Cartagena, Colombia Excursions

[princessjeniffer]

Can anybody recommend any good excursions... we are doing an over night stop. These are the ones that caught my attention, just don't know how to choose. I am wanting to do more then 1.

 

A Taste of Cartagena

Afternoon Historical Old City Walking Tour

Best of Cartagena

Amazing Cartagena: Bay and Walled City

 

Also... how difficult is it to get a cab and go to the walled city and just wander around?

[mcrcruiser]

Can anybody recommend any good excursions... we are doing an over night stop. These are the ones that caught my attention, just don't know how to choose. I am wanting to do more then 1.

 

A Taste of Cartagena

Afternoon Historical Old City Walking Tour

Best of Cartagena

Amazing Cartagena: Bay and Walled City

 

Also... how difficult is it to get a cab and go to the walled city and just wander around?

 

Not a good idea to just wonder around . Go to the Cruise Critic "Port " Section & look up Cartagena

 

.You are sure to find names of reputable tour guides who will give you a interesting & complete tour .Pat Cruise critic members will tell you who to use .You can also check their credentials on tripadvisor.com to get others ratings . Set up a small group private tour with people from your roll call .

[ClaudiaB]

We went with some recommendations here on our roll call when we went.

We did a private tour and there were 5 or 6 groups of 4-6 in little vans/cars. It was run by Lee Miles who is Mr. Emerald.

We did a custom tour -- it was about 5 hours. Our particular group was 4 people and a driver. We saw all the tourist sites in old town and walked around and it was about 3 or 4 hours. We then asked him to take us to a local favorite place to sit down and have a good lunch, not a touristy place. We asked him to join us and we paid for his meal. It was great. He drove way way into the city and it didn't look like a really "nice" place, and then he parked and we got out. Walked into this adobe building and we didn't expect much. Walked into a tropical wonderland. It was fabulous. Great service, food, and we got to know our driver and about his family. He was so happy to be asked to join us.

 

Part of the tour included a stop at Mr. Emerald's shop but we didn't have to if we didn't want to. We didn't want to but the other couple did. We were only there for 15 minutes, and then we returned to the ship by about 3.

 

Whatever you do, be prepared with several bottles of water each and you WILL sweat. There were lots and lots of people, including very young children, begging all the time. They took "no" for an answer but there were always more. And more. And more.

The palace of the inquisition is interesting and probably a must-see, although some images and things I saw won't leave me even 5 years later and are the stuff of nightmares. Your experience may be different. There are just some things in history that are horrific and done in the name of religion that make you shake your head.

We did enjoy about an hour walking through the old town. Our guide was very interesting and knowledgeable and we learned a lot. I took hundreds of pictures that day.

[cbsmith78]

We were there in and ember and did a tour with Marelvy and enjoyed it. It was the Highpoints of the city tour. We would definitely recommend them.

 

http://www.tourincartagena.com

[chemmo]

For something easier, but to still get a flavour, you can take horse drawn carriage ride. We did find some vendors quite 'pushy', not unpleasant or threatening but it just became hard work walking down the street.

[pete_coach]

We took a private tour with Marelvy Pena-Hall. We have been on many tours and can say that she was one of the best guides we ever had. She absolutely loves her city, warts and all and she will show them to you. She realy knows the history of the city (and it looong and interesting) but doe snot lecture you. She tells stories instead. Best is that she also knows the other tours an especially the cruise lines bus tours. She gets to the places before them and misses the crowds and noise.

She is considered the best tour guide in Cartegena by TripAdvisor

https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g297476-d2153998-Reviews-Tour_in_Cartagena_with_Marelvy_Pena_Hall-Cartagena_Cartagena_District_Bolivar_Dep.html

 

I do not take recommending tour guides lightly because they can be different day to day but Marelvy tour is just plain outstanding.

http://tourincartagena.com/#_=_

Edited January 30, 2016 by pete_coach

[Christine Frances]

We used "Dora the Explorer" and she was faboulus with our group of 8 on our tour. Google Dora the Explorer Cartagena on Trip Advisor as she gets great reviews as well http://www.cartagenatour.com/

 

I chatted with her about 6 months ago and she was working on night tours to accommodate people with X who had overnight port stops.

[jeancmo]

We did the Afternoon City Tour and enjoyed it. Mainly walking the walled city with visit to the Inquisition and ended with a drink at an outside ocean view bar. Had a great tour guide, Emily, a retired history teacher that loved to tell us about all the history of her city/country. We talked to several people that just took a taxi to the walled city area and didn't have any troubles.

The next day we took a taxi to the fort and spent a couple of hours there going through all the tunnels etc. Taxi was ~ $20 one way. Don't miss sailing into Cartgena, nice views!

[2552phxcrzr]

It really depends on your comfort level. Right outside the terminal, but before you go outside the port area, are licensed taxis ... some provide tours; others simply taxi service. My husband I took one of them and did a private tour to La Popa and then had the driver drop us off at the Clock Tower Gate of the Walled City. We wandered around on our own inside the Walled City for a couple of hours and then caught a cab back to the port. This was our second time in Cartagena, and we felt very comfortable doing what we did. Lots of people on the ship (Infinity in Dec 2014) also took advantage of these licensed taxis to do private excursions in Cartagena.

 

I wrote about our day in Cartagena in my blog ... http://2totravel.blogspot.com/2015/04/colorful-cartagena-de-indias.html

 

Would I go off on my own at night ... probably not. But we feel comfortable in the tourist areas of Cartagena on our own during the day time. We'll be there again in 2017 and plan to do the HoHo bus.

Edited January 30, 2016 by h2so4

[mesamarie]

The Segway tour is excellent, we took this in October 2015.

Will be back in Feb and taking the day trip to the Rosario Islands thru Celebrity.

[alcpa1]

We too had a wonderful tour with Dora. We were there on Good Friday and arrived at La Popa after one of the morning services. It was VERY crowded with the observant, land tourists and the cruise tours as well. But the church and gardens were soothing.

I planned the Roll Call tour group and Dora was adamant that we not climb the fort. She was right. She explained that if we had had a chance to acclimate ourselves to the heat she would not have hesitated but coming off a ship for one day was not advisable. We had all climbed the pyramids in Peru a few days prior but somehow the heat of the fort in the middle of the city was oppressive.

There is much to see and do in Cartagena. We were so grateful that Dora shared her beautiful city with us.

Dora had planned a 1/2 day tour but we extended our stay to include a delightful lunch and few additional stops.

If I had two days there I would definitely spend more time in the walled city. There are churches and parks that deserve more time.

[princessjeniffer]

thank you everyone! im not worried about the peddlers or scary areas. I have dealt with it all before when i lived in Manila. I just really wanted to find something my whole group could do :)

[cocker2]

I also can recommend Dora The Explorer. I chatted with her via email, she was always was very prompt with her relies. She totally loves her city and her tourists. She was careful to keep us in the shade and found the more infirm of us somewhere to sit where possible. We ended up with two coach loads from the ship as I opened the tour up on CC and it all went without a hitch to my great relief. I envy you an overnight in this most beautiful and interesting city.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[pete_coach]

thank you everyone! im not worried about the peddlers or scary areas. I have dealt with it all before when i lived in Manila. I just really wanted to find something my whole group could do :)

 

I am not sure about Manila, never having been there but I was stunned at the slums in Cartegena, especially up the hillside going to the top of the mountain to see Convento La Popa de la Galera. Even around the Fort, it is bad.

The city seems divided in half, the one half where there are big hotels and nice beaches and the other is ghetto and slums.

The "old" city is nice, and touristy but the rest is, in my opinion, not "pleasant" and I would not wander around at any time of the day.

[AmberCascades]

Another vote for Marelvy Pena-Hall. We had such a fun day with her. She is charming and interesting and she showed us quite a lot of the city (old and new) in the short time we were in port.

[4774Papa]

We did a great tour with Dora (the explorer).

[Driveshaft]

https://www.facebook.com/Jeffrey.Carroll.Taylor/media_set?set=a.973276756018757.1073741830.100000093263819&type=3

Can anybody recommend any good excursions... we are doing an over night stop. These are the ones that caught my attention, just don't know how to choose. I am wanting to do more then 1.

 

A Taste of Cartagena

Afternoon Historical Old City Walking Tour

Best of Cartagena

Amazing Cartagena: Bay and Walled City

 

Also... how difficult is it to get a cab and go to the walled city and just wander around?

 

We booked a terrific private tour with Claudia Vidal [claudia@toursclaudiavidal.com] a year ago on the Equinox. We visited the town, the church of St Peter Claver and also the Church high on the hill. Being Catholic it was very enlightening. I recommend her .

Edited January 30, 2016 by Driveshaft
can't post a picture

[Cruise Raider]

I am not sure about Manila, never having been there but I was stunned at the slums in Cartegena, especially up the hillside going to the top of the mountain to see Convento La Popa de la Galera. Even around the Fort, it is bad.

The city seems divided in half, the one half where there are big hotels and nice beaches and the other is ghetto and slums.

The "old" city is nice, and touristy but the rest is, in my opinion, not "pleasant" and I would not wander around at any time of the day.

 

We hadn't been since Sept 2000 and posted my concerns on our roll call and was told it was no longer like this. I would be surprised if it was that cleaned up as what you describe is exactly what we experienced 15 years ago.

Since we have an overnight there, we plan on taking a tour ... not sure which one as of yet, but wouldn't be caught dead wandering around alone there if it is still like what we saw years ago and what you describe above.

[Chestnut lodge]

We just returned from the Jan. 11 Equinox sailing, with the overnight in Cartagena. Since we had a lot of OBC we opted for X shore excursions. We did the "Best of Cartagena". We viewed the fort (but didn't climb it), walked through the walled city with visits to the Museum of the Inquisition, the Church of San Pedro Claver, the Emerald Museum, and a short shopping stop. We drove through the new city with its tall skyscrapers on our way back to the ship. We had a knowledgable tour guide and a comfortable motor coach.

We also did the Sunset Cruise on a Spanish galleon, a narrated sail around the inner harbor. It was a pleasant ride, much cooler than earlier in the day, with a nice sunset. We were given a rum Coke and entertained with some local dances.

We don't usually do X excursions, but were very satisfied with the quality of both of these.

[gordylad]

I think I would be concerned about the increase in people being infected with viruses in this region.

[pete_coach]

We hadn't been since Sept 2000 and posted my concerns on our roll call and was told it was no longer like this. I would be surprised if it was that cleaned up as what you describe is exactly what we experienced 15 years ago.

Since we have an overnight there, we plan on taking a tour ... not sure which one as of yet, but wouldn't be caught dead wandering around alone there if it is still like what we saw years ago and what you describe above.

We were there in 2013 and was actually taken aback at the size of the "bad" area. They kept the main roads clean, we saw cleaning crews sweeping up and leaving piles that included dead animals, for the trucks to pick up. There is no way would be walking, even in the day in that half of the town and unfortunately, there are several tourists attractions in those areas.

[SPacificbound]

We have booked with both Dora on one trip and Duran Duran on another. Both tours were great.

 

http://www.cartagenatour.com/

 

http://touringcartagena.com/

[Iamthesea]

We were there in and ember and did a tour with Marelvy and enjoyed it. It was the Highpoints of the city tour. We would definitely recommend them.

 

http://www.tourincartagena.com

 

Marelvy was one of the best tour guides that we have ever had! ;)

[JimAOk1945]

You might enjoy the excursion that includes a combination of the Old City and the Folkloric Dance and Music. We enjoyed it very much.

 

If you have time, you might like to take a look at pictures my wife took and made into a slideshow for her website at the link below.

 

Panama Canal Cruise (includes Cartegena)

 

Happy cruising!

[wheelchairtraveler]

We had a wonderful tour of Cartagena, Columbia, arranged by Dora De Explorer on March 15, 2016. Booking the tour on line was easy. Dora responded quickly to my request for a private tour, in a car that I could get into easily and have room for a folding wheelchair. The fare was clear, with directions on how to find the tour staff at the pier. We paid at the end of the tour. Fare of $160 per person was reasonable for a guide, a driver.

My husband and I had a great morning. Julio Cesear, our guide, was knowledgeable about the city and history and could answer our questions. We only had 7 am to 1 on land. We saw all the important sights, driving through the city. We had a stop for shopping at a market, and again in the old town, went into a lovely cathedral, and had a tour of an emerald museum. Julio knew where to find the ramps, so I was able to go to most places on the stops. We did stop for my husband to take pictures and walk about the fort.

We left feeling very good about the tour. We knew we could never have seen so much of this interesting city without the tour.

 

Charlotte Austin, Texas