-group, fixed-departure tour rather than an independent attempt.
- Check rates on Booking.com for Getsemani, walking distance to everything.
Day 1: Arrival and the Walled City
CTG airport is a 15 to 20 minute drive from the historic center; the fixed-rate taxi kiosk outside arrivals prints the fare, roughly 20,000 to 30,000 COP into the Walled City, Getsemani, or Bocagrande. Walk the Old City’s plazas while the heat is tolerable, Plaza Bolivar, Plaza Santo Domingo, Las Bovedas’ free artisan market, then into Getsemani for dinner and back to the walls near Baluarte Santo Domingo for sunset.
Day 2: Castillo San Felipe and La Popa
Visit Castillo San Felipe de Barajas in the late afternoon, not midday; the fort has almost no shade. Entry runs 38,000 to 50,000 COP, plus 15,000 COP for an audio guide explaining the tunnel network engineered so footsteps carry to guards above. Use the morning for La Popa monastery (4,500 to 11,000 COP) and the Palace of the Inquisition on Plaza Bolivar (roughly 24,000 COP) between the two.
Day 3: Getsemani, properly
Spend the day in Getsemani rather than passing through for dinner: the murals on Calle Sierpe in daylight, then Plaza de la Trinidad after dark for street vendors and live champeta. This is the honest place to sit with Cartagena’s slave-trade history: Getsemani was historically home to the city’s Afro-Cartagenero working class and free Black population, and the palenquera fruit-sellers here (agree roughly 8,000 COP before the camera comes out) trace directly to the Cimarron maroon communities of self-liberated enslaved people.
Day 4: Bazurto Market and a chiva bus
Spend the morning at Bazurto Market, Cartagena’s real working market, and the afternoon on Old City shopping: Portal de los Dulces for cocada sweets, San Diego’s boutiques for the rest. In the evening, book a chiva party bus, an open-sided, brightly painted bus with a live band and drinks included, roughly 50,000 COP a seat for a shared run.
Day 5: San Basilio de Palenque
San Basilio de Palenque sits roughly an hour and a half from Cartagena and is the strongest “go deeper” day trip on this itinerary: the only surviving palenque (maroon) settlement in Colombia, UNESCO-recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage, and the ancestral home of the palenquera fruit-sellers working the Walled City’s streets. Book a small-group, fixed-departure tour rather than arranging it independently; it engages directly with the Afro-Colombian history threaded through the whole trip rather than consuming its consequences secondhand back in the city.
| Day | Focus | Travel time | Rough daily cost (COP) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrival + Walled City orientation | CTG to center, 15 to 20 min | 80,000 to 150,000 |
| 2 | Castillo San Felipe (afternoon) + La Popa + Inquisition | Short taxi to each | 150,000 to 230,000 |
| 3 | Getsemani, murals and history, day and night | Walkable from the walls | 60,000 to 120,000 |
| 4 | Bazurto Market + shopping + chiva bus | Short taxi to Bazurto, rest walkable | 90,000 to 160,000 |
| 5 | San Basilio de Palenque day trip | About 1.5 hours each way | 150,000 to 300,000 guided |
Is San Basilio de Palenque worth a full day trip?
Yes, more than a second Walled City day would be. It is the one bookable excursion from Cartagena that engages the Afro-Colombian history running through the whole trip, rather than just visiting its consequences (the fortifications, the palenqueras) secondhand back in the city.
Should the day trip be Palenque or the Rosario Islands?
For a history-first, Walled-City-focused trip like this one, Palenque. It is the deeper, more substantive pick and the direct thread back to Getsemani’s own history from day three. A beach-and-boat day is a real, worthwhile trip too, just a different one, built around the water rather than the city.
Bring cash for Palenque; card acceptance thins out fast once you leave the Walled City, and small bills matter for the palenquera photo fee back in town.