Two days is not enough time to understand Cartagena. But it’s enough time to fall in love with it, which is arguably more useful.
This itinerary is built around two distinct flavors of the same historic city. The inner Walled City — Centro and San Diego — is the romantic side: colonial plazas, candlelit courtyards, and the kind of beauty that stops you mid-sentence. And Getsemaní, the adjacent popular quarter, which Forbes named one of the twelve coolest neighborhoods in the world. Same colonial roots, same Caribbean light — but Getsemaní has an edge that comes from being a neighborhood where people actually live rather than visit.
Cartagena has more to it than what lies inside and around these walls. But if you only have 48 hours, this is where the history, the food, the culture, and the excitement are.
Day One: The Walled City
Afternoon arrival through evening
Arrive and Walk Before the Sun Goes Down
Most flights into Cartagena land in the afternoon, which means your first real experience of the city happens at the best possible time of day. Drop your bags, change out of whatever you traveled in, and get outside. The Walled City at golden hour, when the heat lifts slightly and the light turns the colonial facades amber, is one of the more disorienting beautiful experiences available in Latin America. Don’t try to see everything. Just walk. Through the Clock Tower entrance, into Plaza de los Coches, through the back streets. Let the city arrive before you start checking things off.
Plaza Santo Domingo and a Pre-Sunset Stop
Make your way to Plaza Santo Domingo — home to the Botero sculpture of Gertrudis, whose most polished parts tell you everything about how seriously people take local legend. If you have a few minutes before heading up to Baluarte de la Gente for sunset, Magno Chocolates is right on Calle de la Factoría, one block away. Stop in and say hi. If you want to taste the best cacao in the city, we’d love to show you what Colombian fine-flavor actually tastes like.
Sunset at Baluarte de la Gente
Before dinner, make your way up to Baluarte de la Gente on the old city walls. This is not a polished tourist attraction. It’s the actual wall, actual colonial-era cannons pointed toward the Caribbean, and an unobstructed view of the sun going down over the sea. There’s usually a breeze up there you won’t find in the streets below. Order something light, a drink and a snack, and watch the sky change color. Come before dinner. There are no better sunsets in Cartagena.
Dinner in the Walled City
The Walled City has some of the best dining in Colombia, and your first night deserves a proper meal. Our current favorite is Casa Mar, though the full restaurant guide has everything you need to choose based on your mood and your group. The settings alone are worth it — candlelit courtyards, colonial mansions turned dining rooms, tables that feel like someone’s very elegant home.
Evening: Alquímico, Mirador, El Barón, or All of the above
Cartagena’s nightlife is concentrated and walkable, which means a good evening here doesn’t require a plan so much as a direction. El Barón on Plaza San Pedro Claver is the classic move: outdoor seating facing one of the most beautiful churches in the city, excellent cocktails, and on most weekend nights a Michael Jackson impersonator who arrives with a full backup company and commits completely. Alquímico, ranked in the World’s 50 Best Bars and named World’s Best Bar in 2024, is a few minutes’ walk away with three floors and a rooftop where the dancing happens. Arrive before 9 p.m. or expect a line. If the line is too long, Barra 7, run by the same team, is tucked into an alley one block in from the Clock Tower and almost never has a wait. Otherwise check out Mirador for an incredible view of the city.
Day Two: The Caribbean
Full day at a beach club, evening in Getsemaní
Morning: Coffee and an Early Start
Beach club boats depart between 9 and 11 a.m., so the morning needs to move. Keep it simple: coffee and something light before you head out. Café Época or Just B are both on the route from most Walled City hotels if you have a few minutes. If you’re in Getsemaní, check out Amé. If you’re in a rush, the coffee can wait until you’re on the water.
Full Day at a Beach Club
This is the day. A full Caribbean beach club experience is one of the things Cartagena does better than almost anywhere in the region: a private pool, turquoise water, cold drinks, good food, and the kind of afternoon that makes the rest of your life feel like it’s happening in the wrong place. Our full guide to the best beach clubs in Cartagena covers every option in detail. Plan to be back in the city by late afternoon.
Late Afternoon: Shower and Recover
Back in the city by late afternoon, the priority is a shower. The beach has a way of extracting every last thing from you and the evening ahead deserves a fresh start.
Evening: Two Paths
Here’s the honest part. After a full day in the Caribbean heat, your group will split into two camps: the ones who are horizontal by 9 p.m. and the ones who somehow have more energy than they started with. Both are valid. Both have good options.
If you rally: Take a cab to Getsemaní. Walk Callejón Ancho for the street art. Have a drink at Ajeno Rooftop at Hotel OSH, which looks down into the hotel’s internal courtyard pool at night and is one of the most beautifully designed rooftops in the city. Eat at Carta Ajena inside the same hotel, or at Celele if you want the most ambitious kitchen in the neighborhood — reservations required and book well in advance. If you need something quicker and easier, Discos y Mariscos in Getsemaní is a great local option. The energy around Plaza de la Trinidad after dark — live music, cold drinks, locals and visitors mixed together — is the kind of thing you stumble into once and talk about for years.
If you don’t: Stay in the Walled City. Get a cold ceviche somewhere easy near the hotel. Have one drink on a rooftop. Be in bed at a reasonable hour and wake up actually ready for Day Three instead of surviving it.
Day Three: Getsemaní in the Morning
Before your flight
If you rallied into Getsemaní on Day Two, use the morning for a final walk through the Walled City — the plazas are quiet before the heat builds and the tourist traffic arrives, and the city shows you a different face. If you didn’t make it to Getsemaní, now is the time. Go in the morning when it’s cool enough to actually walk it. The street art on Callejón Ancho, the murals throughout the neighborhood, the slow pace of the streets before midday — it’s the Getsemaní that locals see and most visitors miss entirely.
Either way, start with a coffee and something to eat before you leave. On Calle Larga in Getsemaní, Amé Cocina Experimental is one of the most exciting new openings in the city. It’s run by Natalia Martínez, one of Cartagena’s best pastry chefs, who built her reputation catering desserts at the city’s most notable weddings and events. Amé is something different: a café that shows the full range of what she can do beyond desserts. The pistachio croissant alongside an espresso is the kind of breakfast that makes you want to cancel your flight. Pascal in Getsemaní is equally excellent for a sit-down brunch if you have more time. In the Walled City, Casona Vida near Plaza San Diego is a beautiful spot for a final unhurried morning. Then a cab to the airport, and the particular feeling of leaving somewhere you’re already planning to return to.
Forty-eight hours in Cartagena is a beginning, not a summary. The city has a way of revealing itself slowly, and what you find on a second or third visit is almost always better than what you found on the first. If you want to go deeper before your trip, our guides to the best things to do in Cartagena, the best restaurants, and the best cafés are good places to start. And if you have questions or want help planning, stop by Magno Chocolates on Calle de la Factoría. We live here. We’re always happy to talk through a good Cartagena itinerary.
