Taxi ride only to Old City

[Doughball]

I have seen many comments about taxi tours. My wife and I and 2 friends want to go into the old city and just walk around. We really don't want a tour. Does anyone know what the approx. cost of a ride would be one way? Is it a problem getting a taxi that will just deliver you to a destination? And, is there is a problem getting back to the ship.

 

We will be on the Jewel, leaving Miami on Mar 2.

[Nancyquilts]

Altho' we'd been to Cartagena before, we were glad to have the taxi driver show us the places we wanted to see. If you can get one for $40 for two hours, $60 for three, that will only be $15 each at the most. You will probably want to check out Columbia in your library to get more info on the places you might want to see. Nancy

[Lsimon]

I the Old City a decent place to just walk around a bit and shop, maybe have a nice lunch? I'm not sure we want to do much touring. But if there is a nice area with tourist friendly restaurants and a few shops we might be interested.

[hottiehottie]

We were in Colombia about a month ago. I remember a taxi from the port to the Old City being $20 - we were dropped off at the entrance to the old city. Both ways we paired up with another couple so that we could split the cab. You can find lots of cabs at the shops or we walked back to the main gate where we were dropped off.

 

We walked around the Old City by ourselves (we did run into the ship's walking tour a bunch of times). There were a few tourist information stands with maps and we saw a lot of tourist police posted at the major tourist attractions. We went to the Gold Museum which is free and walked to the Bolvedas shops. The architecture is nice and there were also some really old cathedrals.

[cruiser620]

I much preferred to just walk around the old city on my own. You can't get lost, it's surrounded by walls. You don't really need a "tour". I recommend reading the Cartegena section in the Lonely Planet Colombia guidebook.

[unklez]

$20 to or from the old city. No need to book the return with the same cab. Plenty of cabs available at old city. Contrary to what the cruise-lines will tell you, most taxi drivers in Cartagena understand enough basic English. Just to be sure learn the equivalent Spanish phrase for "I want to go to the Port for my cruise ship" and "how much" and you will be fine.

[J&KCruiser]

What are the customary tipping guidelines for Taxi service in Cartagena?

Someone mentioned that they walked from the port to Old City, any experiences? How Safe? Are there sidewalks?

Thanks

John

[andygoblue]

What are the customary tipping guidelines for Taxi service in Cartagena?

 

Someone mentioned that they walked from the port to OldCity, any experiences? How Safe? Are there sidewalks?

 

Thanks

 

John

 

We tipped like the typical American in a foreign city - the same as we would back home.

 

While I'm sure it's possible to walk to the Old City, it's quite a hike from the port. It's absolutely nothing like stopping in San Juan and visiting Old San Juan. Take that walk and times it by at least 10 or 20. Add in the fact that it's a city of 1,000,000+ people spread out pretty good and there is no reason to not take a cab anywhere.

 

We never felt un-safe, but we were with a guide in the tourist areas the whole time. Great stop. If I'm ever fortunate to go back there I wouldn't even consider walking. A cab is well worth it.

[cruisingallover]

A picture of the ship is a great way to communicate with a non english speaking taxi driver.

[Putterdude]

A picture of the ship is a great way to communicate with a non english speaking taxi driver.

 

That is exactly what we were told by the ship's excursions manager....just point to a post card of the ship and say take me there.

[GTJ]

What are the customary tipping guidelines for Taxi service in Cartagena?

 

Someone mentioned that they walked from the port to OldCity, any experiences? How Safe? Are there sidewalks?

 

Generally, taxi drivers are not tipped in Latin America. Otherwise tipping is less generous than in the United States, with a standard restaurant tip being 10 percent.

 

It is a good-sized walk from the port to the city, and there are sidewalks. The question to be asked is whether or not you desire to spend a good part of your time in port walking. If you're in reasonable shape it is walkable, but there is not much that is memorable along the walk.

[celem]

The following is based upon research - I don't go to Cartagena until next month: There are no taxi meters. Prices are supposed to be regulated and each driver is supposed to have a rate card (in Spanish, of course), but some/many cabbies don't comply, meaning that you must negotiate your rate in advance. Anyway, the official rate is $2.06USD with a maximum of $6.71USD for either the Cruise Port or the Airport. Some of the Cruise-Critic postings here say that they were charged $20USD, each way (almost 4 times the legal maximum). I suspect that if they had Columbian Pesos they may have been able to negotiate closer to the official rate.

 

The official rate chart is available to be downloaded from the web, but it is, of course, in Spanish.

[Ron Brinsdon]

We were there in the last fortnight on Equinox and found the following:-

 

Taxi fare in a "compact" vehicle which will only hold 3 + driver was $15 each way. Larger vehicles (4 + driver) were $20 each way.

 

No more hassles in the main streets than anywhere else in the Caribbean, maybe less in fact. We walked to Las Bovedas shops (a very leisurely 15 minutes from Bolivar Park) where you will be offered goods outside EVERY shop but a firm and polite "no thanks" works each time unless you show interest.

 

No problems using a digital SLR but some of the obvious "tourist models" ( ie ladies with fruit on their heads) WILL expect a tip if you frame them in your shots especially by las Bovedas.

 

The Hard Rock Cafe was giving away free beer vouchers close to lunchtime in the hope you will stay and eat!

 

Have fun

 

Ron