A walled city in Colombia with beautiful architecture and incredible food, Cartagena is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is a walkable city, and it is easily accessible by public transportation or rideshare services. You can easily book a day tour to one of the beautiful Rosario Islands nearby if you wish. Beautiful beaches with diamond blue water and white gold sand are found on these islands. The ride back in the late afternoon will most likely be very windy and you will get soaked!
Isla Grande, Rosario Islands
Visiting Colombia would not be complete without this trip. A public beach is located just south of Bocagrande, if you decide to stay there. Getting into the old town will cost you $2-4USD, and getting to the airport will cost you $7-10USD. Despite heavy traffic, it won't take you more than 30 minutes to get to the airport, but you must show your boarding pass to enter. There are lots of wonderful restaurants, bars, and lounges in the old town, as well as lots of local vendors selling their goods. If you have time, you can even schedule a free tour. Many of the local fruits can only be found in Colombia, so be sure to try some. Among my favorites are the guava fruit rolls sprinkled with sugar. While I have tasted guava in many places, I have never tasted anything as delicious as that found in Columbia. A number of bars here also use Mixology methods to mix drinks, so many specialty cocktails here are outstanding because fresh exotic fruit is readily available. After traveling alone for the first few days of this trip, I met up with friends. The entire time, I felt very safe and I didn't see anything that made me feel threatened. This includes staying out at a lounge until 2am and then catching a rideshare service home. When coming from another area, a rideshare service will drop you anywhere in the old town; however, they tend to pick you up from the taxi stand across from the clock tower on Carrera 8 in the south part of Centenario Park. It will never take you more than 5-10 minutes to walk from anywhere in Old Town to this location. It is not really necessary to rent a car since parking can be difficult, especially in the walled city where many roads are one-way. You should spend at least 4 days/3 nights here to get a real sense of what this city has to offer, including a trip to the Rosario Islands.