Travel Edit: Cartagena

A few months ago I traveled to Cartagena, Colombia and fell in love. The colors, the quaintness, the culture— it all felt so unreal. Cartagena is a storybook town, and should be on anyone’s “must see” list. Here’s a little roundup of where I stayed, ate, and played.

 

WHERE TO STAY:

I’m an avid Airbnb-er. I prefer the locality of it to a hotel. We chose a 2 bedroom condo that was an 8 minute walk to the walled city. Out of all the Airbnb’s I’ve stayed in this one is one of my favorites. It’s a photographic dream come true. If you’ve never tried Airbnb I urge you to sign up. I’ll even give you $40 off your first Airbnb stay if you click HERE.

Where to stay in Cartagena Colombia travel best Airbnb cheap place to stay solo women travel black travel Cartagena travel guide diary Where to stay in Cartagena Colombia travel best Airbnb cheap place to stay solo women travel black travel Cartagena travel guide diary Where to stay in Cartagena Colombia travel best Airbnb cheap place to stay solo women travel black travel Cartagena travel guide diary Where to stay in Cartagena Colombia travel best Airbnb cheap place to stay solo women travel black travel Cartagena travel guide diary Where to stay in Cartagena Colombia travel best Airbnb cheap place to stay solo women travel black travel Cartagena travel guide diary Where to stay in Cartagena Colombia travel best Airbnb cheap place to stay solo women travel black travel

 

Where To Eat

Let me preface this by saying two things:

One— this was a spur of the moment trip. I didn’t plan to be in full blogger mode: taking images of everything and detailed documentation of my meals.

Two— we did not have one subpar meal the entire 5 days we were there. Every meal, drink, dessert, coffee, street food we had was all amazing. All of it.

While in Cartagena you must get these 4 things at least once: coffee, ceviche, Limonada de Coco, and coconut rice. They are served practically  everywhere, and for good reason.

Here are two places we ate that truly stood out.

Cartagena Colombia travel guide things to do in Cartagena where to eat best restaurants la Casa de Socorro

la Casa de Socorro

 

Cartagena Colombia travel guide things to do in Cartagena where to eat best restaurants El Patio de Vika

El Patio de Vika

Cartagena Colombia travel guide things to do in Cartagena where to eat best restaurants El Patio de Vika

Cartagena Colombia travel guide things to do in Cartagena where to eat best restaurants El Patio de Vika

El Patio de Vika

 

What To Do:

In all honesty, my favorite thing I did in Cartagena was simply walk around. I was in awe at the beauty and cleanliness of the city. Pristine architecture, flower filled balconies, beautiful brown people— the marvel of it all. We did do a few activities that I loved:

  • Cartegena Free Bike Tour. This was incredible. We learned and saw so much of the city. We did this on one of the last days there, but wished we had done it sooner so that we could explore parts of the city we saw during the tour. The best part? It was under $15.
  • Boat ride to Rosario Island- this was…. an adventure…. to say the least. We didn’t book a tour ahead of time, instead we walked down to the dock and booked something same day. We paid under $60 each for a boat ride/tour to the isnads, lunch, beach time, and entrance to the aquarium. The boat ride itself was horrible, everyone aboard felt like we were going to fly off at any moment, it was fast, choppy, and felt very unsafe. If you’re itching for an anxiety attack, by all means THIS will give you want you want. I also wasn’t a fan of the beach. It was crowded, and full of panhandlers. This was not the relaxing beach moment I had hoped for.
  • ChocoMuseo- We wandered into The Chocolate Museum one evening and had a blast. We learned about where chocolate comes from, tasted some amazing drinks, and learned about chocolate beauty remedies. This was a sweet little treat and I definitely recommend stopping by if you have some extra time.

Things to do in Cartagena Colombia travel guide solo women travel black travelThings to do in Cartagena Colombia travel guide solo women travel black travelThings to do in Cartagena Colombia travel guide solo women travel black travelThings to do in Cartagena Colombia travel guide solo women travel black travelThings to do in Cartagena Colombia travel guide solo women travel black travelThings to do in Cartagena Colombia travel guide solo women travel black travelThings to do in Cartagena Colombia travel guide solo women travel black travelThings to do in Cartagena Colombia travel guide solo women travel black travelBlack fruit women palenque Things to do in Cartagena Colombia travel guide solo women travel black travelThings to do in Cartagena Colombia travel guide solo women travel black travel

 

Cartagena was not a city on my radar. I had no wild hopes or expectations for it, and yet it blew me away. If you’re looking for a beautiful little escape, that doesn’t cost much…you MUST visit the colorful Cartagena, Colombia.