Three Nights in Cartagena

In this post I talked about what I paid for my airfare to Cartagena. Now I want to share a few details of that trip.

Cartagena is such a great destination:  one has a choice of the old town or of one of the many beach areas.  The last time my son and I went to Cartagena, we stayed in the Boca Grande area and took a day trip to the old town.  This time I got smart and saved on taxi fare by spending the first two nights in Boca Grande and the last night in the old town which put us closer to the airport.

This time, we stayed at the Hotel Regatta Cartagena which is across the street from the beach.  In Cartagena, there are no hotels actually on the beach like in Cancun.  Two nights cost $159.  This hotel had better view than the hotel down the street where we stayed the previous year, Hotel Almirante, which still was a nice place at $87 a night. We spent two days at the beach paying $20 a person for use of a lawn chair and umbrella for a day. These places are great with hosts who will bring you cold beer, food, and other drinks all day making the time at the beach pure leisure.

My favorite restaurant in Boca Grande is the one pictured below, Carbon al Palo.  It’s located just across the street from the Hotel Almirante.  I think they have one of the best steaks I ever had in addition to wonderful sangria.

When we vacated our hotel at checkout time, we went to the old town and checked into a boutique hotel called Calamari for $67 a night.  The room came with a private balcony that overlooked the street.

From there, we were off to explore one of the most beautiful historic towns I’ve ever seen.

Read my tips for visiting Cartagena here.

~Bella