A tropical, sensual and colonial city, very much like an open air museum, which opens its gates more and more to countless tourists from all over the world. If I had to do a top of the 3 things that I particularly liked here, I would choose: the old centre, a UNESCO heritage site, and its colonial walls that hide charming small squares and little, paved streets full of bougainvillea, ceviche-a landmark of the local cuisine in the area and the salsa-like atmosphere accompanied by a divine cocktail. Siiii, this is how Cartagena de Indias looks like!

Colored List of Cartagena de Indias:

1. Check into one of the many little hotels built in the colonial houses as you will definitely like their romantic charm, more than anything else; I chose a little one, with only 7 rooms and a beautifully decorated rooftop, full of bougainvillea, LM Hotel.

2. Get yourself lost in the old centre, it is an absolute visual delight, firstly for its 13 km of old, colonial walls, with so many little streets with impressive houses and buildings, with small balconies that boast flowers of all kinds, with its street vendors and seductive squares like Plaza de Santo Domingo, Plaza San Pedro Claver, Plaza de la Aduana.

3. Don`t miss the Getsemani neighbourhood, either, where you are going to find a lot of cafés and restaurants, but also a lot of graffiti.

4. If you fancy taking a look round the museums,here you have The Zenu Gold Museum, The Modern Art Museum but also the Inquisition Palace, which are worth checking for culture and info.

5. If you are in search of a WOW view over the whole city, go to the Castelul San Felipe de Barajas, raised in the 16th century, still during the famous colonial age and which is actually a fortress with an incredible labyrinth of tunnels.

6. If you want to watch the sunset, then go to the old walls, where you can first go for a walk

then if you want to have a drink, Café del Mar is the terrace with the most idyllic panaroma. Careful! Although it is very big it is also over crowded;

El Baluarte which is by far more stylish is also an option but you should know that it hasn`t got a perfect view for watching a sunset.

7. In Cartagena de Indias you have many little shops (some are walking stores) with all sorts of authentic and attractive objects, made by local handicraftsmen, but also bigger shops like St. Dom (a kind of Colette of Cartagena), Artesanias de Colombia, Casa Chiqui, Agua de Leon - still a concept store that has a little bar inside so, make the most of it!

8. Good cafés which you should try are: Café San Alberto, the famous and multi-awarded, Abaco, which is a kind of bookshop-café, Juan Valdéz, but also Beiyu, each and all with good coffees, some of them being organic.

9. In the case you feel like tasting creative cocktails, El Barón is the place, a little bar with a special design, which has tables outside in the San Pedro Claver Square, too; there are also: Alquímico, that is a spot of sensory experiences, Aquabar (from the Tcherassi Hotel&Spa – that is located in an awesome scenery),

at sunset you have the rooftop bar from the Townhouse,

and obviously I couldn`t leave dancing aside - La Jugada and La Movida, two hip and popular clubs.

10. If you want to listen to live salsa, the best-known place is Café Havana, but it is also extremely touristy, here you can dance, too; but I particularly liked El Coro Bar from Sofitel Santa Clara, with very good music and bands.

11. You can`t help loving restaurants like El Boliche Cebicheria, which, although it is very small, with its couple of tables, has, by far, the best and most creative ceviche in the city (in tamarind sauce, or in coconut sauce with coriander and yellow or green pepper and red onion, or in green mango sauce with pepper, red onion and sorrel);

Maria

and Don Juan, both with a superb design and a cuisine based on fish and seafood;

Bohemia in a dream background (an interior yard with thick vegetation) or La Vitrola where live music is played every night.

12. Obviously, you will want to lay in the sun, so you can go to Fenix Beach Club (on the Tierra Bomba Island) with a reservation in advance  so that you can benefit of going boating to the place (it takes 10 - 15 min to get there) and you will definitely love it, as the spot is super cool;

And for a turquoise water and white sand there is Playa Blanca on Baru Island, but the place is more than touristy and whatever might be, don`t go there at the weekend. You`d better arrange a transfer by car (it takes 50 min) and make a reservation at one of the beach clubs (such as Banana Beach), which ensure you the boat trip, too (10 min). The bad part is that the place where the car drive stops has toilets without running water.

13. Don`t hesitate to try new fruits such as: zapote, caimito, nisperoor pitaya, you will find them in the street, on the fruit stalls.

Colored tip - it is very hot during the daytime, as it is very windy in the evening, I`m not kidding you, it even knocks you off your feet in some streets, so, it is a good idea to have a shawl or something to protect yourself against the wind