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Historic Cartagena City Tour: Colonial Mansions, Convents, and Fortifications Exploration
4.8
488 Ratings
Cartagena
Explore the historic city of Cartagena on a private tour, visiting colonial mansions, convents, and fortifications. Discover the city’s main monuments, including La Popa’s Hill and San Felipe de Barajas Fortress, before exploring the walled city and bohemian neighborhood. Immerse yourself in the history and legends of the old colonial houses, and end the tour with a visit to the modern part of Cartagena.
Explore the historic city of Cartagena on a private tour, visiting colonial mansions, convents, and fortifications. Discover the city’s main monuments, including La Popa’s Hill and San Felipe de Barajas Fortress, before exploring the walled city and bohemian neighborhood. Immerse yourself in the history and legends of the old colonial houses, and end the tour with a visit to the modern part of Cartagena.
Duration:
4 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas - The largest fortification in the Americas
- La Popa Convent - 17th-century convent located at the highest point in the city
- Walled City of Cartagena - Historic city recognized as a World Heritage site since 1984
- Manga - Neighborhood known for its neoclassical houses
- Barrio Getsemani -…
- Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas - The largest fortification in the Americas
- La Popa Convent - 17th-century convent located at the highest point in the city
- Walled City of Cartagena - Historic city recognized as a World Heritage site since 1984
- Manga - Neighborhood known for its neoclassical houses
- Barrio Getsemani - Getsemani shares the vibrant Caribbean colors, narrow streets, and welcoming locals of the Old Walled City of Cartagena. It is the city’s authentic neighborhood
- Las Bovedas - Handicrafts market and shopping destination
- Bocagrande - A modern neighborhood reminiscent of Miami or Panama City, featuring malls, casinos, stylish modern houses, and skyscrapers
- Plaza de Bolivar - Ideal for a walking tour
- Playa de Bocagrande - Offers a panoramic view of the city’s modern area
- Restaurante Fuerte de San Sebastián del Pastelillo-Club de Pesca - Located in the Manga neighborhood
- Plaza Santo Domingo - Perfect for a walking tour
What's Included
- Private tour with customized departure times
- Professional guide and driver service
- Transportation in air-conditioned vehicle
- Pickup and drop-off at hotel and port
- Bottled water provided
- Private tour with customized departure times
- Professional guide and driver service
- Transportation in air-conditioned vehicle
- Pickup and drop-off at hotel and port
- Bottled water provided
What's Not Included
- Food and drinks
- Gratuities
- Food and drinks
- Gratuities
Additional Information
Embark on a private tour to explore the key attractions in the historic city of Cartagena. This exceptional journey begins with a visit to the city’s main landmarks, including La Popa’s Hill, the highest point in the city, home to a convent dating back to the early 17th century. Next, explore the San Felipe de Barajas Fortress, renowned as the most…
Embark on a private tour to explore the key attractions in the historic city of Cartagena. This exceptional journey begins with a visit to the city’s main landmarks, including La Popa’s Hill, the highest point in the city, home to a convent dating back to the early 17th century. Next, explore the San Felipe de Barajas Fortress, renowned as the most significant military fortification in South America. The tour then proceeds to the walled city and the bohemian neighborhood of Getsemaní. Enjoy a shopping stop at the last-built fortification, “Las Bovedas,” followed by a walking tour through the city’s various squares (St Domingo Square, Bolivar Square, Los Coches Square, Aduana Square, Clock Tower, St Pedro Square), where you can admire the historic colonial houses rich with history and legend. Conclude the tour with a visit to the modern areas of Cartagena, including Bocagrande, Laguito, and Castillogrande.
- May be operated by a multi-lingual guide
- At time of booking, Cruise ship passengers must provide the following information at time of booking: Name Travellers, ship name, docking time, disembarkation time and re-boarding time
Location
Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas
Carrera 17
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.8
(488 Ratings)
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Voyageonaute
Mar 18, 2026
A magical tour - A wonderful visit particularly pleasant thanks to Nico and his driver. Nico introduced you to the pearls of Cartagena, was kind, attentive and very pedagogical.
A thousand thanks, thanks to you we only have one desire: to come back!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Roxann_r
Mar 3, 2026
A perfect half day tour - We had a very pleasant and informative half day tour with Nico our tour guide and Kevin our driver. We were picked up at the cruise port exit and Nico had a sign with our name making it easy to find him. Nico was very passionate and knowledgeable about Cartagena and was a pleasure to spend the day with. The tour had a perfect pace for us and we were able to see everything we hoped to see and do a bit of shopping & stop to try empanadas. Kevin our driver did an excellent job of navigating the crowded narrow streets and was quick to pick us up after viewing various attractions. They did a great job of showing us a good mix of Cartagena with our short time frame. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone.
Review provided by Viator
Jennie_f
Mar 2, 2026
One of the Best Tours Showing Cartagena! - Carlos did an exceptional job showing us around Cartagena. His English was superb. He was personable, knowledgeable, and made this tour one of the best.
Review provided by Viator
Josh_l
Feb 21, 2026
Great Cartagena day - Full city history and immersion
Elis was phenomenal
We love her
We learned so much history and really learned our way around the city better
Review provided by Viator
Amanda_b
Feb 15, 2026
This was a great... - This was a great experience. Our driver was amazingly calm amongst the swarms of motorcycles. Our guide was most knowledgeable and ready to customize our tour in the moment.
Review provided by Viator
Geograph
Feb 15, 2026
Interesting, very informative tour - We have seen all the attractions mentioned in the program. Our guide gave us comprehensive information on this. These were available in English. We could understand everything well, although English is not our first language because he spoke slowly and clearly. We particularly liked the tour of the old town. Despite heavy traffic on the way to the sights, we always felt safe with our driver. The tour is highly recommended.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Maureen_l
Feb 8, 2026
The perfect day in Cartagena. - Tour guide, Carlos Moro, was an absolute delight. His knowledge of Cartagena history was astounding and he brought the past into life as he shared incredible stories about some of the most famous landmarks in this UNESCO world heritage site.
We arrived at port and went through the Oasis gardens (give yourself time to check out all the tropical birds, sloths and turtles). We were met by Carlos and a driver. We were asked if there was anything specific we wanted to do- and we said we would like to go to La Cevicheria- a favorite restaurant of Anthony Bourdain. We drove to several historical sites, walked around as Carlos was providing the narrative and importance of each site. His presentation was so vivid, and he also used an iPad / map to help us visualize where we were in relation to the site. We went to the old town for our ceviche (absolutely worth the hype) and really enjoyed looking at the architecture of the homes. Stopped at Emerald Station where I purchased a beautiful band.
Cesar, our driver, was amazing as he navigated the traffic. He often rolled down the window if we passed a colorful scene, so I could snap a few photos. We even passed a wedding. We always felt safe and were so impressed with our Viator experience. We will be talking about our excellent day in Cartagena for years. History buffs will especially love this tour. Bravo.
Review provided by Viator
Arthur_b
Feb 5, 2026
Great day in Cartegena - We had a great experience. Our guide Harry and driver Daniel, did an excellent job of showing us their beautiful city. Harry was very knowledgeable and helpful. I would recommend Harry as a guide to anyone looking to get a true up close experience of Cartegena.
Review provided by Viator
Barbara_c
Feb 4, 2026
Tour of Cartegena 2026 - This tour company was very helpful. Our ship was delayed disembarking in Cartagena. I was able to call the support line and get a message to the tour guide. They were at the exit to the terminal. It was raining, they had umbrellas. My friend was in a wheelchair until we were able to get to the taxi. Having this tour pre-booked was so helpful. It was a zoo at the terminal with two ships disembarking at the same time.
Our tour guide, Inri, even had his wife meet us somewhere along our tour to give us some dry towels to dry off our bodies. Inri took us through the old town of Cartagena , passed the old fort and told us all about the history and development of the city. He included the famous people who helped make this country, Alonf with the slaves that came from Africa, the churches, their religions, etc. Inri went out of his way to make our tour just perfectly special. I had requested that we get dropped off at the airport earlier than the length of the usual tour. Even though his tour was a little shorter than usual, he did an outstanding job. I highly recommend him.
Thank you Viator, Inri and the taxi driver. We enjoyed seeing this city.
Review provided by Viator
Tavarak_a
Mar 7, 2026
Great photo opps, but very distracted guide - Pick up was a bit disorganized. We elected to be picked up at the drop off location of an island tour. This was the Boca grande area which was part of the tour but we weren’t really taken to any sites there. Additionally, when we arrived it was easy to find the guide, Rafael, but we were instructed to get into two wrong cars before our actual driver, Manuel, picked us up. During the tour, there was a bit more walking than expected and it was a very hot day. We often had to wait for Manuel to pick us back up which took away your time. Rafael did not have bottled water with him. Anytime we wanted water, he had to stop and buy a bottle for each of us. It was a bit frustrating that he didn’t have a cooler of iced bottles for us to have throughout the tour. Due to the heat, we didn’t want to spend time hiking up the fort and expected recommendations from Rafael of other locations to visit. We stopped for several photos which was awesome, but our guide wasn’t very attentive. Our tour was only about 2 1/2 hours instead of 4. We were told there was a lot more to see but we didn’t have time. Very odd comment. Nonetheless, we were exhausted from the heat so agreed to go back to the ship. Felt like there was so much more to see and we only saw a portion of it.
Review provided by Viator
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