PRIVATE TOUR
PRIVATE WALKING TOUR
price: $50US (discounts for large groups) duration: 3 hours meet point: your hotel (if it's in centro/getsemani)
For those who want more flexibility and don't want to share! The private tour can be whatever you want it to be; but it is most often a chance to walk Cartagena's Centro, San Diego and Getsemani neighbourhoods - helping to orientate your stay. 3 hours with minimal stoppage and you can cover pretty much everything. If we are stopping more for eating, or travelling outside the city we can be at your disposal for up to 4 hours.
Ideas on what we can do?
The most popular option is to put yourself in our hands as we explore the central neighbourhoods and learn about the history, share local stories and legends, try some local snacks and exotic local fruit, get an introduction to the architecture, see key monuments, go sloth and monkey spotting in the city park, head to Getsemani where the local culture is vibrant and thriving, have a coffee break, get tips on where to head for shopping and souvenirs, pick our brain on the best restaurant and bars. We might call this the Bit of Everything walking tour.. or maybe the Trust us, We're Locals tour?
Or you might want to deep dive into a particular area - shopping, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, food etc. Let us know and we can tailor something specific and advise you how much you can reasonably expect to cover.
Price doesn't include entry (if you want to enter one of the paid museums for example) and doesn't include any food or drink or transport.
CITY TOUR
price: $55US (discounts for large groups) duration: 4 hours meet point: your hotel
Truth told I hate calling it a City Tour, because that's what all the other Cartagena Tour Companies call it. I always wanted to do things differently. But we keep getting asked for it, so here it is. This is the traditional tour that regular tour guides will usually sell you. It is a full 4 hour tour that includes:
Touring the Old City
Visiting San Felipe Fortress aka El Castillo
Visiting the Convent of La Popa
Touring through Getsemani
Does not include:
Transport (quote will be provided depending on quantity of people)
Entrance fees (12,000 pesos pp for La Popa, 25,000 pesos pp for San Felipe Fortress)
(as of September 2024, the all inclusive price based on minimum of 2 people is $95 pp which includes air-conditioned transport and entries to the fortress and Convent.
Basically it is the same as our private walking tour listed above, but adds on San Felipe Fortress and the Convent of La Popa and requires transport to take you there and back. If you choose this option we will tee you up with one of our official guides (like Henry or Cata or Dan - Kristy isn't able to do this tour).
PRIVATE FOOD & CULTURE TOUR
price: $50US pp (includes food)
duration: 2 hours.. start time can be chosen subject to availability (and opening times of food carts)
meet point: Plaza Fernandez de Madrid
The same as our regular Food & Culture tour, but instead of sharing your guide with others, you can opt for a private tour. Includes about 8-10 food samples. This tour has its focus more on food and culture as we walk the streets, checking out street art, exploring the community of Getsemani, getting our fill of street snacks and local favourites. Even those who aren't keen to try the food still get a lot from this tour which explains a lot about the food and the Cartageneros relationship with it, plus local insights, music and dance, folk legends and more of the Cartagena that is beyond the traditional tourist sites. We call it a "short-cut to local" tour
The tour includes snacks and samples and people usually end up pretty full. You can read more about the famous street food tour here . Most food preferences are catered for (vegetarians.. gluten free etc) but if you don't eat cheese the options are more limited. Also, it's streetfood - expect a majority of what we eat to be fried and unhealthy.
PRIVATE MARKET TOUR
price: $50US pp duration: 10.30am - 1.30pm (can be flexible) meet point: Your hotel
Wanna get local? Not afraid of gross-smelling ground sludge? Eat first, ask questions later? This is your tour. It's basically the same as our usual group Market Tour, but instead of public transport we can take an uber. We can also (if you want) include a tour of Getsemani neighbourhood before or after visiting the market. The price is also the same, except for the private tour, the transport costs and any food you eat etc will need to be paid additionally and aren't included in the price. For budgeting purposes things are pretty inexpensive though - think about $4 each way for the uber and about $10 pp for lunch.
price: $50US (discounts for large groups) duration: 3 hours meet point: your hotel (if it's in centro/getsemani)
For those who want more flexibility and don't want to share! The private tour can be whatever you want it to be; but it is most often a chance to walk Cartagena's Centro, San Diego and Getsemani neighbourhoods - helping to orientate your stay. 3 hours with minimal stoppage and you can cover pretty much everything. If we are stopping more for eating, or travelling outside the city we can be at your disposal for up to 4 hours.
Ideas on what we can do?
The most popular option is to put yourself in our hands as we explore the central neighbourhoods and learn about the history, share local stories and legends, try some local snacks and exotic local fruit, get an introduction to the architecture, see key monuments, go sloth and monkey spotting in the city park, head to Getsemani where the local culture is vibrant and thriving, have a coffee break, get tips on where to head for shopping and souvenirs, pick our brain on the best restaurant and bars. We might call this the Bit of Everything walking tour.. or maybe the Trust us, We're Locals tour?
Or you might want to deep dive into a particular area - shopping, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, food etc. Let us know and we can tailor something specific and advise you how much you can reasonably expect to cover.
Price doesn't include entry (if you want to enter one of the paid museums for example) and doesn't include any food or drink or transport.
CITY TOUR
price: $55US (discounts for large groups) duration: 4 hours meet point: your hotel
Truth told I hate calling it a City Tour, because that's what all the other Cartagena Tour Companies call it. I always wanted to do things differently. But we keep getting asked for it, so here it is. This is the traditional tour that regular tour guides will usually sell you. It is a full 4 hour tour that includes:
Touring the Old City
Visiting San Felipe Fortress aka El Castillo
Visiting the Convent of La Popa
Touring through Getsemani
Does not include:
Transport (quote will be provided depending on quantity of people)
Entrance fees (12,000 pesos pp for La Popa, 25,000 pesos pp for San Felipe Fortress)
(as of September 2024, the all inclusive price based on minimum of 2 people is $95 pp which includes air-conditioned transport and entries to the fortress and Convent.
Basically it is the same as our private walking tour listed above, but adds on San Felipe Fortress and the Convent of La Popa and requires transport to take you there and back. If you choose this option we will tee you up with one of our official guides (like Henry or Cata or Dan - Kristy isn't able to do this tour).
PRIVATE FOOD & CULTURE TOUR
price: $50US pp (includes food)
duration: 2 hours.. start time can be chosen subject to availability (and opening times of food carts)
meet point: Plaza Fernandez de Madrid
The same as our regular Food & Culture tour, but instead of sharing your guide with others, you can opt for a private tour. Includes about 8-10 food samples. This tour has its focus more on food and culture as we walk the streets, checking out street art, exploring the community of Getsemani, getting our fill of street snacks and local favourites. Even those who aren't keen to try the food still get a lot from this tour which explains a lot about the food and the Cartageneros relationship with it, plus local insights, music and dance, folk legends and more of the Cartagena that is beyond the traditional tourist sites. We call it a "short-cut to local" tour
The tour includes snacks and samples and people usually end up pretty full. You can read more about the famous street food tour here . Most food preferences are catered for (vegetarians.. gluten free etc) but if you don't eat cheese the options are more limited. Also, it's streetfood - expect a majority of what we eat to be fried and unhealthy.
PRIVATE MARKET TOUR
price: $50US pp duration: 10.30am - 1.30pm (can be flexible) meet point: Your hotel
Wanna get local? Not afraid of gross-smelling ground sludge? Eat first, ask questions later? This is your tour. It's basically the same as our usual group Market Tour, but instead of public transport we can take an uber. We can also (if you want) include a tour of Getsemani neighbourhood before or after visiting the market. The price is also the same, except for the private tour, the transport costs and any food you eat etc will need to be paid additionally and aren't included in the price. For budgeting purposes things are pretty inexpensive though - think about $4 each way for the uber and about $10 pp for lunch.