Help with non-ship tours

[sjmbruce]

My husband and I will be Cartagena in December as part of our (first) cruise to the Panama Canal on the Island Princess. I have heard that the ship's tours can be quite overcrowded....any truth to that?

 

I would rather find an affordable tour. We would like to tour the Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas (the fort) and the Palacio de la Inquisicion, shop at Las Bovedas, and see the outside of Caratagena's Cathedral.

 

 

 

Any information would be great! Thanks!

[donaldsc]

Go on Google and do some homework. Trip trip advisor, trip advisor forums, Frommers. Also make a trip to the library and read some books.

 

DON

[GradUT]

Even just a search on this forum will give you the names and recommendations of several private tour guides in Cartegena. (I would include a visit to La Popa Monastery which can be reached when you are on a small tour.)

 

And, yes, based on what we saw when we were on the Island Princess, the ship's tours of Cartegena were large groups.

[LondonTowner]

We visited Cartagena a couple of years ago. We took a tour from the cruise terminal. You can either do it as a private tour or with others. They are very well organised there.

 

Cartagena was my favourite stop.

[Suitcasefull]

My husband and I will be Cartagena in December as part of our (first) cruise to the Panama Canal on the Island Princess. I have heard that the ship's tours can be quite overcrowded....any truth to that?

 

I would rather find an affordable tour. We would like to tour the Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas (the fort) and the Palacio de la Inquisicion, shop at Las Bovedas, and see the outside of Caratagena's Cathedral.

 

 

 

Any information would be great! Thanks!

 

We booked a private vehicle through Dora in Cartagena since we needed to be sure (due to health; DH has problems with heat) that we could get into air conditioning or return to the ship if necessary. Dora was not our guide since she took a large group but there are three women who work with her. Dency was our guide and we had a great driver! The day was tailored to what we wanted to see....thngs you mentioned plus some others. It was really super not to be part of a huge crowd and we were able to go some places they don't. Do a search for her on CC; that's where we found out about Dora. I think her company is Cartagenatours but not positive. It's a marvelous city but not one I'd want to go out on my own!

[Mapu]

We toured with Dora De Zubiria dora@cartagenatour.com and she was fabulous. I would not hesitate to recommend her company.

[cibaygirls]

We did a tour that covered all those locations plus la popa, with Claudia. I organinzed the tour for about 20 of us from our roll call. I would highly recommend her; the tour even came with a DVD of highlights of the spots we stopped. She even helped me to negotiate a price on a pair of emerald earrings; which I am happily wearing as I type this;) Here is her website http://toursclaudiavidal.com/

 

Whomever you use, I would suggest private vs. a ships tour.. it just runs smoother and you don't have to wait for as large a group to get on/off the bus and reconvene. Enjoy it whatever you book...it is a beautiful city!

 

Dana

[Eslite]

You can also hire a taxi driver to take you to certain spots. You will need to know some Spanish though or at least enough to get by since most people there do not speak English. We stayed in Cartagena for a week (not on a cruise) and took cabs everywhere- all the drivers we met were very friendly and loved Americans- they seemed proud and happy to take us around. We would simply tell them what we wanted to do and they would tell us a price for the entire thing - one day we did La Popa and San Felipe. The driver waited outside each place for us and we walked around and he would answer questions if we asked. They will take you to photo ops too if you like. You should go see the statue of La Gorda for a photo op- it's right outside of the church of Santo Domingo which is so beautiful- you can tell the cab driver to take you to Plaza de Santo Domingo- you will be right in the middle of everything- we saw brides on horse drawn carriages, sat outside in cafes drinking amazing coffee, walked around to all the shops. It's a beautiful city.