Cartagena

Cartagena is Colombia’s Caribbean showpiece, and the best of it starts where the crowds thin out. Cielo runs private boat tours at sunset and day trips to Playa Tranquila, the El Totumo mud volcano with Manzanillo beach, and San Basilio de Palenque — the first free town of the Americas. Every tour is private, guided in English or Spanish, with hotel pickup and transparent pricing. Planning the days first? Read our guide to things to do in Cartagena, our guide to Cartagena beaches, our Rosario Islands guide, our guide to whether Cartagena is safe and our Cartagena airport guide. The weather, month by month, with the sea’s calendar and the hurricane question, is in our Cartagena weather guide. The neighborhood outside the walls, with its plaza, its murals and the rules for the night, is in our Getsemaní guide. The walled center itself, plaza by plaza with its museums’ 2026 hours and prices, is in our Walled City guide. Where to sleep, neighborhood by neighborhood with the airport fares, is in our guide to where to stay in Cartagena. The city as a whole, from what it is to how many days it needs, is in our Cartagena travel guide. The hotel peninsula and its beach after the 2026 works are in our Bocagrande guide. The mud volcano an hour north of the city is in our El Totumo guide. The free town of San Basilio de Palenque, an hour and a half inland, is in our San Basilio de Palenque guide. The fort on the hill east of the walls, with its 2026 ticket, is in our Castillo de San Felipe guide. The night, where it happens, what time it ends and the bill to watch for, is in our Cartagena nightlife guide.