Day 9: How to go to Cartagena de Indias
How to go to Cartagena de Indias is something we want to talk about in this post today, since it is the journey we will take throughout the day, after yesterday making a route through the things to see and do in Barichara, one of the most incredible places we have been lucky to meet on this trip to Colombia in 46 days.
As we explained, yesterday we finished the day in Bucaramanga, which is the city where the Palonegro airport is located, which is the closest to Barichara and which allowed us to go to Cartagena de Indias, which is the next Destination of the route through Colombia for free.
So today we have to get up early and at 7:30 in the morning, after a quick coffee at the International Hotel La Triada, our accommodation in Bucaramanga, we ask for a taxi at the same hotel, which for 35000COP takes us to Palonegro airport in 30 minutes .
Palonegro Airport
We pass the security and punctual controls when it is 9:10 in the morning embark on our flight to Cartagena de Indias.
We make the flight with EasyFly and it is just over an hour, arriving at Cartagena de Indias at 11 am, after a most pleasant flight, which we do in a small plane, which we have to say is a joy , since both boarding and departure are much faster, as is the baggage claim.
How to go to Cartagena de Indias
Also known as the heroic city, Cartagena de Indias is one of the places to see in Colombia in which its impressive colonial architecture, its atmosphere and of course, its excellent gastronomic offer and its excellent beaches stand out.
In order to travel to Cartagena de Indias from most parts of the country, you have different options:
- Plane: This is the fastest and also the most comfortable option. If you are doing a route like ours or vice versa, the best way to go to Cartagena de Indias from Barichara, you must go to Bucaramanga, to from Palonegro airport, fly to Cartagena de Indias.
As from this airport, you can fly to the city from most of Colombia's main airports.
You can search here the flights to Cartagena de Indias - Bus: Another option to travel to Cartagena de Indias is the bus, although in this case, depending on the origin, the journey can be very long and make you waste a lot of time.
We leave you some examples so you can organize your trip to Cartagena de Indias:
From Bogotá: 21-23 hours and 130000COP
From Medellín: 14 hours and 130000COP
From Barranquilla: 3 hours and 22000COP
From Santa Marta: 4 hours and 30000COP - Excursion: Depending on where you are, another option to go to Cartagena de Indias is to opt for an organized excursion, with which you will not have to worry about anything and you will know the city by the hand of a guide. One of the options is this Excursion to Cartagena from Santa Marta.
The plane, one of the ways to go to Cartagena de Indias
With our bags in hand we go directly to the airport exit directly approaching the ticket office, which is the place where you have to take a taxi.
To get here you just have to follow the yellow lines and then go through the ticket office and say your destination, pay and pick up the ticket you will give to the taxi driver. The price to the historic center is 13900COP and the journey is about 15 minutes.
How to go from Cartagena de Indias airport to downtown
As for go to Cartagena de Indias There are different ways to go from the airport to Cartagena de Indias.
We leave you a list of all the options so that you can assess the one that best suits your needs and your type of trip.
- Bus: this is the cheapest but also the slowest way. You must take the Metrocar Route B bus, which will take you to the center in an hour or so, depending on the traffic and the area of your destination.
Keep in mind that the stops you make are Bomba del Amparo, Forest Avenue, Crisanto Luque Avenue, Bazurto Market, San Felipe Castle, Centro - India Catalina, Santander Avenue, Rafael Nuñez Airport and Crespo.
The schedule is from 6:50 am to 11:45 pm and the frequency is approximately every 15 minutes. - Taxi: this is the most comfortable option to go to Cartagena de Indias, since the journey will not take you more than 15 minutes for a price of 13900COP if your destination is the historical center of the city.
- Private transport: in case you are several people and do not want to worry about anything, choosing a private transfer can be the best option to go to Cartagena de Indias. In this case, a driver will be waiting for you at the airport, with a sign with your name, to take you directly to your accommodation.
You can book private transport here.
Cartagena de Indias
Just arrived at the Getsemaní neighborhood, at Casa Venita Hostal Boutique, our accommodation in Cartagena de Indias for the next four nights, we check in and after resting for a while, we go out to the streets of Cartagena de Indias to start enjoying one of The most amazing cities in the world.
Getsemaní neighborhood, one of the essentials of Cartagena de Indias
At this point we want to comment that just as it will happen in other cities that we will visit throughout the trip, we will be in Cartagena de Indias 4 days, a time that we understand does not spend the majority of travelers who have fewer days than us.
It is for this reason that in this case we will reduce the travel journals of the city to two post (which will be the next), in which we will make an optimized guide to visit Cartagena de Indias in one and two days, which we believe, are the days that usually happen in the city and that according to our experience, allow you to know all the places to visit in Cartagena de Indias.
Cartagena de Indias
Recommended travel cards
Remember that in order not to pay commissions and always have the current change we recommend you use the N26 card to pay and the Bnext and Revolut cards to get money at the ATMs. They are the ones we use, They are free and will save you a lot.
You can find more information in this article about the best cards to travel without commissions.
After a walk around the historic center, which we took as a first contact with the city, on the recommendation of our friend Conchi, we decided that the first day in Cartagena de Indias we go to Mar y Zielo, one of the most popular restaurants recommended of the city, in which we also find an incredible place, with exquisite decoration, we tried some dishes that are really exceptional.
We ordered as a starter some croquettes of crab and as a second a traveling ceviche and a suckling rice, plus the Amazonian cocoa dessert, glass of wine, water and coffees for 228000COP, with tip included.
Awesome! The best we have tried in Colombia, so it is highly recommended.
Mar y Zielo Restaurant
After lunch we go for a walk around the historic center, as we have said before in a very quiet plan until 4pm, that we approach Casa Venita Hostal Boutique to rest for a while and when it is 5pm in the afternoon, go back out to Take a walk around the neighborhood and then approach the historic center again, to Café del Mar, an entire institution in Cartagena de Indias, from where we enjoy the sunset.
Café del Mar, one of the places to go in Cartagena de Indias
After sunset, which in this case has not been memorable since the sky was quite overcast, we approached La Cevichería, where we ordered a hot ceviche and a medium shrimp ceviche plus coconut and beer lemonade for 100000COP with tip and taxes.
Although we know that it is one of the most recommended restaurants in the city, our experience has not been bad although it seems to us that it has a fairly fair service and in addition to the menu, almost half of the dishes were missing, something that has led to the end of the assessment Don't be as positive as we expected.
La Cevichería Restaurant
And so, after dinner and a walk through Cartagena de Indias illuminated by La Luz de la luna, we return to Casa Venita Hostal Boutique where we rest as children for tomorrow, start touring Cartagena de Indias.
We leave you the important points to know how to go to Cartagena de Indias in addition to the places we visited the first day we were in the city.
Day 10: Cartagena de Indias in one day: the best route
