Walking Cartegena??

We are visiting Cartegena in January...have been there before but a little fuzzy on it.

Can you walk from the ship to the fort, old/walled city? We are walkers and like to just explore ports on our own. Is it possible to walk to the main attractions without having to get a taxi?

We are in port for 8 hours so time is not an issue.

Following for info

Hi,

I have been told by locals to take a taxi from the cruise port to the fort first thing when you get off the ship. Spend time there and then taxi to the main square Plaza Bolivar. It looks like the walk would be about 2 +miles from the port but I am told it is often very hot so hard to walk that far even if you are used to doing that much walking at home.

Like in Mexico, set the taxi price before getting into the cab.

It should be about $5 USA or 8,000 COP(about 2800 COP=$1USA)

Hi,

I have been told by locals to take a taxi from the cruise port to the fort first thing when you get off the ship. Spend time there and then taxi to the main square Plaza Bolivar. It looks like the walk would be about 2 +miles from the port but I am told it is often very hot so hard to walk that far even if you are used to doing that much walking at home.

Like in Mexico, set the taxi price before getting into the cab.

It should be about $5 USA or 8,000 COP(about 2800 COP=$1USA)

Is the fort at the walled city?

@tkere,

Hi,

No-The fort, Castillo de San Felipe, is outside of the walled city.

It is about 3 miles between the 2 areas.

IF you put Castillo de San Felipe, Cartagena, Columbia(or fort Cartagena Columbia) into Google , you will see a map. You can use the Get Directions function to see the distance to the Torre de Reloj Monumento(clock tower monument) which is at one of the entrances to the walled city or to Plaza Bolivar , the main square in the walled city.

That is why the locals have told us to taxi between the 2 places. We are walkers but don't want to do miles and miles in hot weather!!

On ‎7‎/‎9‎/‎2018 at 6:14 PM, kskelley40 said:

We are visiting Cartegena in January...have been there before but a little fuzzy on it.

 

Can you walk from the ship to the fort, old/walled city? We are walkers and like to just explore ports on our own. Is it possible to walk to the main attractions without having to get a taxi?

 

We are in port for 8 hours so time is not an issue.

Its too far to walk (about 3 miles).  Cabs are available at the pier and they are cheap.  The driver will try tio sell you a tour but just keep insisting he just take you where you asked to go.

Following...we are interested in walking also. According to Google maps it is 3.2 km (2 miles). We understand about the heat, but just wondering how safe it would be?

On ‎2‎/‎4‎/‎2019 at 3:48 PM, edmonton2 said:

Following...we are interested in walking also. According to Google maps it is 3.2 km (2 miles). We understand about the heat, but just wondering how safe it would be?

we are going there how did you make out and what did you do there?   Thanks

On ‎7‎/‎9‎/‎2018 at 6:14 PM, kskelley40 said:

We are visiting Cartegena in January...have been there before but a little fuzzy on it.

 

Can you walk from the ship to the fort, old/walled city? We are walkers and like to just explore ports on our own. Is it possible to walk to the main attractions without having to get a taxi?

 

We are in port for 8 hours so time is not an issue.

We are going there also how did you all handle it?   Thanks

19 hours ago, Nymich said:

we are going there how did you make out and what did you do there?   Thanks

We will be there on April 14th so we will report back after our trip!

1 hour ago, edmonton2 said:

We will be there on April 14th so we will report back after our trip!

ok! Thanks

On 3/4/2019 at 9:14 AM, Nymich said:

ok! Thanks

We just returned from our cruise and I am happy to report that we walked from the cruise ship terminal to Castillo San Felipe de Barajas in Cartegena - and back! The ship arrived at 12 noon and we disembarked fairly quickly. It was a hot day - something like 91C with high humidity, so it was like walking in an oven. We were offered a taxi many times but we declined and set off on foot.

The traffic was moderately busy but you have to be on your guard at all times. The sidewalk is unpredictable - narrow at times and lots of stepping up or down. Also, there are parts where the sidewalk is in poor shape, so watch out for holes or pipes sticking out. We were the only ones that we could see walking, however we felt quite safe the whole way (we were approached a couple of times by people trying to sell a few candies for a dollar but they were not very persistent).

As we had been to this port before, we really only wanted to spend our time at the fortress, however, if we had more time we could have walked another 15 minutes or so to the Old Town. Taxis are plentiful and easy to hail so we felt like we could easily get a ride if we needed one. It really helped that we had scouted out the route on google maps before we left (and printed detailed copies to take with us) as it was easy to get turned around when you first leave the terminal.

Would we recommend walking - yes, and no. It is definitely doable - it only took about 35 minutes each way and is not a long walk. However, just make sure you are prepared for the heat and conditions of the sidewalk and keep your wits about you - and be prepared to sweat off some of those trips to the buffet on the ship!

On 4/21/2019 at 6:49 PM, edmonton2 said:

It was a hot day - something like 91C with high humidity, so it was like walking in an oven.

I didn't think global warming had gotten quite that bad yet.   😉

16 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

I didn't think global warming had gotten quite that bad yet.   😉

Oops! The heat must have really affected my brain! I meant to say 91F (which would close to 33C).  😀

23 minutes ago, edmonton2 said:

Oops! The heat must have really affected my brain! I meant to say 91F (which would close to 33C).  😀

Yes, obviously.  😉   (91F and high humidity are uncomfortable enough!)

Quick question: you said it would have been easy to get a taxi if you'd wanted one.  Once you are in the city itself, are the taxis sitting at taxi stands, or do you just put your arm up and hail one on the street?     

We will be visiting Cartagena for the second time next winter (our second Canal transit), and visiting the Fort is on our list of possible things to do (we had a great tour of the Old City with Dora on our first visit).  I doubt we'd walk each way given the heat, so I just want to be sure we can easily get a taxi back to the ship (which sails at 2pm).

Thanks for any tips/advice.

7 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Yes, obviously.  😉   (91F and high humidity are uncomfortable enough!)

 

Quick question: you said it would have been easy to get a taxi if you'd wanted one.  Once you are in the city itself, are the taxis sitting at taxi stands, or do you just put your arm up and hail one on the street?     

 

We will be visiting Cartagena for the second time next winter (our second Canal transit), and visiting the Fort is on our list of possible things to do (we had a great tour of the Old City with Dora on our first visit).  I doubt we'd walk each way given the heat, so I just want to be sure we can easily get a taxi back to the ship (which sails at 2pm).

 

Thanks for any tips/advice.

From what I remember, there will be many taxis parked near the Fort that are available to take you back to the ship. We also noticed while we were walking back that a number of taxis flashed their lights at us, ready to pull over if we wanted them - it didn't seem to matter that we were walking toward them as they would find a way to turn around and pick you up!

Since we didn't take a taxi, I can't speak to which taxis offered the best rates, etc. - just that they did seem to be very prevalent. One thing that was recommended to us was to negotiate the price before getting in the taxi. 

I don't think you will have any trouble finding one to get you back to the cruise terminal.

18 minutes ago, edmonton2 said:

 

From what I remember, there will be many taxis parked near the Fort that are available to take you back to the ship. We also noticed while we were walking back that a number of taxis flashed their lights at us, ready to pull over if we wanted them - it didn't seem to matter that we were walking toward them as they would find a way to turn around and pick you up!

 

Since we didn't take a taxi, I can't speak to which taxis offered the best rates, etc. - just that they did seem to be very prevalent. One thing that was recommended to us was to negotiate the price before getting in the taxi. 

 

I don't think you will have any trouble finding one to get you back to the cruise terminal.

Thank you, much appreciated!

Several years ago we walked from the fort to the walled city and thought we were pretty adventurous.  But, that was nothing compared to what you did.  Apparently neither walk is recommended due to safety, not distance.  But, fortunately we all made it safely.  In our experience (it's been awhile) cabs were less expensive outside of the port enclosure--$10 vs. $20 or thereabouts.  It helps to speak Spanish.