Cartagena 7 Day Itinerary (Old City First)
Seven days keeps the same Walled City, Castillo San Felipe, Getsemani, market, Palenque, and Bocagrande spine as the 6 day itinerary and adds one slow morning rather than a second day trip; at a week, resisting the urge to fill every hour is the actual upgrade. Prefer something shorter? Start from the Cartagena guide and work down.
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.
- 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. 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 for sunset.
Day 2: Castillo San Felipe and La Popa
Visit Castillo San Felipe de Barajas in the late afternoon, not midday. 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 (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. 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
Morning at Bazurto Market, Cartagena’s real working market, afternoon on Old City shopping at Portal de los Dulces and San Diego’s boutiques. Evening: a chiva party bus, roughly 50,000 COP a seat, live band and drinks included.
Day 5: San Basilio de Palenque
San Basilio de Palenque sits roughly an hour and a half from Cartagena, 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.
Day 6: Bocagrande and a second Getsemani night
Bocagrande is Cartagena’s modern beachfront peninsula, a workable half-day of sand without leaving the city, though not the region’s best beach. Spend the morning there, then head back into Getsemani for a second, more relaxed night.
Day 7: A slow morning and departure
Use the last morning for whatever got skipped: a slower pass through Las Bovedas, a return trip up to La Popa if the first visit was rushed, or the Museo Naval for Cartagena’s maritime history. Buy cocadas at Portal de los Dulces to take home; they travel better than most souvenirs. Airport taxis run the same fixed-kiosk fare as arrival, budget the same 20,000 to 30,000 COP and extra time for traffic.
| 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 |
| 6 | Bocagrande half-day + second Getsemani night | Short taxi to Bocagrande | 70,000 to 150,000 |
| 7 | Slow morning + departure | CTG same fixed-kiosk fare | 40,000 to 100,000 |
Is seven days too long for just the city, without a beach day out on the water?
No, if the Walled City’s history is actually the draw for you. Seven days lets you cover the fortress, the museums, Getsemani, a market day, and Palenque at an unrushed pace with a genuine rest morning at the end, rather than a forced beach day tacked on to fill the calendar.
What should you actually skip on a full week here?
The horse-drawn carriage loop, the walled-city restaurants built around cruise-ship packages, and any freelance “guide” or emerald pitch near the walls or the Castillo entrance. None of them earn a slot on a week-long trip any more than they would on a two-day one.
Passport copy, not the original, for all seven days; keep the original locked at the hotel along with anything else you would hate to lose to a crowded plaza.