Cartagena City Guide
Cartagena in Three Days
Cartagena in 3 days is the first length of trip that does not force a choice: the walled city gets a full day, Islas del Rosario gets the full day it actually needs, and the third day opens slow before closing at Castillo San Felipe. This plan gives each day its own stop-by-stop route rather than a survey of options, points at the islands' full charge stack instead of repeating it, and ends with a comparison table for the days the sea rules the island day out. Every price is from the official ticket page for that site. Walk times are our own estimates. The full inventory behind this plan is the Cartagena city guide.
Quick answer Old town, then the islands properly, then a slow morning and the fort
Three days in Cartagena runs the walled city on day one, a full Islas del Rosario day on day two, and a slow morning followed by Castillo San Felipe on day three. Nothing here is squeezed: the island day gets its full window, and the fort waits for the day it does not have to compete with anything else.
Key takeaways
- Day one buys the [Palacio de la Inquisición]( /palacio-de-la-inquisicion/) at $7.61 (24,000 COP) and San Pedro Claver at $9.52 (30,000 COP), ending on the wall at sunset.
- Day two is Islas del Rosario in full, tour fare from $71.10, the full charge stack is one link away rather than repeated here.
- Day three sleeps in, then closes at Castillo San Felipe at $12.06 (38,000 COP), why that order and not the reverse is below, and the rainy-season swap covers the trade-wind months.
How these three days are built
Day one and its two paid interiors are the same walled-city day a two-day trip runs, because three days does not make the old town bigger, it just stops that day from having to also cover the fort. Full detail on that route is on the two-day plan. This page times it the same way and does not repeat every stop's opening hours a second time.
Day two is where three days earns its keep. A two-day trip has to choose between the islands and the fort. Three days does not, and gives Islas del Rosario the entire day its own schedule already demands, out between 7:30 and 9:30 in the morning, back between 3:00 and 5:00 in the afternoon, the same window whether you have one spare day or three. Cramming the fort into the same day, or the day after, wastes the third day's actual advantage, which is recovery time.
That is why day three opens slow rather than early. After a day mostly spent on a boat and a beach, a 7:00 a.m. start at the fort is the wrong instinct. Castillo San Felipe stays open until 6:00 p.m. with no published closed day, so the fort waits for you rather than the other way around, and the morning goes to whichever slower thing day one and day two had no room for.
Day one: the walled city
The full two-interior version of the old town loop, about two and a half kilometres on foot.
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Puerta del Reloj
FreeThe clock tower gate, no ticket, no published hours. Walk through Plaza de los Coches and Plaza de la Aduana toward Plaza de Bolívar.
walk about 8 min to next
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Museo del Oro Zenú
FreeFree, Tuesday to Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., closed Monday. Thirty to forty-five minutes for the Zenú goldwork.
walk about 2 min to next
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Palacio de la Inquisición
$7.61 (24,000 COP) foreign adult$7.61 (24,000 COP) foreign adult, $6.35 (20,000 COP) children/students/teachers/seniors, free under 5, open 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday to Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sunday.
Forty-five minutes to an hour.
walk about 5 min to next
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San Pedro Claver
$9.52 (30,000 COP) foreign adult$9.52 (30,000 COP) foreign adult, $6.98 (22,000 COP) child/student/senior 60+, weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., weekends and holidays 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
walk about 6 min to next
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Las Bóvedas
Free to walk the arcadeThe vaulted former storerooms at the northeastern corner of the walls, souvenir shops with no fixed price list.
walk about 12 min to next
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Lunch in Getsemaní
Free to walkCheaper and less staged than the restaurants inside the walls. The bike ride with lunch is a good fit here if you would rather have the neighbourhood narrated than wander it.
walk about 10 min to next
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The wall to Baluarte de Santo Domingo, at sunset
FreeBack inside the walls and onto the rampart near Plaza de Santo Domingo. No official hours exist for the wall itself. The last hour before dark is the busiest, and it empties within twenty minutes of sunset.
Day two: Islas del Rosario, the full day
The full charge stack behind this day, four figures and the disagreements between their sources, is worked out once on the islands page rather than repeated here, this is the timing.
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Muelle de la Bodeguita
Tour fare from $71.10 to $121.75Arrive by 7:15 for a 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. departure window. The port charge at the dock is reported anywhere from $4.44 to $13.01 depending on the source, and the full four-way conflict on that number is worth reading before you hand over cash. A catamaran with lunch and snorkel sits at the upper end of the price range if a bigger, steadier boat matters to you. a 5-stop tour with beach clubs sits at the lower end.
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Snorkeling, the aquarium stop, or a beach club
Park entry $3.49 (11,000 COP) to $4.28 (13,500 COP)Whichever the booked tour includes. No official price exists for a beach chair or a plate of food on the islands, ask in pesos before you sit or swim.
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Return to Muelle de la Bodeguita
Included in the tour fareMost boats return 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.. No authoritative cutoff for the last boat is published. Confirm your operator's specific return time at booking, not on the dock, and build nothing else into this evening, a day on the water runs later than it looks from the itinerary.
Day three: why it starts slow
The only day on this trip with no fixed departure time, and the reason is the day before it.
A full day on a boat and a beach is tiring in a way a walking day is not, mostly from the sun and the motion of the crossing rather than any real exertion. Day three answers that with a slow morning rather than another 7:00 a.m. start: a late breakfast, a walk on Bocagrande's beach strip if the water is still the point, or simply sleeping past the alarm the first two days needed.
Castillo San Felipe waits for this, since it is open daily 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. with no published closed day, which nothing else on this trip can say. Arriving in the early afternoon rather than at opening trades the coolest hour of the day for a morning that actually recovers, and the fort's exposed stone is manageable with water and a hat regardless of when you go.
The evening closes in Getsemaní, free to walk, at the pace day one's lunch stop there did not allow. This is the version of the neighbourhood after dark, Plaza de la Trinidad building toward its nightly crowd, that a three-day trip can afford to save for last.
Day three, stop by stop
A slow morning, the fort in early afternoon, Getsemaní at night.
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A slow start, Bocagrande or a late breakfast
Free to walkNo fixed plan here on purpose. Bocagrande's beach strip is a taxi ride from the old town and is the closest thing this trip has to a rest morning. A late breakfast in the walled city works just as well if the beach does not appeal after the islands.
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Castillo San Felipe de Barajas
$12.06 (38,000 COP) foreign adult$12.06 (38,000 COP) foreign adult, $10.47 (33,000 COP) Colombian national, $5.08 (16,000 COP) children 6 to 13, free under 6, open 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily. Early afternoon is warmer than a morning visit but avoids rebuilding the whole day around a 7:00 a.m. alarm. A guided walking tour from $14.81 covers the tunnel system a self-guided pass tends to miss.
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Getsemaní by evening
Free to walkStreet art, lantern-strung balconies, and Plaza de la Trinidad heading toward its nightly crowd. The last stop of the trip, and the one Getsemaní visit on this plan that gets to happen after dark rather than at lunchtime.
If the sea rules day two out
Trade winds run heaviest December to April, and a rough forecast, a cancelled sailing or simple seasickness all argue for a land-based day two instead. These three swap in without reshuffling days one or three.
| Land-based swap | What it costs | Time away from the city | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volcán del Totumo plus a mainland beach | From $47 per person, tour-29 | About half a day round trip from the walled city | You want something unusual and do not need open water |
| San Basilio de Palenque | From $27.55 per person, tour-16 | A half to full day, depending on the operator | History and culture matter more than a beach day |
| La Boquilla mangroves | Duration-based, 4 hours without lunch or 8 with, tour-27 | A morning or a full day depending on the tour chosen | You want water without the open-sea crossing to the islands |
None of these three replicate what Islas del Rosario actually offers, which is open-water snorkeling and a Caribbean beach reached only by boat. They are the honest land-based alternative when the crossing itself is the problem, not a substitute for the same experience.
The tours across all three days
Walking tours for day one, the island day's five main options, the fort for day three, and the land-based swaps above, operators' own prices and ratings as checked . Figures current in Q3 2026.
from $14.81
Cartagena: Historic Center and Getsemaní Shared Walking Tour
A shared 2.5-hour walk through the Walled City and into Getsemani, covering the slave-trade history, the Clock Tower and the plazas behind it. Groups can run large since it's a shared departure, and there's no seating or shade break built into the route.
Check Availability
from $14.81
Cartagena: San Felipe de Barajas Castle Guided Walking Tour
A 2-hour guided walk through Castillo San Felipe de Barajas with skip-the-line entry through a separate gate, covering the fortress tunnels and the 1741 siege. One reviewer flagged historical inaccuracies from a specific guide, so it's worth asking follow-up questions if something sounds off.
Check Availability
from $72.90
Cartagena: 5-Stop Rosario Islands Tour, Lunch, & Beach Clubs
A 6.5-hour speedboat run to the Rosario Islands with two sightseeing stops, three island or beach club visits and lunch, plus an optional Oceanarium add-on. The Eco and VIP ticket tiers change which islands and boats you get, so the beach club shown in listing photos isn't guaranteed for every ticket type.
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from $121.75
Cartagena: Rosario Islands Catamaran with Lunch and Snorkel
A 7.5-hour sailing catamaran trip to the Rosario and San Bernardo Corals National Natural Park, with a crew-cooked lunch, welcome drink and snorkeling gear included. Alcoholic drinks are not part of the package and are billed separately on board.
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from $27.55
From Cartagena: San Basilio de Palenque Tour
A day trip to San Basilio de Palenque, the first free African town in the Americas, with a local lunch and an optional drum show. Round-trip transportation is a separate line item rather than built into the base price, which one reviewer used to book cheaper transport themselves.
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from $47
Volcan del Totumo + Playa + Piscina
A full day combining the Volcan del Totumo mud bath with a beach club afternoon and lunch, with the volcano entry ticket and transport included. It's explicitly not suitable for pregnant travelers or anyone with mobility impairments, since getting in and out of the mud crater involves informal steps.
Check AvailabilityPrices, ratings and details are the platform's own. dollar figures are the listed prices — the platform bills in your account's currency.
Cartagena in three days: all three days on one map
Day one inside the walls in red, day two's island departure and day three's fort and beach in teal.
Trimming this trip, or where the days come from
Shorter versions of this same trip, and where the day two and day three routes are told in full.
Cartagena in 2 days
The version that has to choose between the islands and the fort: the two-day plan.
Cartagena in 1 day
The walled city alone, no island day or fort at all: the one-day plan.
Islas del Rosario
The island day's full charge stack, tour comparison and history: the islands page.
Cartagena in three days: questions
Is three days enough in Cartagena?
Yes, for the walled city, a full Islas del Rosario day, and Castillo San Felipe with room to recover between them. What three days does not add is a second full day trip beyond the islands and the fort, [the four- and seven-day questions below below cover what a longer trip adds.
What is the best order for a three-day Cartagena itinerary?
Old town first, islands second, fort and a slow morning third. Putting the fort before the islands works too, but starting the trip with the most physically demanding day (the crossing and the sun) rather than easing into it is the harder version, not a better one.
How much does three days in Cartagena cost in entry fees?
$17.13 (54,000 COP) on day one for two interiors, a tour fare from $71.10 plus a port charge and park fee on day two, and $12.06 (38,000 COP) on day three for the fort. The full breakdown by day is above.
What to avoid on a three-day Cartagena trip?
Booking the island day back to back with an early flight out, since no operator guarantees a return time and a missed connection is the actual risk, not a scam. Safety and scams covers the street-level patterns for the other two days.
Should I do Cartagena in 3, 4, or 7 days?
Three days covers the old town, the islands and the fort without rushing any of them. A fourth day is where San Basilio de Palenque or the Volcán del Totumo fit, both of which the three-day plan only reaches as a weather swap. Seven days starts to make more sense as a Cartagena-plus-Medellín trip than a longer stay in one city.
Which is nicer for a first trip, Cartagena or Medellín?
That comparison sits outside what this page can answer honestly, since it does not cover Medellín at all. What this page can say is that three days is enough to see Cartagena properly rather than as a rushed stopover, which is the more common problem for a short Colombia trip.
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