Cartagena for HC

[willieg]

We will be stopping in Cartagena while doing a PC trip. I hope someone has information about the port area and possible excursions for someone in a WC.

Is the area around the dock safe and accessible?

Thanks for your help

[leoandhugh]

The port area is across a lagoon from the new hi-rise downtown and is safe and accessible with a manual wheelchair; there are plenty of cabs available there also and a few tourist shops. We have been several times but have never taken an excursion, preferring to avoid the shopping stops which seem so inevitable; we always take a cab. The charm and main attraction of Cartagena is the old city within the massive rampart walls which go back to the days of piracy and the Spanish Main. There you will find colonial buildings from Spanish rule - palaces, cathedral, many churches - narrow streets many with cobble stones. If you are wheelchair bound, take a taxi to the old town and have him show you around; there is one section within the old walls which were warehouses and now house shops, art galleries where you could stop and look around. You should also have the cab drive around the new city with hi-rise apts and hotels. Also, before entering the old city walls there is a monastery high on a hill above the city which affords great views of the city and its surroundings. Cartagena, Havana and San Juan are the great old cities of the days when Spain was a world power and are unique to the area. I feel sure you will enjoy your port stop in Cartagena:)