7 Days in Cartagena: The Walled City Base
Seven days is the full Walled City circuit: the historic core, Getsemani, San Basilio de Palenque, Bocagrande and a genuine flex day at the end for whatever the heat cut short earlier in the week. If your dates land on 10-15 November 2026, this length has room to catch Fiestas de Noviembre programming too. Want a tighter trip? Drop to the 6-day version or any shorter length back to 2 days .
Book these before you go
- Walled City or Getsemani hotel: check current listings on Booking.com
- Castillo San Felipe history tour: search dates on Viator
- San Basilio de Palenque day trip: browse fixed-departure tours on GetYourGuide
- Chiva party bus tickets: check seat availability on Viator
| Day | Focus | Travel time | Rough daily cost (COP) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Arrival, Walled City orientation, Getsemani sunset | CTG airport to center, 15-20 min | 150,000-300,000 |
| Day 2 | Castillo San Felipe, La Popa, Palace of the Inquisition | Everything walkable or a short taxi | 150,000-300,000 |
| Day 3 | Getsemani street art, MAMC, Plaza de la Trinidad night | On foot from the Walled City | 120,000-250,000 |
| Day 4 | San Basilio de Palenque day trip | 1-1.5 hours each way by tour van | 150,000-250,000 |
| Day 5 | Bocagrande half-day, chiva party bus night | Short taxi to Bocagrande | 150,000-300,000 |
| Day 6 | Manga, La Boquilla, cooking class | Short taxi to both | 150,000-280,000 |
| Day 7 | Flex day, shopping, farewell dinner, departure | On foot in the Walled City | 100,000-250,000 |
Day 1: Arrival and the Walled City
- Land at Rafael Nunez International Airport (CTG), fixed-rate taxi kiosk, roughly 20,000-30,000 COP to the Walled City or Getsemani, 15-20 minutes.
- Walk San Pedro and San Diego in the morning or late afternoon: Plaza Bolivar, the Cathedral of Cartagena, Calle Santo Domingo. Skip the midday hours.
- Stop at Las Bovedas, a free artisan market in the old munitions vaults.
- Evening in Getsemani for dinner, sunset on the walls near Baluarte Santo Domingo.
Day 2: Castillo San Felipe and the city’s history
- Morning at La Popa monastery, entrance 4,500-11,000 COP reported, verify.
- Midday at the Palacio de la Inquisicion, roughly 24,000 COP (some sources cite 19,000-22,000 COP).
- Late afternoon at Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, the largest Spanish fortress built in the Americas, go after 3pm. Gate prices reported 38,000-50,000 COP, verify, audio guide roughly 15,000 COP more. Part of the 1984 UNESCO listing .
Day 3: Getsemani, deeper
- Walk the murals radiating from Calle Sierpe and the quieter San Diego lanes.
- Visit the Museo de Arte Moderno de Cartagena (MAMC).
- Treat the neighborhood’s gentrification honestly, a Four Seasons opened here 2 April 2026.
- Night at Plaza de la Trinidad for live champeta.
Day 4: San Basilio de Palenque
- Fixed-departure day tour to San Basilio de Palenque, the only surviving palenque in Colombia, UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2008, roughly 1-1.5 hours out with an organized tour and local guide.
- Learn about Palenquero, the Spanish-lexicon Bantu-grammar creole, and the community the Cartagena palenqueras trace their heritage to.
- Back in Cartagena by evening.
Day 5: Bocagrande and a chiva night
- Half-day at Bocagrande, the beachfront high-rise strip with big hotel brands (InterContinental, Hilton, Hyatt Regency); the beach isn’t the region’s best but it’s a workable break from history.
- Afternoon back in the Walled City for anything missed.
- Evening chiva party bus, roughly 50,000 COP per shared seat or around 650,000 COP for a private full bus.
Day 6: Manga, La Boquilla and a cooking class
- Morning in Manga, a quiet residential island neighborhood with a handful of boutique hotels and none of the crowds.
- Afternoon at La Boquilla, a fishing-village-turned-beach spot north of the city with mangrove canoe tours and kitesurfing.
- Evening cooking class covering arepa de huevo, coconut rice and fresh ceviche.
Day 7: Flex day and departure
- Use the morning for whatever the heat or the schedule cut short, a second pass through San Diego’s shops, a return visit to the fortress ramparts at a different bastion for photos in better light, or simply a slow cafe morning.
- Shop for souvenirs at Las Bovedas or the Portal de los Dulces arcade for cocadas and other coconut sweets to take home.
- A farewell dinner inside the Walled City closes out the week, then a taxi back to Rafael Nunez International Airport (CTG), 15-20 minutes, roughly 20,000-30,000 COP.
- If your dates overlap 10-15 November 2026, swap this flex day for whatever Fiestas de Noviembre programming is running, the Desfile de Independencia on 12 November and El Cabildo de Getsemani on 14 November are the two events worth planning around.
Seven days is enough that the Walled City stops feeling like a checklist and starts feeling like a neighborhood you know your way around, which is the actual payoff of staying this long in one place instead of island-hopping the whole trip.