Bars & Nightlife Getsemaní

The rooftop at Hotel OSH in Getsemaní is one of those places that gets every detail right. Perched on the fifth floor, it looks down into the hotel's own internal courtyard pool below, which at nighttime creates a genuinely stunning visual that you don't find on any other rooftop in the city. The design blends modern architecture with colonial warmth in a way that feels considered rather than forced, which mirrors the neighborhood it sits in.

Bars & Nightlife Centro Historico

Ranked number 8 in the World's 50 Best Bars for both 2024 and 2025, and named World's Best Bar at the 2024 Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards, Alquímico is not just the best bar in Cartagena — it's one of the best bars on the planet, and it happens to be here. Housed in a 19th-century mansion on Calle del Colegio, the building alone stops people at the entrance: high ceilings, a grand staircase, an open central courtyard, and three floors each with their own distinct identity.

Restaurants Getsemaní

Carta Ajena is inside OSH Hotel in Getsemaní and has built a reputation as one of the most consistently excellent brunch experiences in the city. The menu is creative and Caribbean-rooted, with inventive takes on familiar dishes that feel local rather than pandering to tourist tastes. Brunch runs until 3 p.m. on weekdays, making it one of the more generous windows in the city for a long, unhurried morning meal. The space is beautiful, the service is attentive, and the cocktail menu is as good as the food. Live saxophone performances add to the atmosphere on select evenings.

Restaurants Centro Historico

There's a blue chain-link fence on a street in Cartagena that you'd walk past a hundred times without a second thought. On one side: a fire station. On the other: a gas station mid-construction, the kind of half-built rebar-and-dust situation that makes you wonder if anyone's coming back to finish it. And then there's the fence itself. When we showed up there was barely a sign that anything exists beyond it. We'd actually been here before to jump on a boat, back when it was merely a dock. We had no idea.

Restaurants Getsamani

Celele has earned its place on the World’s 50 Best list, and once you sit down, it’s easy to see why. The menu reimagines Colombia’s native ingredients with precision and purpose. Each plate tells a story—where the elements come from, why they were chosen, and how they’ve been transformed into something completely new. It’s not traditional fare. Some locals even push back on it. But if you’re curious about Colombia’s culinary future, this is the place to start.

Restaurants Getsemaní

deIndias sits across from Parque Centenario, a short walk from the Clock Tower, one of those spots that feels like a proper local discovery even when you’ve been sent there by someone else. Chef José ‘El Chato’ Barbosa builds his menu around Colombian ingredients and territory, using smoking, curing, fermenting, and pickling to create dishes with real depth. The burrata starter is the one everyone comes back talking about. The rest of the menu is inventive and locally rooted, built around sharing. The cocktail program draws from their own small-batch distillery. There’s a rooftop that hosts live music, DJs, and dancing. Closed Sundays.

Bars & Nightlife Centro Historico

The classic cocktail bar of Cartagena, and one that has set the benchmark since opening in 2013. El Barón sits right on Plaza San Pedro Claver with outdoor seating facing one of the most beautiful churches in the Walled City. The cocktails are among the best in the city, built around classic techniques with local Colombian ingredients and a rotating seasonal menu. Come in the evening, not the day — it's an outdoor bar and the daytime heat makes it a very different experience. On most weekend nights, a Michael Jackson impersonator will show up with a full posse of backup dancers and commit completely to the performance. It's as good as it sounds.

Bars & Nightlife Centro Historico

Wedged into the party corridor just inside the Clock Tower entrance, between Barra 7 and Alquímico, El Pasquín de Joaco is one of those places that finds you as much as you find it. Named after Joaquín De Zubiría, a Spanish military man with a revolutionary heart who posted a war manifesto at this very location in 1810, the building carries more history than most people stopping in for a drink realize. Two floors, two different energies: the ground floor is cocktails and DJs with a more intimate feel, the second floor is a full crossover party with guest artists, light shows, and enough energy to keep you there longer than planned.

Restaurants Zona Norte

Erre proves Cartagena’s best dining isn’t only found in the historic center.

Bars & Nightlife Centro Historico

By day, La Garza is a charming Mediterranean-inspired café with excellent coffee and pastries. By night, the bar hidden behind it, La Garza Negra, becomes something else entirely. Pass through the removable door at the back of the café and you'll find a beautifully designed speakeasy bar that most people walking past have no idea exists. The drinks are excellent, the interior is genuinely striking, and the whole experience of finding it feels like a reward in itself. Lately they've been leaving the door open since nobody was finding it, which says everything about how hidden it still is.

Restaurants Centro Historico

Lobo del Mar is one of those places that knows how to put on a show without losing sight of what matters: great food, great drinks, and a great vibe. Housed in a beautifully lit colonial building with contemporary touches, it’s the kind of spot where the warm brick and archways glow at night while a live band or DJ keeps things lively.

Restaurants Centro Historico

Mar y Zielo offers one of Cartagena’s most romantic dining experiences, right in the heart of the old city. Set in a beautifully restored colonial house, its candlelit stone walls and thoughtful design create an intimate, memorable atmosphere. The menu is