Cartagena Advice

[CATandSQUID]

We are looking at an excusion in Cartagena. We have narrowed it down to Cartagena City Highlights, A Stroll through the Old Walled City, or Medival Cartagena by Horse and Carriage. Which tour gives you the best overall tour of the city.

[57redbird]

DON'T do the Horse & Carriage one.....the audio on the bus was terrible, the carriage ride wasn't much better. If there's a roll call for your cruise, check it out or look at Trip Advisor for private tours...you CAN do better than what HAL offers here.

[bennybear]

We did the city highlights. We enjoyed the fortress but it is a good climb up in the heat even though we left early in the morning. We had a very limited stop in the arcaded market and then a short walk through old town with a visit to two churches followed by too much time hanging out by the emerald stores. Overall it was good, but the pacing could have been better.

[Crazy For Cats]

Just left there. Don’t do the land and sea tour! Horrible. There is a nice place to shop and see some birds and monkey right by the ship.

 

 

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[summer slope]

We took the City Highlights and enjoyed it. Left it at the city center because it was in the 90's (March) and the humidity was overwhelming. But highly recommend it.

[Rmt1948]

We did the city highlights. We enjoyed the fortress but it is a good climb up in the heat even though we left early in the morning. We had a very limited stop in the arcaded market and then a short walk through old town with a visit to two churches followed by too much time hanging out by the emerald stores. Overall it was good, but the pacing could have been better.

 

Thanks for posting this Bennybear. We have this same excursion set up on our trip in February. My wife has some mobility issues and we felt this was a good compromise. Might not be the best tour, but we are newbies and just getting our feet wet.

 

Maury

[haladdict]

We enjoyed a stroll through the old city, but of course you have to be fairly fit. Now, we are more seasoned cruisers, we would go for a walk by ourselves.

Sandra

[bennybear]

You are welcome. The climb up is mostly ramps but it is about 500feet in total elevation in A lot of heat and humidity. Some tours do just a drive by and photo stop. So something to think about. I walk a lot but my knees were not happy with the climb.

[CATandSQUID]

How about A Stroll through the Old Walled City? has anyone heard anything?

[SilvertoGold]

It can be astoundingly hot and humid. We find a taxi tour is great: just jump back into the A/C when needed. The Old City area is beautiful, with lots to see, an easy walk around (shade!). If you do your homework, you will know exactly what you want to see.

 

Have a great cruise.

[rafinmd]

How about A Stroll through the Old Walled City? has anyone heard anything?

I've done it with Crystal but not with HAL and thought it was pretty good. Do beware of the heat and humidity though. One other thing to look into that I thought was fun was the Segway tour. I did it independently but it might also be offered by HAL. They did offer a shuttle from the port gate.

 

Roy

[mame42]

I did a Tapas Trail with HAL that was an absolute hoot, abundant food and wine and a fantastic, enthusiastic guide. And it covered most of the important sites in the old city. Go hungry!

[Lynndave]

We are looking at an excusion in Cartagena. We have narrowed it down to Cartagena City Highlights, A Stroll through the Old Walled City, or Medival Cartagena by Horse and Carriage. Which tour gives you the best overall tour of the city.

We took the shuttle bus into the walled city. It was US 5.00 and the driver was amazing. He was like a tour director. We spent three hours on our own..and made it back safe and sound to be picked up by the same shuttle where he showed us to be with a map,he gave us all. The hawkers are hard to shake off the first part of the walled city.

[JRG]

We did the city highlights. We enjoyed the fortress but it is a good climb up in the heat even though we left early in the morning. We had a very limited stop in the arcaded market and then a short walk through old town with a visit to two churches followed by too much time hanging out by the emerald stores. Overall it was good, but the pacing could have been better.

 

We did this same tour and and it was great. Yes you have to be moderately fit, but the fortress is one of the better examples that we have ever seen in the Caribbean. Later in the tour, the church tour which included a lot of the 'utensils' in play during the Inquisition period were part of the exhibit. It was really fascinating . We also got herded into the stores but that happens everywhere anyways.

 

My person opinion is don't do an off ship tour here, this is Columbia. I'd stick with the ship tours.

[Hlitner]

We have been to Cartegena 6 times...most recently last month on the Celebrity Reflection. If you want to simply do a walking tour of the old town (walled city) it is pretty easy (and inexpensive) to simply take a taxi from the port to the walled city and start walking. You can get a map at the port and simply walk around at your own pace...stopping for a drink (or snack) when you get tired, hot, etc. When you want to go back to the ship you just walk out to one of the places where taxis hang out and grab a taxi back to the ship. When we were there last month the weather was very hot and humidity felt like 100%. After about an hour in the walled city DW and I looked at each other and said, "we really don't want to be doing this" and grabbed a taxi back to the ship where we could take advantage of our premium drink package :). But on previous trips when the weather was more reasonable we have spent hours in the city.

 

Hank

[bluegiraffe]

How about A Stroll through the Old Walled City? has anyone heard anything?

 

Yes, I've done that. Both the HAL tour and then a few years later with Dora the Explorer. Now, I'd go on my own, but if you're not familiar with the area, a tour can be a good idea. Yes, it can be hot and humid. Bring water, wear a hat and sunscreen. Of the tours, I preferred the Dora tour, since there were only 6 of us (her minibus held 14 and the tours from the ship were on large buses with 40+ people). Walking the city really gives you a better feel for the Old City and if you are a photographer, great opportunities for photos.

[sammiedawg]

Another vote for Dora, small groups and you will see more than on a cruise bus.

[Turtles06]

My person opinion is don't do an off ship tour here, this is Columbia. I'd stick with the ship tours.

 

I respectfully disagree. There's no good reason not to book a private excursion with a reputable tour operator in Cartagena, ColOmbia, like Dora. (We are talking about staying in the city here, not going off in the jungle.)

 

A small group of us on our Roll Call had a fabulous time on a tour of the old city with Dora last winter. She gets deservedly great reviews here and on Trip Advisor. Much nicer than being in a huge group on a ship's tour.

 

http://cartagenatour.com/_index.php

[JRG]

I respectfully disagree. There's no good reason not to book a private excursion with a reputable tour operator in Cartagena, ColOmbia, like Dora. (We are talking about staying in the city here, not going off in the jungle.)

 

A small group of us on our Roll Call had a fabulous time on a tour of the old city with Dora last winter. She gets deservedly great reviews here and on Trip Advisor. Much nicer than being in a huge group on a ship's tour.

 

http://cartagenatour.com/_index.php

 

That's okay to disagree, we used to think like that until we ran into a minor 'extortion event' in Cancun, we choose to act more conservatively in certain cities and ports now. We've been to Cartagena twice and its a fascinating city one way or another.

[veryseasonedtraveler]

I arranged a city tour with Mr. Emerald and some CC people. He met us at the dock and walked us to his van. Our tour was good and stopped at all the right places. He disclosed he had the Emerald store. No pressure, free drinks. Guess what? The HAL expensive excursion showed up beforehand we left. One fun thing we did was have a Colombian sandwich. Had fun sharing.

 

Definitely is a fun stop. Felt very safe.

 

 

 

 

 

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[kazu]

We did a private tour with Marelvy Pena-Hall.

 

Excellent guide and very enjoyable tour. Because it's a smaller group, we got to the sites before the tour buses and saw much more than what was offered by the ship :)

[gigianne]

Another vote for Dora - she was waiting right beside the ship when we disembarked, small group, excellent tour. I would definitely book with her again.

[kucherov]

On our February stop in Cartagena, we decided to do the segway tour of the old city. Something new for us and a way to ease the strain of walking in the heat or being stuck on a bus. Dora sounds good too, but segway is on my bucket list along with the canal.

[esimon]

We took the shuttle bus into the walled city. It was US 5.00 and the driver was amazing. He was like a tour director. We spent three hours on our own..and made it back safe and sound to be picked up by the same shuttle where he showed us to be with a map,he gave us all. The hawkers are hard to shake off the first part of the walled city.

 

 

definitely going for this !!!!

[Keith1010]

I would do the walled city or the city highlights but if the city highlights doesn't allow you to get off the bus at various stops then I would do the old wallled city.

 

Keith