Cartagena

Rafael Núñez International Airport is 3km from the walled city center. Drop your bags and walk the city walls (Las Murallas) immediately — the 13km circuit of coral-stone fortifications built by the Spanish in the 17th century is the best introduction to Cartagena, with views over the Caribbean on one side and the terracotta rooftops of the old city on the other. The clock tower (Torre del Reloj) is the main entrance to the walled city; the Plaza de los Coches inside was historically a slave market. Walk to the Plaza de Bolivár — the central square with the cathedral on one side and the Palace of the Inquisition on another. The rooftop bar of the Townhouse Hotel or the La Vitrola terrace for first sunset cocktails, then dinner at Carmen restaurant for modern Colombian cuisine: fresh Caribbean fish with native potato, costeño cheese, and an aguardiente cocktail.

Gétsemaní is Cartagena's most interesting neighborhood — the working-class barrio outside the walled city that was home to freed slaves and artisans and has been transformed in the past decade into the most vibrant arts and restaurant district in the city, while maintaining its authentic Caribbean character. The streets are covered in street art murals — the most concentrated and accomplished in Colombia — and the Plaza Trinidad is the neighborhood's social center: locals playing dominos and music in the evenings in a square lined with small bars and food stalls. El Santisimo restaurant and Celele for modern Colombian cooking using Atlantic and Amazon ingredients. The San Felipe de Barajas Castle, the largest Spanish fortress in the Americas (completed 1657), stands on a hill above Gétsemaní with extraordinary tunnels and ramparts and 360-degree views of the city and bay.

The Islas del Rosario, a national park archipelago 45km southwest of Cartagena, contains some of the Caribbean's most beautiful coral reefs and the clearest waters on the Colombian coast. Fast boats depart from the Muelle Tursíc pier (45 minutes each way) and the day on the islands includes snorkeling at multiple sites — coral gardens, sea turtles, parrotfish, and the extraordinary clarity of the Caribbean on a calm day. Isla del Pirata and Isla Majagua have white sand beaches; the Corales del Rosario and San Bernardo National Park protects the reef ecosystem. Lunch at one of the island restaurants serving fresh Caribbean lobster, ceviche, and fried mojarra. The Oceanario on Isla Baru is a small but charming aquarium with native species. Return by late afternoon for sunset on the city walls.

Gabriel García Márquez lived in Cartagena from 1948 to 1955 as a journalist and used the city as the model for his fictional coastal cities. The García Márquez Foundation has a small museum and the author's house on the Plaza de la Trinidad in Gétsemaní is marked. A walking tour of the walled city following García Márquez's novel Love in the Time of Cholera — the Plaza de los Coches, the Calles del Olvido, the docks of the old city — is one of the most literary experiences in South America. The old city's colonial architecture is best explored on foot through the back streets: the patios and courtyards of the old family houses, hidden behind heavy wooden doors studded with nail heads, open onto gardens of extraordinary tropical beauty. Book a private guide for the afternoon and spend the evening at a cocktail bar that makes their own costeño-influenced spirits.

Playa Blanca on the Isla Barrú, accessible by boat (1 hour) from Cartagena or via the toll road (30 minutes by car), is the most beautiful beach on the Colombian Caribbean — a long crescent of white sand with coconut palms and extraordinarily clear turquoise water. The beach has beach huts, hammocks over the sea, and vendors selling fried fish and costeño cheese. San Basilio de Palenque, 70km from Cartagena, is one of the most extraordinary villages in the Americas: founded by freed African slaves in the 17th century after defeating the Spanish, it is the first free African community in the Americas and the only place in the Western Hemisphere where an African language (Palenquero) is still spoken. UNESCO has listed both the village and Palenquero language as Intangible Cultural Heritage. A guided tour here is profoundly moving.

A slower day in Cartagena. The Bazurto Market on the edge of the old city is one of the most intense and atmospheric markets in Colombia — a traditional Caribbean market of tropical fruits, medicinal plants, live fish, costeño cheese, and the specific chaos and warmth of Colombian daily commerce. An afternoon spa treatment at one of the walled city boutique hotels using Caribbean plant medicines and Colombian techniques. The Castillo de San Felipe for a final sunset — the castle is less crowded in the late afternoon and the views over the bay in the golden hour are extraordinary. Final dinner at El Santisimo (the finest restaurant in Cartagena, serving modern Colombian food in a beautiful colonial courtyard) and a final evening walk through the illuminated walled city.

Rafael Núñez Airport is 3km from the walled city — a 10-minute taxi ride. A final morning in Cartagena belongs to the Pasteleria de la Aduana for breakfast — empanadas, pandebono (cheese bread), and fresh jugos naturales (natural fruit juices). Buy costeño cheese (aged coastal cheese), a bottle of artisanal Ron de Caldas rum, and Colombian coffee at any of the old city shops. Cartagena is one of the most affordable luxury honeymoon destinations in the world — five-star hotels cost half of their Caribbean equivalents, and the combination of extraordinary history, Caribbean beaches, and creative food makes it genuinely exceptional.